Disability Resource Directory

Autistic Traits Identified with Austim Spectrum

Behaviorally, certain autistic traits have been defined to help identify the autism spectrum:

Social impairment

* Lack of observed desire for friendship
* Poor ability to make friends
* Social awkwardness
* Indiscriminate social interaction
* Lack of eye contact
* Brief response to questions
* Gullibility

Language impairment

• Odd or monotonous prosody of speech
• Overly formal and pedantic language
• Pronoun reversal
• Visuospatial thinking sometimes preferred
• Use of rote chunks of language
• Late or no development of language
• Poor use and understanding of nonverbal communication (i.e., facial expressions and body language)

Imaginative impairment and repetitive adherence

• Concrete and literal use of language
• Poor understanding of abstract thought, metaphors and symbolism
• Preference for routine
• Absorption in detail; inability to understand meaning or the whole of a concept
• Perseverative interest or focus

Sensory integration dysfunction

• Hyper- or hyposensitivity of the various senses
• Peculiar clothing and food preferences
• Self-stimulating mannerisms
• Fine or gross motor discoordination

Sensory Integration Dysfunction is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with processing information from the five classic senses (vision, auditory, touch, olfaction, and taste), the sense of movement (vestibular), and/or the positional sense (proprioception). Sensory information is sensed normally, but perceived abnormally. This is not the same as blindness or deafness because sensory information is sensed but tends to be analyzed by the brain in an unusual way that may cause pain or confusion

The number of autistic traits present determines the severity of autism in the individual. These autistic traits may be beneficial for some disciplines like science, mathematics, and engineering because they require rote memorization, which some autistic individuals might show a marked proficiency in.

Autism also comes under the classification of 'Pervasive Development Disorder. Parents may note symptoms of PDD as early as infancy and typically onset is prior to 3 years of age. Further diagnostic testing is required to determine which PDD the child may have.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia