Recognize the Characteristics of Autistic Children Early

The characteristics of children with autism can generally be seen in patterns of behavior, activities, and interactions that tend to be limited and repetitive. In addition, the characteristics of autistic children also appear in their behavior like to flip over, touch, and smell certain objects or objects with excessive. Autism is a disorder that occurs in the brain, which causes several different areas of the brain to be unable to cooperate. So autism sufferers find it difficult to communicate and have social relations with others. The cause of autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) consists of many factors, but generally due to genetic and environmental factors. There is no evidence that autism can be caused by a vaccine given as a baby. Autism generally begins in childhood and lasts until adolescence and adulthood. Broadly speaking, the characteristics of autistic children who can be seen include:

• Communication difficulties

Children with autism tend to have difficulty communicating with others, including speaking, understanding speech, to reading and writing. In addition, there are several other communication problems, including difficulty starting a conversation, understanding words and following instructions. Children with autism generally also have problems understanding the use of body language such as pointing, waving, or showing an object to others. Other characteristics of autistic children such as repeating a word that was just heard or heard some time ago, say something as if in the tone of the song, or perform tantrums to express their desires.

• Interference in social relations

The characteristics of autistic children are children who are preoccupied with their own world, making it difficult to connect with the people around them. Children with autism have difficulty making eye contact. They also have difficulty understanding the pain, sadness and feelings of others. Therefore, autistic children are generally not easy to make friends, play and share toys with friends, or focus on the same object with others.

• Other typical behaviors

Some typical behaviors of children with autism, among others are irritability with certain sounds, difficulty changing one activity to another and have unique limitations or interests. For example, just talking about one topic or staring at a particular toy. In addition, the characteristics of autistic children also seem to like waving their hands, storing stones, turning around, and staring blankly. They also usually only like a few types of food.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Doctors have specific guidelines in diagnosing autism. The first diagnosis, pay attention to verbal and nonverbal communication. Second, the ability to interact and social relationships. Third, the limited interest in activities or play. Until now there is no cure for autism. However, specific interventions in helping children with autism aim at improving children's communication skills, social interactions, and education. Not only doctors, to deal with children with autism also requires a medical team including psychologists or psychiatrists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and others.

Tips for Communicating with Children with Autism

It's not easy to communicate with children with autism. Here are a few suggestions you can make:

• Familiarize speaking with short and clear sentences. You can also speak slowly with pauses between words.
• Give the child time to understand. If necessary, accompany the words you are saying with simple body movements.
• Always call a child by his name.
• Limiting the sounds that arise nearby.

It is important to recognize the characteristics of an autistic child so that he can immediately get the diagnosis and the right treatment. For this reason parents need to consult intensively with pediatricians and other medical teams.