Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder

In This Article

• What is Autism? 
• The Signs of ASD
• • 1. Social Communication
  • • Joint Attention
    • Social Reciprocity
    • Social Cognition
  • 2. Language and Related Cognitive Skills
  • • Impaired acquisition of words, word combinations, and sentence structure
    • Use and understanding of verbal and nonverbal communication
    • Conversational deficits
    • Executive Functioning and Play
  • 3. Behavior and Emotional Regulation
  • 4. Sensory and Feeding

Parents, caregivers, and teachers need to know the signs of autism in children who have been diagnosed as being on the spectrum. As with any disorder, knowing symptoms can help the people in the child’s life begin to help him/her the best way possible. In this blog, I discuss the common signs or symptoms of Autism. 

What is Autism? 

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors.

Social communication deficits include impairments in aspects of joint attention (looking and focusing on multiple things or activities) and social reciprocity (give and take in conversations). People “on the spectrum” also find challenges in using verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors for social interaction. 

ASHA, 2012

Family members, friends, teachers, speech pathologists, and other service providers who interact with someone with ASD face the challenge of learning to respond to subtle attempts for communication, interpreting the functions of problem behavior, and modifying the environment to foster active, social engagement (ASHA, 2012). Peers oftentimes feel challenged when communicating with someone diagnosed with ASD. This can lead to even more issues with social interactions and a negative learning experience. 

The Signs of ASD

Individuals diagnosed with ASD may have difficulties with four main areas and sub-areas that we briefly target in this blog. It is important to remember that not every individual will have difficulties in all areas – they may only have issues in one. Everyone is different!

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1. Social Communication

A person with social communication skills is able to engage and fully participate in all facets of a conversation.

Joint Attention

Social Reciprocity

Social Cognition

Social cognition refers to the mental processes involved in perceiving, attending to, remembering, thinking about, and making sense of the people in our social world (Moskowitz, 2005).

2. Language and Related Cognitive Skills

The signs of autism in this area are the most significant indicators that a child should see a professional for an evaluation. As such, I explore this area in depth.

Impaired acquisition of words, word combinations, and sentence structure

Use and understanding of verbal and nonverbal communication

Conversational deficits

Executive Functioning and Play

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3. Behavior and Emotional Regulation

Problems with behavior and emotional regulation include (ASHA, 2012):

4. Sensory and Feeding

Deficits in sensory and feeding may lead to the following behaviors:

REMEMBER. Not every individual will display all of these characteristics. They may have a little from the sensory and feeding category, a bunch from cognition and none from the other categories. 

PLEASE NOTE. Even if your child is diagnosed with ASD, they can grow up to have the same things as every other child - be successful, have a job, and have a family. 

It is important to recognize the signs of autism in babies to get your child properly diagnosed by a medical professional as early as possible!