Autism is more common in males than females by almost three to one. Want to find out if one of your children is autistic? Here are few guidelines to help you make your assessment:
• Your child does not want you to hug or hold him when he throws tantrums or is overly anxious. And when he refuses to eat, he would just push the food away from him.
Autistic children usually suffers from a sensory impairment. They sometimes like to hurt themselves during tantrums. They are not comforted by being held or cuddled. On the contrary, they usually stiffen when held. So what can you do? Give your child his favorite toy or transfer the child to a different environment.
• Your child seems to have difficulty in dealing with the outside world.
The ability to receive stimuli from the environment is blocked so much so that an autistic child often has problem with communicating and seldom engages in social interaction. He plays alone and almost always gets attached to a single object or person.
• Your child develops repetitive activities.
These could be by rocking his body or spinning objects and hand flapping.
• Your child is obsessed with sameness or routine.
An autistic child resists changes in routine and learning. He could be very impulsive when interrupted in his activity.
Children with autism sometimes appear clumsy because they have lower IQ. However, accurate IQ measurement may be difficult to obtain due to the lack of language in these individuals, 60% of children have an IQ less than 50; 20% between 50 and 70; and 20% have an IQ greater than 70.
