What Are the Signs of Autism? Would You Know Them If You Saw Them?
Would you know the signs of autism if you saw them? With so many children being diagnosed with autism these days I believe it's time to give you some ideas as to what the signs of autism are.
Actually, I believe the signs are so varied amongst children who have autism that while one child may have distinctly obvious signs that there is a problem, another child may seem to be almost completely normal with no outward signs of autism whatsoever.
I realize some may take offense to the word normal so I apologize for my choice of words there.
I have watched many videos and seen several different children who have autism and the difficulties they have are quite varied so I am going to give the experiences I have had with my granddaughter, Alexia.
One of the signs of autism that we first observed was in her inability to learn to speak correctly.
She was unable to communicate with me even by the age of 3.
She couldn't speak simple words that most children of her age were able to say.
At that time we just thought maybe she was storing up information and would soon start babbling and talking to the point where it would drive us crazy.
Something we were actually looking forward to but it just didn't seem to be happening.
Another of the signs of autism that we observed was with her eating habits.
It seems most children with autism will choose 2-3 foods and simply refuse to eat anything else.
Unfortunately, that can actually be one of the worst things as for some children certain foods are like poison or drugs in their system.
Alexia is one who cannot eat certain types of foods or the reactions she has are something you would not want to witness.
Alexia can have absolutely no dairy products which was a hard thing to deal with because she loves cheese and milk but when we did start to get her to change her diet using soy milk (that was difficult in the beginning) and cutting out ALL dairy, it was as if we had a completely different child with us.
Still another one of the signs of autism we saw in Alexia was her habit of watching the same shows over and over again.
Some of you may be thinking we shouldn't have let her but if you have ever experienced life with a child who has autism you might understand that we felt as if we really didn't have a lot of choices back then.
She still watches only certain programs but we have learned how to turn off the t.
v.
and different ways to distract her and keep her busy.
I have to state here though that these tactics do not always work but just some examples are going to the park (when it's nice out), MacDonald's so she can get some exercise there, she loves puzzles, bubbles and color wonders.
One of her favorite, possibly her very favorite is swimming and that in and of itself can turn into a nightmare.
More on that later.
These signs of autism I am writing about come in no specific order, they are just some things I observed with my granddaughter and am hoping to help someone else who may be struggling with some of these things to learn to understand what is happening.
So back to the signs of autism I see in my granddaughter.
She loves to peel everything and I mean everything.
If she can peel it it will be peeled.
Crayons for her are not to be used for coloring (she may have scribbled a line here or there) but for peeling the paper off.
My daughter used to buy crayons by the case for Alexia although she has since seemed to have lost some of her interest in the crayons.
She will peel the paint off your walls, stairs, window sills, she even tries to peel the paint off the rides and railings when we go to an amusement park.
Okay, as if that's not enough, she peels her grapes before she eats them.
Talk about patience.
Last but definitely not the least of the signs of autism is the tantrums.
These tantrums are by far the hardest part of dealing with a child who has autism.
Hence the t.
v.
show thing.
Although since my daughter changed her diet the tantrums are now few and far between, they are still not something anyone wants to be subject to.
As Alexia get bigger she is of course even harder to handle and once she is in the throws of one of these tantrums it is not a pretty site to see us trying to get her away from wherever we may be such as trying to get her to leave a swimming pool.
I really hope this article is helpful to someone who is trying to find out why their child may be doing certain things or acting in certain ways you may not understand.
Patience is definitely something you will need if your child has autism.
My heart goes out to all children and parents.
Actually, I believe the signs are so varied amongst children who have autism that while one child may have distinctly obvious signs that there is a problem, another child may seem to be almost completely normal with no outward signs of autism whatsoever.
I realize some may take offense to the word normal so I apologize for my choice of words there.
I have watched many videos and seen several different children who have autism and the difficulties they have are quite varied so I am going to give the experiences I have had with my granddaughter, Alexia.
One of the signs of autism that we first observed was in her inability to learn to speak correctly.
She was unable to communicate with me even by the age of 3.
She couldn't speak simple words that most children of her age were able to say.
At that time we just thought maybe she was storing up information and would soon start babbling and talking to the point where it would drive us crazy.
Something we were actually looking forward to but it just didn't seem to be happening.
Another of the signs of autism that we observed was with her eating habits.
It seems most children with autism will choose 2-3 foods and simply refuse to eat anything else.
Unfortunately, that can actually be one of the worst things as for some children certain foods are like poison or drugs in their system.
Alexia is one who cannot eat certain types of foods or the reactions she has are something you would not want to witness.
Alexia can have absolutely no dairy products which was a hard thing to deal with because she loves cheese and milk but when we did start to get her to change her diet using soy milk (that was difficult in the beginning) and cutting out ALL dairy, it was as if we had a completely different child with us.
Still another one of the signs of autism we saw in Alexia was her habit of watching the same shows over and over again.
Some of you may be thinking we shouldn't have let her but if you have ever experienced life with a child who has autism you might understand that we felt as if we really didn't have a lot of choices back then.
She still watches only certain programs but we have learned how to turn off the t.
v.
and different ways to distract her and keep her busy.
I have to state here though that these tactics do not always work but just some examples are going to the park (when it's nice out), MacDonald's so she can get some exercise there, she loves puzzles, bubbles and color wonders.
One of her favorite, possibly her very favorite is swimming and that in and of itself can turn into a nightmare.
More on that later.
These signs of autism I am writing about come in no specific order, they are just some things I observed with my granddaughter and am hoping to help someone else who may be struggling with some of these things to learn to understand what is happening.
So back to the signs of autism I see in my granddaughter.
She loves to peel everything and I mean everything.
If she can peel it it will be peeled.
Crayons for her are not to be used for coloring (she may have scribbled a line here or there) but for peeling the paper off.
My daughter used to buy crayons by the case for Alexia although she has since seemed to have lost some of her interest in the crayons.
She will peel the paint off your walls, stairs, window sills, she even tries to peel the paint off the rides and railings when we go to an amusement park.
Okay, as if that's not enough, she peels her grapes before she eats them.
Talk about patience.
Last but definitely not the least of the signs of autism is the tantrums.
These tantrums are by far the hardest part of dealing with a child who has autism.
Hence the t.
v.
show thing.
Although since my daughter changed her diet the tantrums are now few and far between, they are still not something anyone wants to be subject to.
As Alexia get bigger she is of course even harder to handle and once she is in the throws of one of these tantrums it is not a pretty site to see us trying to get her away from wherever we may be such as trying to get her to leave a swimming pool.
I really hope this article is helpful to someone who is trying to find out why their child may be doing certain things or acting in certain ways you may not understand.
Patience is definitely something you will need if your child has autism.
My heart goes out to all children and parents.