More prevalent than cerebral palsy, hearing loss and vision impairment in children, autism is a developmental disorder detected in the patient by age 3, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The patient can start life off with normal language skills but loses these abilities at the onset of the disorder. The most noticeable signs of autism include delays in language and social skills.
Delayed Language
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) explains that an autistic patient does not reach developmental milestones at the same time other children do. Language abilities appear in slowly or not at all; instead, the child may use gestures. The autistic child also loses previously acquired language skills. When speaking, the patient repeats memorized passages, uses nonsense rhyming and can have a strange rhythm, such as a robotic tone.
Problems Interacting Socially
A person with autism also has poor social skills, which affects how she interacts with other people. The Mayo Clinic states that an autistic child does not respond to her name and has poor eye contact. The child also prefers to play alone and does not participate in interactive games. The NIH adds that the patient may treat others like objects and can have problems making friends.
Abnormal Sensory Responses
A patient with autism does not react normally to certain sights and sounds. He does not startle when he hears loud noises, the NIH notes, but he finds normal noises painful and he may put his hands over his ears. In addition, he can have either a heightened or lowered perception of the five senses. The Mayo Clinic adds that a person with autism may be hypersensitive to light, for example, but not very sensitive to pain.
Repetitive Behaviors
Repetitive behaviors and rituals also noticeable signs of autism. The Mayo Clinic reports that the patient will perform repetitive movements, such as hand-flapping or spinning, or line up objects in a certain order. The autistic patient has specific rituals that she does every day. If these rituals are disrupted, she becomes very upset.
Interests in Parts of an Object
The Mayo Clinic states that an autistic child becomes fascinated with the parts of a toy, rather than the entire object. For example, the child may have a toy airplane, but instead of playing with the plane by zooming or flying, his interest will be drawn only to one specific part, such as the propellers.
