What is Autism?

Many of you may be confused as to an article on Autism is in a Sensory Processing Disorder website…others of you may know.  The reason it’s included is because we see SO many children on the Autism Spectrum show signs of processing delays.  I also wanted to include an article on what Autism is as I believe some children are getting misdiagnosed – children with processing delays only, children with speech delays, children with behavioral difficulties, and children with “quirky” behaviors are frequent victims.

In fact, it seems that Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) are sometimes the newest “fads” in pediatric developmental disorders.  People with little bits of information see a child on their tip toes and say “That child is toe walking, he must have autism”.  A teacher sees a student that is shy and struggling with making friends and says “She has no social skills, she must have autism”.  A therapist in early intervention works with a child with developmental delays who struggles attending to play tasks and crashes into the furniture and says “He is all over the place, he must have sensory issues”.  While is imperative that we continue to educate people about Autism and SPD, it important to remember to look at the child as a whole being and define them by  1 or 2 characteristics.

I believe this is particular true when determining if a child has autism. It is without a doubt that people all over the world are becoming more aware of Autism Spectrum Disorders…it’s hard to be with articles stating as many as 1 in 38 children could be affected.  Autism is a hot topic but, in my opinion, not well understood.  I’m going to outline the diagnostic criteria psychologists look for when assessing a child to determine if they have autism and try to use everyday language and examples.  Here is the link which shows the criteria professionals (psychologists, developmental pediatricians) use.

http://www.autreat.com/dsm4-autism.html

1. To qualify for an autism diagnosis, children need to show a total of SIX
of the following traits and need to have at least 2 from section A, and at least
1 from section B and at least 1 from section C.

1. Delayed social skills.
   Professional definition – Qualitative impairment in social interaction
   1. Examples include difficulty with non verbal communication like eye contact or using
      / reading body language and non verbal cues correctly.
   2. Difficulty making age appropriate friendships
   3. Not sharing in others excitement or interests. For example, not bringing toys to
      an adult, not pointing to objects.
   4. Difficulty participating in back and forth social and emotional acts – such as not
      playing with other children in a reciprocal game or only using other children as
      “aides” in their own preferred play activity. For example, a child with autism loves
      to wiggle a jump rope on the ground so that it looks like a snake. The child will
      use another child to hold one end of the rope but does not try to include the other
      child in fun he is getting out of making the rope look like a snake.
2. Delayed language skills. Professional definition – Qualitative
   impairment in communication
   1. Delays or lack of spoken language – not using sign language or gestures, either.
   2. If there is spoken language, difficulty initiating or keeping a conversation going
   3. Repetitive language (echolalia – which is repeating phrases others say, sometimes
      excessively) or their own language they use and don’t show a desire to share it
      with others
   4. Limited make believe or spontaneous play
3. Delayed play skills. Professional definition – restricted
   repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities
   1. Getting stuck on a certain pattern or object where either the itenesity of how interested
      the child is become excessive (getting “obsessed” with certain cartoon characters,
      trains, or topics (bugs))OR where the object they are stuck on is not of common
      interest to children.
   2. Having routines and rituals to complete that are typical for a child’s play or school
      routine. For example, having to have a pen in the hand at all times or refusing
      to eat on any plate that is not blue.
   3. Repetitive motor actions – hand flapping, spinning, etc.
   4. Getting stuck on playing with or watching the parts of an object. For example, stuck
      on just spinning the wheels of the car as opposed to trying to drive the toy car,
      make it crash, etc.

2. Difficulties in the following areas need to be apparent before the age of 3

1. social interaction
2. language as used in social communication
3. symbolic or imaginative play

3. The child does not have Rett’s Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.