Characteristics of Autism
September 29, 2008
Autism is a disorder that people are born with that is known as a spectrum disorder. In all, it’s really a problem with communications and repetitive behaviors. The interesting thing about it is that adults and children can act completely different when having this. The characteristics of autism are very unique to a person, but when you get right down to it, there are certain characteristics that are seen more often than not.
The characteristics include…
• Resistant to change
• Has trouble expressing needs
• Repeating words/phrases instead of normal language
• Laughing/crying for no reason
• Prefers being alone
• Aloof
• Tantrums
• Doesn’t socialize with others
• Doesn’t want to cuddle or be cuddled
• Very little eye contact
• Doesn’t respond to tradition teaching methods
• Repetitive movements of objects
• Over or Under sensitive to pain
• Doesn’t fear real dangers
• Doesn’t respond to verbal cues (like their name)
If you take a typical person, we use our senses to help understand what we happen to be experiencing at any given time. If we’re eating a new food, we taste it, smell it and touch it. When it comes to an autistic child, it is difficult for them to pick up on all those different senses at the same time.
The sensory problems with senses can be a totally different experience compared to that of a normal child. If you’re eating a peach, it has a fuzzy feel to it. The average child will associate it as a fuzzy feeling. An autistic child may view it as painful because it’s such a weird feeling.
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to children with autism. The characteristics of autism, listed above, paint an overly negative image of what it is like, but it isn’t all that bad. Even though a thing like eye contact may not be often, you still get it and you can work with them to do it more often. There is also the misconception that the child will have extremely poor communication skills. There are many autistic adults out there that jobs and families. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Children can be taught, it just requires teaching in the best way for them to interpret and comprehend, which often is different than traditional methods.
When it gets right down to it, the characteristics of autism are unique to the individual, but they are also unique to the environment a person grows up in. The characteristics listed above tend to be more of a default setting if there is no intervention done by parents. Parents and teachers will be the biggest influence on them and depending on how effective they are taught to communicate will ultimately determine the characteristics they exhibit.
A great resource for Autism Characteristics can be found at Autism Characteristics.
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