Autism Symptoms Checklist - 7 Signs Your Child Might Be Autistic

The following are 7 common symptoms of Autism in children. Of course just having one of these symptoms doesn't mean your child is Autistic, however if several signs show up, it may be time to get a doctors opinion (or two!) on whether your child might be Autistic. Autism symptoms generally appear before the child is age 3. There is a marked difference between a behavior of normal children and Autistic ones. The actual degree of Autism will always vary, so no treatment for Autism will be exactly the same. The symptoms can range from mild to disabling.
*Fear of change is a common Autistic trait. It is not only new environments that scare Autistics, but also ones that are predictable. Large changes in daily routine around the house can be enough to trigger a full-scale panic.
*Intense tantrums are another trait we see with Autistic children. These are much more extreme than tantrums you would normally see from children. These typically happen when the child becomes very scared, like for the reason mentioned above.
*Repetition of phrases, gestures, and physical movements. The child may repeat something he sees or hears several times throughout the day, he may repeat nonsense phrases or rub objects over and over again.
*Withdrawn and unable to make friends. Autistic children lack social skills and other children cannot relate to them, which makes them a target for bullying. They also tend to lack the ability to understand the body language of others, like facial expressions, and cannot reciprocate these signals.
*The child treats other people as objects. This is different than the lack of social skills itself, as in this case the child does not recognize the other person as being conscious and having freewill. Studies have shown that Autistic children tend to work better with robots because their facial expressions are less complex and their behavior is much more predictable.
*A narrow and obsessive range of interests. This goes hand in hand with the repetition that we see with Autism. All children develop fascinations with objects or certain themes, however an extreme unending interest in them, when combined with other symptoms, tend to suggest at least mild Autism. This can happen as early as infancy when a child will focus on object alone ignoring all other stimulus.
*Has an under or over reaction to stimuli. For example, your child may not react at all to pain, but be very sensitive to loud noises.
*The child doesn't make eye contact or look directly at objects he in interested in. For example, if your child appears to be playing with a toy car, but instead the child is watching the movement of the wheels.