Symptoms of autism, how to get along with autistic children?

Autism is also known as autism. Children with autism are called “children of the stars”. In China, the prevalence of autism is about 1%, which means that about one out of every 100 Chinese children is autistic. They need our help in their lives and in their future.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology. It is associated with genetic factors and environmental factors, and autism usually develops before a child is 3 years old.

Symptoms of Autism

A child’s lack of speech may be due to a delay in language development or a personality problem. The main symptoms of autism include language communication disorder, social interaction disorder, narrow range of interests, and stereotyped motor behavior.

1. Verbal Communication Disorders

Most children with autism are still non-verbal by the age of two to three and have very limited comprehension of speech. Some children also have normal speech development until age 3 and then regress in language with age, or even remain silent for life. In addition to verbal communication, children with autism use few expressions, movements, and postures for communication.

2. Social Interaction Disorders

Children with autism are unable to establish normal interpersonal relationships with others and lack interest in social interactions. At a young age, this may manifest as a paucity of expressions, not showing closeness to mom or dad or their caregivers, and treating loved ones the same way as they treat others.

Children with autism have difficulty forming normal partnerships with children their own age. For example, they are always alone and do not like to play with their peers in kindergarten.

3. Narrow interests and stereotypical, repetitive behaviors

Children with autism are not interested in games and toys that children in general are passionate about and prefer to play with non-living objects (e.g. a bottle cap, or watching a spinning electric fan). Can develop strong attachments to objects and cry when they are taken away.

Children with autism may have a set of fixed behavioral patterns of their own, such as a fixed bedtime and going the same route when they go out. Some children may have repetitive stereotypical actions, such as repeatedly clapping their hands, spinning, stomping their feet, or perhaps even behaviors that hurt themselves, such as repeatedly banging their heads against the wall.

How to get along with children with autism?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for autism and there is no way to eradicate it, only professional intervention and educational rehabilitation to reduce symptoms and integrate into society. Therefore, it is very important to learn how to get along with them.

Since autistic children seem like they are immersed in their own world, we cannot interact and play games with them like we do with other children; all we can do may be to understand them. We need to understand their behavior, their struggles, the reasons behind their symptoms, and the fact that they are born different but have the same love.

1. Don’t look at autistic children in a different way

Rehabilitation of children with autism is often measured by whether or not they can enter society. The foundation for the integration of these children into society is the increased awareness, understanding and care of the autistic community by each and every member of our society.

2. Don’t alienate autistic children

Autism is not dangerous and is not contagious, so there is no need to keep a distance from them. Autistic children are not indifferent and uncaring, they just don’t know how to express themselves. They are like living on a lonely star and may be more sensitive inside than we are. Their special behaviors are just symptoms and do not contain malicious intent.

3. More companionship, more interaction

At present, the treatment of autism is mainly carried out through professional intervention training and family education. Early intervention and long-term training can improve the symptoms of autism and develop the child’s ability to adapt and integrate into society. However, this process requires a huge investment of time, energy and money, and for the families of autistic children, their presence is a huge burden.

Therefore, treating children with autism kindly, understanding the hardships of families with autism, interacting more with our children when spending time with them, and remaining patient and friendly even if we do not get a response, are things we ordinary people can do.

We hope more people can understand autism, understand these unusual children, and work together to guard their growth with love.