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Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills.

Early signs of Autism
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Delayed or lack of speech. 

Repetitive movement of body such as
Arms, and head.

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Impaired social skills.

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Interest in activities or play.

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Seldom eye contact with others.

Children and Autism

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Autism effects boys 3-4 times more then girls.

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Family income, education, and lifestyle don't seem to effect the risk of autism.

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Exact number of children living with autism is not known.

Symptoms
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Children with difficulties usually have trouble with:

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Pretend play.

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Social interactions

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Verbal and non-verbal communication. 

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Usually it is not noticed that the child has something wrong until they are at the age of 18 months old.
Help is usually not seeked until the child is about 2 years of age.

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Some children appear normal before the age of 1 or 2 and then suddenly
“regress” and lose language or social skills.

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When they loose these skills at the age of 1 or 2 it is called the regressive type of autism.

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Some people with autism may also be sensitive to sight, hearing, touch, smell, or taste.

Related Developmental Disorder

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Asperger Syndrome (similar to autism but with normal language development).

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Rett Syndrome(Very different from autism, and only occurs in females).

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Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder (Rare condition where a child learns skills, then looses them by age
10).

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Pervasive Developmental
Disorder (Also called typical autism). Social Interaction
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Very withdrawn.

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Does not play interactive games well with others.

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Is not very good at making friends. 

Does not respond very well with eye contact or smiles and almost always avoids eye contact.

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Shows a lack of empathy.

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Prefers to spend time by themselves, rather then with others.

Play and Behavior
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Play:

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Does not imitate others.

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Prefers solitary or ritualistic play. 

Does not pretend play.

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Does not imaginative play.

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Behavior:

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Acts up.

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Short attention span.

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Strong need for sameness.

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Narrow interests.

Signs and Tests
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Babbling by 12 months.

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Gesturing by 12 months
(Pointing or waving).

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Saying single words by 16 months. 

Saying two-word spontaneous phrases by 24 months. 

Losing any language or social skills at any age.

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These children should receive a hearing test, blood/lead test, and screening test since they show