Discussing Autism

Lets get back to basics a little…what exactly are the symptoms of autism? Kyle’s Treehouse , a new 501 c3 Kyle’s Treehouse Foundation is a new 501(c) 3 organization dedicated to empowering all people touched by autism to make effective choices, has a comprehensive, yet simple explanation of the symptoms.

Exclusivity/ Lack Of Significant Peer-To-Peer Relations

People with autism often find ways to avoid spending meaningful and intense interactive time with others. While at times they may converse, interact or play with others, there is a significant difference between the amount of quality time an autistic child spends with people versus the amount of time a non-autistic child might spend with others. There are three basic ways this exclusivity presents itself. They are:

1.

Repetitious and self-stimulating behaviors
The single most defining characteristic of autism is “self-stims,” exclusive and repetitious behaviors. For instance, the child may line up objects on the floor repeatedly, flap his hands in front of his head, watch TV or videos over and over, stare off into space for long periods of time, or repeat particular sounds or phrases. These are the behaviors that lead people to describe autism as a child being in his or her “own world.”
2.

Lack of consistent eye contact
While many people with autism can look consistently at objects for long periods of time, they often make little eye contact with other people.
3.

Low attention span for human interactions
Most autistic people don’t interact with others for significant periods of time. Autistics will often halt an interaction by walking away and doing a self-stimulating behavior (see above). They will sometimes return to the interaction after having done the self-stim.

Developmental Delays
Autism is a developmental delay. This means that different aspects of the child’s development are slowed. These aspects can vary, but often include: language challenges, self-help skills (such as dressing, toilet training, and brushing teeth), academic issues, and injurious behavior to self or others. Some autistic children have many evident developmental delays, while others may have no apparent delays at all. This is part of what makes treating autism so complicated—and one of the reasons we created Kyle’s Treehouse.

Language Challenges
An autistic child’s language skills can range from being completely non-verbal to having a huge vocabulary with the ability to speak in long, meaningful conversations. The main aspects of language are size of vocabulary, clarity of speech, and using speech as the main form of communication versus a self-stimulating behavior.

Self-Help Skills
Some people with autism dress themselves immaculately, others prefer to wear nothing at all. Some are extremely conscientious when they go to the toilet, others will use a diaper or go on the floor. Some eat a variety of foods, others refuse to eat anything but cookies. As with all developmental delays in autism, the range is immense.

Academics
People with autism may have very strong academic abilities or may show no interest or ability at all in academics. In most cases, autistics don’t value academics and give it little attention. While others are excellent at academics—they love words and numbers and use them as a self-stimulating behavior, a way to be exclusive.

Injurious Behaviors
Some children with autism will hit, kick, or bite themselves and others. This may happen when the child is not getting what he or she wants, but may also occur at other times with no explanation.

Word Press, Technorati, autism symptoms. kyles treehouse, Tags