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What Symptoms Do Autistic People All Share?

By Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com

Updated: June 01, 2009

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Question: What Symptoms Do Autistic People All Share?

The autism spectrum includes an incredibly wide range of people, with an amazingly broad range of abilities and challenges. So, what symptoms do all autistic people share?

Answer: What all individuals diagnosed on the autism spectrum have in common are delays or disabilities when it comes to social skills such as ordinary conversation, eye contact and emotional understanding of others. These issues are likely to lead to impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Most people with autism also share delays in fine and gross motor skills.

It's important to note, too, that symptoms of autism can also be strengths. For example, a child on the autism spectrum may have better observational abilities than a typical child of the same age.

Sources:

Autism Society of America Website
Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders) National Institute of Mental Health, 2004. Greenspan, Stanley. "The Child with Special Needs." C 1998: Perseus Books.

Romanowski, Patricia et al. "The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome." C 2000: Crown Publishers, New York, NY.

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