Autism is a neurological disorder that may lead to serious damage at behavioral, communication and social interactions level. Usually confirmed during the first periods of life, autism is considered to be a serious condition that determines abnormalities in the development of children. The first autism symptoms can sometimes be observed at birth. However, the presence of such a disorder is usually confirmed later, at ages around one or two years. Children with autism may experience milder forms of the disorder, or, on the contrary, they may be affected by more severe forms of autism.

Autism is a disorder that affects the way people relate to others, perceive and express feelings, communicate with other people, behave and adapt to new situations. At the first sight, a person who suffers from autism appears to be normal and in fact, autistic people aren’t very different from people not affected by the disorder. Some autistic people have average and above average IQ’s, and the disorder affects people regardless of their intelligence level. People with autism usually focus their intelligence towards working with numbers, excelling in areas like mathematics. Despite the fact that many autistic people are very intelligent, they are unable to express themselves or to properly relate to other people. They usually have low emotional intelligence and behaviors targeted towards the self.

Parents suspecting that their children might be affected by autism should pay careful attention to autism symptoms. If autism symptoms are spotted soon, the damage done by the disorder can be controlled. Autistic children that receive the appropriate treatment, special care and attention, are less likely to develop severe forms of the disorder. Therefore, speed is vital in detecting the first autism symptoms. Parents that notice abnormalities in the behavior of their children should consider keeping track of autism symptoms with the help an autism symptoms checklist. It is best to keep an autism symptom checklist and to verify the responsiveness of children earlier than the age of two years, in order to be able to intervene in the development of the disorder.

Here is an autism symptoms checklist presenting the most common autism symptoms to small children and babies:

- inappropriate verbal and non-verbal communication skills;

- strong resistance to environmental and behavioral change (autistic children don’t let people interfere with their routine, engaging in repetitive, stereotype behaviors and activities; they also have low adaptability to new situations);

- hyper-activity or hypo-activity (autistic children usually have extreme behaviors; they are either very active, being difficult to calm down, or passive, avoiding any interactions and showing little responsiveness to stimuli);

- inability to understand and act in the presence of danger (autistic children usually don’t seem to be aware of potential dangers);

- poor imitational skills (inability of imitating simple gestures or facial expressions);

- low responsiveness to the hearing of their own name;

- difficulties in social interactions, avoidance of making eye contact with people;

- the tendency of engaging in activities and behaviors that may result in self-harm (banging their heads against their cribs, excessively scratching their skin);

- poor emphatic skills (children with autism experience difficulties in relating with other people; they also can’t express their compassion or understanding to people in distress).

These autism symptoms presented above are the most common signs of abnormalities that children with the disorder might present and it is very important to spot them as soon as possible. This autism symptoms checklist should guide you in revealing the presence of autism during children’s first years of life.