Diagnosis
Signs and Symptoms
The Verbal Individual With Autism Spectrum Disorder, High Functioning
Autism, or Asperger Syndrome: Have You Seen This Person?
As verbal individuals with autism are
frequently misdiagnosed, we'd like to take this opportunity to alert you
to their display of symptoms.
May
have received a diagnosis of:
-
ADD or ADHD
-
Intellectual
Disability, Mental Retardation or Learning Disability
-
Adjustment Disorder
-
Conduct Disorder
-
Oppositional Defiant
Disorder
-
Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
-
Bipolar Disorder,
Affective Disorder
-
Schizophrenia
-
Auditory or Sensory
Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia
In the early years:
-
Development of language and communication is atypical
-
Delayed speech or
repetitive use of phrases
-
Shrink
from social contact with peers
-
May not have
pretend play with toys or imaginative play
By school age:
-
Usually talking well and can enter school
-
May
have stopped avoiding social contact and is at least tolerant of it
-
May be
socially awkward and socially immature
Over the next few years:
-
"Eccentricities" dominate his social interactions
-
A
"little professor" on topics of special interest to him
-
When
not talking about his interests, his social interactions are
immature or stilted
-
The child may
interact with peers, although others may perceive him as different
As time passes and social demands increase:
-
May
become anxious in social situations
-
Peers
may reject him and he may become depressed
-
In
school, he may be placed in learning support classes because of
social, behavioral or language comprehension problems
-
He may be
considered to have an attention problem or obsessive compulsive
behaviors
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How a Diagnosis is Made