 | Not being social, not playing with other kids. I remember as a
child in elementary school during recess I would always swing by myself on
the swings even when nobody else was swinging next to me and I never ran
around the playground like the other kids. |
| Playing with toys oddly, playing with objects as toys. |
| Staring at an object, thing, or toy too much. |
| Shy around other people. Trouble in social situations. |
| Doesn't see gestures from other people. Doesn't understand or
see social cues, such as being smiled, or winked at. |
| Alone in their own world. Keep to themselves. |
| Lack of or no eye contact, avoiding eye contact,
looking down, or the other direction when being spoken to. |
| Repeating phases that they like, either they heard
them from other people, the radio, or TV. |
| Can't stand being touched or hugged. (I don't
have that problem anymore.) |
| Doesn't understand facial expressions or tone of
voice. Can't tell if someone is mad or upset. |
| Lack of smell, doesn't notice a bad smell. I
usually can't tell that a smell is bad until after somebody says something
about it. It's like my nose doesn't work correctly or my mind
doesn't tell my nose that there's a bad smell. |
| Can't take change in everyday habits, likes
routine. |
| Not recognizing familiar faces. I once read
autistic children may not even recognize their own mom at age 6! I
remember when I was in the 6th grade I at first didn't recognize someone
because he started wearing glasses. |
| Slow in comprehending, or can't comprehend. Slow at
understanding, or can't understand when spoken to. Needs things
repeated, but don't repeat unless asked to. |
| Can't face the public. Gets scared of people. |
| Not understanding what's going on in the world or
life. |
| Temper tantrums for no apparent reason. |
| Rocking or hand flapping. |
| Not acting like a normal child. |
| Disobey, disrespectful, rude, or saying something
not polite. |
| Being obsessive. |
| Unusual, strange, weird, or odd behaviors. |
| Says strange, or weird stuff. |
| Everything must be in the right place. Example:
Objects in bedroom must be in the same spot (Autistic children may worry a
lot if something was out of place, they may scream, or if
they could, they'll fix it.) I'm pretty laid back now about that
issue. I remember when I was a boy, I wanted all objects in my room
right where I thought they should be. |
| Seem organized. |
| Likes numbers. |
| Takes everything literally. |
| Doesn't understand jokes or phases. |
| I'm interested in the details of certain situations instead of "to the
point," but sometimes I don't have time and want to hear just "the point." |
| Does not babble, point, or make meaningful gestures by
1 year of age. |
| Does not speak one word by 16 months. |
| Does not combine two words by 2 years. |
| Does not respond to name. |
| Loses language or social skills. |
| Poor eye contact. |
| Doesn't seem to know how to play with toys. |
| Excessively lines up toys or other objects. |
| Is attached to one particular toy or object. |
| Doesn't smile. |
| At times seems to be hearing impaired. |
