Autism is a mental disorder that hinders the development of skills, and is usually diagnosed around the age of 18 months. Autism is quickly becoming common, and nearly one child in every hundred has it. If you are worried your toddler might have it, here are three signs that will help you know for sure.
Over sensitivity or under sensitivity:
Children who have Autism are more often than not over or under sensitive to sounds, sights or even smells. If there is a particular color or smell that upsets your child and makes him throw a tantrum, and if he refuses to wear particular clothes because they are "scratchy" and shows signs of anguish if forced to wear those clothes, chances are that he might have Autism. Autistic children aren't being fussy, if they find a color unbearable and claim it makes their eyes hurt, they are most probably right. If, however, his Autism has decreased his sensory skills, your child might appear to be deaf at times. He might respond to his name sometimes and sometimes may keep looking in the other direction. Loud noises will not startle him like they startle other children, and he may fail to discern between colors and shapes.
Repetitive words, gestures or movements:
Autistic children always have a gesture or hand/foot movement that they will make repeatedly. These movements are mostly flapping or twitching. If your child repeatedly flaps his arms or keeps tapping his foot and even when reprimanded is unable to stop, he probably cannot help it. Similarly, he may have some words that he gets fixated with, and he will keep saying them repetitively even when they are highly irrelevant to the current situation. Children with Autism have the tendency to become obsessive, and you can notice this in the pattern of their repetitive speech or movements.
Lack of awareness:
Children with Autism usually seem to be unaware of many things. They may appear to be completely unaware of other people's pain, sadness, anger. They are also unaware of the feeling of danger, and therefore jump off places and bang into tables like a child without Autism would never do, for fear of hurting himself. Autistic children are also unaware of any activity that they aren't a part of, for instance, if you are having a conversation with a friend, your child will keep tugging at your shirt to make you look at him, because to him, your conversation does not exist.
Autism, when caught at an early age in toddlers, can be helped, and speech/motor skill therapy can help your child if sought on time and done with patience and understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment