What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism spectrum disorder is a behavioral disorder that hinders the development of a child. If a child has autism, his/ her developmental rate will be slower than the other children of his age.
The word “spectrum” in the autism spectrum disorder indicates that there are different levels and intensity of autism present in different kids. The levels range from low to moderate to severe and the symptoms and the ways a child shows that he has autism could also vary from children to children and level to level.
Autism usually becomes evident in a child after 18 months of birth, however, sometimes parents start to recognise the sign of the disorder even when the baby is 6 months. In the opposite scenario, the symptoms sometimes even start to be recognisable when the baby gets 2 or 3 years old.
In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there are two main recognisable symptom areas of autism disorder:-
- Deficits in social communication and interaction
- Restricted, repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities
Signs and Symptoms: How Autism Disorder Shows its Presence in a 3- Year Old Kid-
Communication
A child with autism finds it difficult to form sentences or to have a normal continuous conversation with someone else. A autistic child may even say his first word late as compared to other children of his age with no autism.
Children with autism even repeat words or a single sentence without a pause or say things in a singing manner.
Social interaction
They are socially distant and do not like to stay in crowded places. They do not make eye contact especially with newly met people and also don’t like usual meet up gestures like handshakes.
They also do not respond or react when someone calls them with their names or just with a hello.
They also lack facial expressions and interactive facial gestures.
Repetitive behaviors
They repeat certain actions or gestures a lot more than usual like flapping their hands, rocking their body, or spinning in circles. They keep on repeating these actions again and again even if they get tired.
Intense reactions
They just react like a volcano eruption. If someone says no to them for something, or anyone forcefully takes a toy or a thing from their hands they start screaming loudly and just don’t get controlled by anyone.
Even a minor inconvenience or change in the routine can send them to the edge of crying non- stop or not listening to a word from anyone at all.
They also react intensely with certain touches, it could be a rough object or certain fabric type or even certain physical touch like a hug from another person.
Unusual interests
They find fun or stay focused and busy in certain activities, games or hobbies that other kids of their age don’t find interesting or other people find unusual.
Sensitivity to the environment
A sudden change in the environment around them gives them a lot of discomfort and makes them react intensely.
A sudden brightness in a room, loud noises, sudden temperature changes, etc., all can ma\ke them feel too uncomfortable and can make them upset.
They tend to prefer their surroundings to remain the same and are not very accepting towards changes.
What are the Diagnosis Methods Available to Diagnose Autism in a Child?
For any other genetic disease or illness they have their own medical diagnosing methods. In case of genetic disorder, the genes have certain genetic markers present that are absent in those individuals who don’t have that illness. Thus, if the doctor finds those markers in the patient, he/ she has the disease.
In other cases of illness, that is due to microbes or any other infection, the body releases fluids or shows physical internal changes that when tested can diagnose or confirm a disease presence.
Now, in case of autism, both these changes are absent. So, to diagnose autism, there are certain tests present like:-
- Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT), a 20-question test designed for toddlers between 16 and 30 months old.
- The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), a general developmental screening tool with sections targeting specific ages used to identify any developmental challenges a child may have.
- Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT), an interactive screening tool, comprising 12 activities that assess play, communication, and imitation.
- Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) is a general developmental parent-interview form that identifies areas of concern by asking parents questions.
The result of these tests decide whether the child has autism spectrum disorder or not and if he does, the tests also help in understanding the level of the disorder in a child.
