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According to Basio (2012), the Centres for Disease Control and Preventions

(CDC) Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM), the research

stated that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an Autism Spectrum

Disorder (ASD). What is autism? It is from a Greek word aut meaning self and ism

which means implying state. This word was found in 1911 by Dr. Eugan Bleular, a

Swiss doctor. However, Freedman (2009) said that the actual disorder was not

identified until 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner in the children he studied at John Hopkins

Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland. The disorder that Dr. Eugen Bleular treats is the

one called schizophrenia. There are three types of ASD which are Autistic Disorder,

Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise

Specified (PDD-NOS). Yet, only Autistic Disorder which known as classic disorder of

autism will be discussed. Symptoms of autism can be identified before the children

reach 3 years old. The two main symptoms of autism are obsessional behaviours

and difficulties in communications.

Obsessional behaviour is behaviour that can be found in children with autism.

It is obvious and can be observed clearly. This symptom will vary from one person to

another person according to the individuals level of development and interest.

According to Smith, Segal and Hutman (2013) children with autism have difficulty in

adapting any changes in school or environment. They found that it is hard to adapt to

a new environment. For example, a child with autism will get angry easily if the

furniture is rearranged or his bedtime is different from usual. Moreover, they also

have a fixed routine. They are comfortable with the daily routine that they had done.

For them, taking the same route to the school is more pleasant and safe. Children

with autism also may be fascinated by details of an object such as staring at the

spinning of the wheel for a long time (Smith, Segal & Hutman, 2013). Furthermore,

they tend to do the same actions or movements repeatedly. For example, they like to

spin or hand flap. They also like to repeat a question to a person for a specificanswer. Obsessional behaviours are important to the autistic children as they help

them to manage anxiety and control to face the confusing and chaotic world. There

are many alternatives that can be taken to relieve these obsessions. So, parents

should be more concerned about their autistic children and refer to the specialist to

get more information on how to handle them.

Another symptom of autism is having difficulties in communications. By the

age of three, most children would probably have passed predictable target in learning

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language. One of the earliest steps is babbling. Typically, toddlers will be able to give

well respond with the surroundings as they reached their first birthday such as by

saying a word or two, turn and look when they hear their names, point to objects they

want or want to show to someone. They also can make clear sound respond or

expression. By contrast, children with autism tend to be delayed in babbling and

speaking and learn how to make an expression and how to use gestures (Solomon,

Holland & Middleton, 2012). Some children were discovered that until their first few

months, they later develop their coo and babble before losing this communicative

behaviour. While some other children would experience significant language delays

and ended up not to begin to speak until much later. Nevertheless, most children with

autism do learn to use spoken languages and to communicate with people. When

language begins to develop in them, the person may use speech in unusual ways.

According to Blanc (2012) some of them have difficulties in combining words into

meaningful sentences. They may speak only single words or same phrases

repeatedly. There is also had a case whereby the children possess only slight delays

in languages or even develop an advanced language and unusual vocabularies and

yet would have difficulties in sustaining a conversation. Eventually, not every child

with autism problem will have a language problem. A childs ability to communicate

can be vary, depending on their intellectual and social development.

It is seen that obsessional behaviours and difficulties in communication are

the symptoms of autism. These symptoms can be helpful to the autism children.

They can be used to reward or motivate them. Parents are important people in

autistic childrens life. They should be more knowledgeable about the symptoms of

autism so that they can prepare themselves in handling autistic children. If parents

suspect that their children might have these autism symptoms, see a specialist to get

a medical check-up. The symptoms associated with autism can also be associated

with other developmental disorders. The earlier that treatment begins, the moreeffective it will be.

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References

Books:

Freedman, Jeri. (2009)Autism. New York : The Rosen Publishing Group. Inc.

Walter Solomon, Chris Holland, Mary Jo Middleton. (2012).

Autism and Understanding: The Waldon Approach to Child Development,

Singapore : SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.

Raymond Le Blanc. (2012). Autism & Asperger's Syndrome in Layman's Terms.

Cranendock Coaching.

Online:

Jon Baio (2012).Autism on Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network

Surveillance Year 2008 Principal Investigations. Retrieved July 23, 2013 from

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html

Melinda Smith, Jeanne Segal, Ted Hutman (2013)Autism Symptoms & Early Signs

Retrieved August 20, 2013 from

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htmhttp://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm