A cluster of aberrations found in the autistic child - inability to interact with people in an ordinary way, perpetuation of sameness in surroundings and behaviour, failure to use language as a communicative tool, and paradoxical intellectual profile. As strikingly unique as this set of symptoms may appear, diagnostic problems have risen because the symptoms rarely emerge in a clear, well-ordered fashion to form the full-blown syndrome of autism. They may also appear in varying degrees as well as combination in children with other disorders.
Here are the symptoms of Autism:
Autistic Aloneness
- Lack of visual and auditory response to people
- Preference for objects to people
- Failure to communicate with speech
- Failure to develop feelings for others
Security in Sameness
- Extreme sensitivity to environmental order and change
- Resistance to changes in food, dress and bedtime routine
- Ordering of objects
- Stereotypic and ritualistic motor behaviour
- Fascination and facility with objects
Echoes and Metaphors
- Immediate and delayed echolalia
- Reversal of pronouns
- Literalness and part-whole confusion
- Later language development
Islets of Brightness
- Physical appearance and early development
- Special motor and visual-spatial skills
- Rote memory skills
- Special reading skills
- Specific musical talents