Non-autistic infants and toddlers tend to copy others naturally. An autistic child, however, is often less likely to imitate others on their own.
Deficits in imitation ability in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have also been repeatedly documented from toddlerhood into adulthood, raising the possibility that early disruptions in imitation contribute to the onset of ASD and the deficits in language and social interaction that define the disorder.
Children with autism prefer their mothers to strangers and attempt to remain close to them as much as other children. However they do not engage in attention sharing behaviors such as pointing or showing objects. They also do not seem to recognize the meaning of facial expressions and emotions.
They usually prefer to play alone and have challenges working together with others. Various types of therapy are available to help kids with autism and their families to play together and build relationships.
However, they look up to the mother or caregiver for social referencing and hover around or cling to the caregiver. Children with an ASD are not vigilant and do not look up to the caregiver for social referencing. They may not cling to the caregiver, although go up to them for succor.
While autistic children perform relatively well in emulation tasks, they tend to have difficulties with mimicry tasks. Emulation is the process of goal-directed imitation. Mimicry tasks, on the other hand, require children with autism to spontaneously copy the low-level, kinematic features of action.
Borderline autistic children often become obsessive with patterns and repetitive behavior and play. Even though they engage in repetitive behavior, it is less extreme than children with autism. Toddlers that are borderline autistic may have a specific attachment to an odd item such as liking door knobs, keys, lamps…
Anxiety disorders with extreme shyness and social withdrawal can be mistaken for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Social anxiety disorder can cause children to be "shut down" with regard to social interactions.
Children with autism are often associated with aggressive behavior such as physical aggression and verbal aggression including yelling, screaming, tantrums, and outbursts. These challenging behaviors can be stressful for families to deal with every day at home or at school.
In fact, parents of autistic children report that they experience more depression, anxiety, and stress-related health problems than other parents. Parental stress has also been associated with marital distress, less effective parenting, and dropping out of treatment.
The main results revealed that children with autism expressed jealousy in situations similar to their typical age mates but manifested it in different behaviors. Moreover, children with autism revealed a less coherent understanding of the feeling.
They found that although the autistic children did not differ from the younger, typically developing children in the amount of time spent looking at their own faces, but that they did spend a lot more time looking at objects in the mirror, and that their behavior toward their reflections differed from that of either ...
It's quite common for autistic children who do not appear to have any behavioural difficulties at school to behave differently at home.
For example, when playing a game of chase, a child with autism may quickly say, “Chase me,” as he is running right by his classmate. If that classmate didn't actually hear him, the other child may think he was being ignored. We need to catch these opportunities instead of letting them pass us by.
Early signs of autism can be detected in babies by playing peek-a-boo, research has shown. If their brains respond less than they should to the stimulating game they are more likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as toddlers.
Although the exact cause of autism is still unknown, there is evidence to suggest that genetics play a significant role. Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
Some developmental health professionals refer to PDD-NOS as “subthreshold autism." In other words, it's the diagnosis they use for someone who has some but not all characteristics of autism or who has relatively mild symptoms.
Early signs of autism in toddlers and preschoolers
Doesn't engage in pretend play by 18 months (like caring for a doll, for example) Prefers to play alone and doesn't seem to understand feelings in other people. Doesn't speak or speaks with an unusual rhythm or monotone. Gives unrelated answers to questions.
The interests of a toddler with HFA tend to be very limited, causing the youngster to have a verynarrow focus of activities and interests. The child may seem to have one-sided social interaction and limited ability to form friendships.
For Kids With Autism, Imitation Counts for More Than the Highest Form of Flattery. UT Austin research points to kids with autism's imitation behavior as most important predictor of a key stage in their development toward flexible speech, which gives researchers more clarity about the timing of intervention.
A prototypical example is when two people in a bar are involved in a conversation and are unaware of the fact that they take on the same posture, nod their heads, and make the same face rubbing or hair touching movements.
Children with autism display many abnormal behaviors that, while not essential to the diagnosis, cause serious distress for both the child and the family. Unusual eating habits, abnormal sleep patterns, temper tantrums, and aggression to self and to others are among the most common of these abnormal behaviors.