Autism symptoms usually appear between the ages of three and five. And very rarely, the diagnosis is made in adolescents or adults.
Usually, the patient's facial expressions are poorly developed. The child smiles only in response to his inner feelings and does not perceive the attempts of those around him to cheer him up. The facial expressions of people do not carry any semantic meaning for him. He speaks of himself in the third person, and uses gestures only to indicate physiological needs. Speech may be absent, delayed, or abnormal.
Autistic people never take part in general games. They can spend hours doing the same thing. A common feature is the repetition of stereotypical movements such as clapping your hands or shaking your head.
Such children feel comfortable only in a familiar environment. If an autistic person is “pulled out” of his usual environment, an attack of aggression can occur both in relation to others and to oneself. Patients often have obsessive states.
When autism combines with other abnormalities in brain development, profound mental retardation occurs. If the disease is mild, with good dynamics of speech development, intelligence can be not only normal, but also much higher than average. However, its distinctive feature is its narrow focus.
A child can easily operate with mathematical data, draw beautiful pictures or masterly perform melodies, but at the same time, in all other parameters, he seriously lags behind his peers in development. The causes of autism have not yet been determined.
