My son’s first “special interest” was Thomas the Train. In other words, it’s usually described as an unusual, narrow topic of interest.
HIGH FUNCTIONING AUTISM MELTDOWN LICENSE
But if you do a Google search for the “signs of autism”, when they mention this sign it’s usually followed by examples such as “memorizes license plates or the TV guide” or “Can list all sub-species of insects in alphabetical order”.
It’s not as bad if he’s there first and people begin arriving gradually, but he can’t walk into any type of crowd. When we go to school, if there are more than 5 people in the classroom when he arrives, he needs to start the day somewhere else quietly. Large groups still upset him to this day, we even ate dinner and opened gifts in the bedroom at my in-laws on Christmas Eve because they had a lot of visitors. However, he had the same response to family gatherings, birthday parties, and any situation where there were more than a few people present. I chalked it up to being tired, but it was more than that. As soon as we walked into the restaurant my son started crying inconsolably and he didn’t stop until we left. I remember on my very first Mother’s Day going out for dinner. Gets upset around large groups of people. Remember that everyone’s experience will be unique. Their own strengths, talents, and special interestsĮarly Signs of High-Functioning Autism (That I Missed) This is how we experienced the signs of high functioning autism.No two individuals with autism are alike and may have significant differences in skills across multiple domains. The effects of ASD are lifelong, impacting on all areas of a person’s life. The term “spectrum” recognizes the complex range of abilities and performance in people with the diagnosis, within a continuum of severity. In other words, children with autism don’t choose to behave in a challenging way – they behave in a challenging way because various lagging skills make them require additional supports to respond adaptively in various environments. This means that although there are often challenging behaviors associated with autism, it is not a behavioral disorder. Neurodevelopmental means that it is related to the way the brain grows and develops. There is also a “markedly narrow repertoire of activities and interests.” In other words, they may have one or two special interests and not much desire to do anything else. If you wish to learn more, you can read in-depth about the history of autism, facts and statistic, symptoms, and more here.Īutism Spectrum Disorder, or autism, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts brain development causing most individuals to experience communication problems, difficulty with social interactions, sensory processing differences, and a tendency to repeat specific patterns of behavior.
This is just a basic overview of what autism is if you aren’t familiar with it.
If I had followed my gut, we probably would have had an earlier diagnosis. Voice your concerns to your child’s doctor. This post is about my personal experience.īut if you are a parent reading this and wondering about your own child my advice is: always follow your gut. Remember, if your child does some (or all) of the things on this list, it doesn’t mean they’re autistic. Looking back I see they signs were there long before I picked up on them and I want to share them with you. Misdiagnosis (particularly with ADHD or other conditions with overlapping symptoms) is more common for kids who fit the “high-functioning profile”, in other words, those requiring less intensive supports This often happens because the signs of high-functioning autism are more subtle. He doesn’t have all the signs of “classic” autism so his assessment was later than the average age (which is 4). You can read about why functioning labels are harmful here. It’s also sometimes called “mild autism”. So, for the sake of this post, I’ll be using that term. But, he’s often described as having high-functioning autism. Now, I don’t like using functioning labels. We finished four months before his 8th birthday. We didn’t start the assessment process until my son was six years old.
Or, they’re at least not easily recognized as the signs of classic autism.īut, when the expectations placed on your child increase (especially social), these signs of autism start to be more evident.įor example, you may not notice your child’s struggle with social skills until they begin kindergarten and you realize they don’t interact well with their peers or have meltdowns when they’re expected to interact or do group work with the other children. The early signs of autism aren’t always apparent in toddlers.
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