Ramiz Audi, MD
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By Ramiz Audi, MD | Southwest Autism Center of Excellence
There’s a good chance you have met someone who is autistic, have a family or friend “on the spectrum” or you are a parent wondering if your child could be exhibiting signs of autism spectrum disorder.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence for ASD has grown to 1 in 31 children. Boys are nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.
The increased frequency of diagnosing over the years has a lot to do with increased education through public awareness and school settings as well as increased screening by medical providers.
So, what exactly is autism?
Autism typically appears during early childhood and can be defined by two main categories: Deficits in social communication and social interaction throughout multiple social contexts and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests and/or activities.
No two individuals with ASD present the same way. They have their own personality with their own strengths and challenges. However, there are overarching patterns to look for that may help a parent, caregiver or a teacher keep an eye out for the need to have a child evaluated. It’s important to remember, while observing a child or adult, that these behaviors are not appropriate for their developmental age.
Social communication and interaction
Let’s start with the first category, which involves deficits with social-emotional reciprocity. Children will want to start engaging in pretend play and coordinating their play with a common theme or goal, expressing their thoughts and feelings, problem-solving and beginning to exhibit some empathy.
Children on the spectrum may demonstrate difficulty taking interest in what others want to share, do not enjoy interacting with other peers and will likely not initiate conversations.
Some people may observe a child as acting awkward around others. This is partly due to them having limited nonverbal communication deficits. Many times, individuals on the spectrum have difficulty expressing their emotions through facial expressions and tone of voice, and their words may not match their behavior. Their speech will be monotone and facial expressions limited, and their gestures can be perceived as lacking warmth. This becomes more noticeable as the child progresses further in grade school.
Developing and maintaining relationships also can be difficult. Many times, an individual on the spectrum may lack the ability to understand another person’s viewpoint and tend to be a concrete thinker. They may struggle with how to be polite or may ask inappropriate questions without understanding how their comment can be offensive or awkward. They are unable to recognize others’ emotions and nonverbal behaviors, like gestures and body language. Frequently, they will miss the social cues they are not welcome to play or converse with a group.
Restricted and repetitive behavior patterns
The second category of deficits revolve around restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors. These behaviors are more obvious and make it very difficult for family dynamics. An individual on the autism spectrum will have difficulty adapting to changes in daily routines because they are very routine-based.
Many times, they will have imposed a strict routine that has multiple steps and insist on rigidly following their routine. They have a significant resistance to change, and if unwanted change occurs, it will trigger an overreaction leading to increased repetitive motor movements like pacing, rocking back and forth, body tensing or aggression toward others or property.
Furthermore, they have an abnormally intense, narrow range of interests that they pursue. For example, they will be extremely fixated on knowing one topic very well, like dinosaurs, baseball or movie series, to name a few, to the exclusion of wanting to learn other interests that are common with peers their age. As a result, this will limit their ability to initiate and maintain friends because they will frequently perseverate on their interests, making conversations one-sided.
The importance of early diagnosis
Early autism diagnosis is crucial to improve developmental outcomes and quality of life. If you suspect that your child has autism, it is important they be evaluated as soon as possible. There is a lot that can be done to help improve social communication, their social-emotional reciprocity as well as their cognitive rigidity. At Southwest Autism Center of Excellence, we have a team of compassionate therapists, board-certified behavior analysts and applied behavior analysis therapists that utilize the therapeutic gold standard treatment to help evaluate and treat the above-mentioned behaviors.
The center also has group sessions for different age ranges that address problem-solving, social engagement, self-awareness, adaptability to unplanned outcomes and improving independent living skills. More importantly, we have a significant amount of family support to help educate and empower parents with the tools to help better support their children’s social-emotional growth and adaptability.
Autistic children deserve our compassion and acceptance. Let’s work together to break the stigma associated with this common and often misunderstood disorder.
Editor’s note: Ramiz Audi, MD is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders, mood disorders and trauma. He treats patients at the Southwest Autism Center of Excellence in Phoenix. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
