Imaginary friends:
The social alienation of autistic and Asperger's people is so intense
from childhood that many of them have imaginary friends as companionship.
However, having an imaginary friend is not necessarily a sign of autism
and may be common in neurotypicals.
Sensory Integration Dysfunction:
A key indicator in clinicians making a proper assessment for autism would
include looking for Sensory integration disorder. Children will exhibit
problems coping with the normal sensory input.
Symptoms may include:
- Over sensitivity to touch, movement, sights, or sounds
- Under reactivity to touch, movement, sights, or sounds
- Specific learning difficulties/delays in academic achievement
- Inability to unwind or calm self
- Difficulty in making transitions from one situation to another
- Tendency to be easily distracted/Limited attention control
- Physical clumsiness or apparent carelessness
- Activity level that is unusually high or unusually low
- Social and/or emotional problems
- Poor self concept/body awareness
- Difficulty learning new movements
- Delays in speech, language, or motor skills
- Impulsive, lacking in self-control
- Communication difficulties
- - By age 3, typical children have passed predictable milestones on the path to learning language; one of the earliest is babbling. By the first birthday, a typical toddler says words, turns when he or she hears his or her name, points when he or she wants a toy, and when offered something distasteful, makes it clear that the answer is "no."
Read more about:
- Speech Development in Autism
- Severity of symptoms
