Autism is a developmental disorder. This means that our brains developed differently from a neurotypical person's brain. There is a certain criteria that must be met in order to diagnose autism. There is a diagnostic manual called the DSM-5, which provides the criteria to help diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is the newest diagnostic manual. It dos not split autism into Asperger's. It is all considered Autism Spectrum Disorder. I will be copying the criteria and linking the website if you would like to look into it further. I will also share how any of this may have affected me in the past or still affects me.
1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
This is talking about the person's social interaction. This could include having conversations, the interests you have, and finding different ways to connect with people. If someone has deficits with this, it could be a sign of autism. I personally do not have a huge range of interests. My interests do not change often. I also struggle with conversations when first meeting people because small talk is very difficult for me. If I don't know anything about someone, I have no idea what to talk to them about. I believe this also has to do with the fact that our brains developed differently from neurotypical people's brains.
2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
This also has to do with deficits in social interaction; however, it focuses more on the physical aspect of what the person is doing. For example, eye contact, hand gestures, or facial expressions. This also could be figuring out how the other person is feeling. We often do not read facial expressions well due to how our brain functions. Abnormalities could range from no eye contact to too much eye contact. Autism is a wide spectrum and it can go both ways. I personally have always struggled with eye contact, but I also know people with autism who are perfectly fine with making eye contact. I also use my hands a lot when I am talking either out of anxiety or simply because I am excited. There is a range in the way different autistic people behave. When it comes to facial expressions, I either make too many or lack facial expression. I have been told that I make a lot of faces, but I have also been told I lack facial expressions in certain situations. I also need people to tell me what they are feeling because usually I cannot read their expression. It is important to remember that abnormalities range from lacking the quality to doing it too much.
3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understand relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.
This is saying that the person has difficulty with relationships with people. I personally struggle to understand relationships, but I do enjoy meeting people. I struggle to maintain relationships because sometimes I cannot explain what I want or how I feel and that becomes frustrating to others. I think this also has to do with the fact that I do not have the energy to talk to or hang out with some people. When I was younger, I didn't get why people wanted to have sleepovers. I didn't like going to my friends houses. It wasn't exciting to me, but I had no problem with them coming to my house. I believe this also could have been a comfort thing. When it says "difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts" I had no idea there was context to social interaction. I do not change how I feel or my behavior to fit into anything. I am not sure if that is something people usually do. I did not like sharing my ideas as a kid. I thought mine were more important than my friends and what they wanted to do never seemed exciting to me. I just went along with them, so I wouldn't have to share my ideas. I was a very imaginative child and still am a very creative person in my opinion.
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following:
1. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypes, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).
I personally do not do a lot of these. I do some repetitive movements that are not common, like touching my face a lot or playing with my hands. I do like to sort things by color when I can, but I don't always. I did get really excited over boxes or bubble wrap because they were fun for me. I don't think I ever really repeated phrases or anything, but I know of people with autism who do.
2. Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day).
This is definitely me! I hated change as a kid and I still do not like change. I am probably one of the least flexible people ever. I love routines and lists. As a kid, my mom had to tell me the plan before any family vacation or else I would get extremely upset. I did not handle any changes well. If you told me we were leaving at 5:00 and it was 5:01 it was unacceptable to me. I have gotten slightly more flexible as an adult, but it is still annoying when the plan changes. A lot of the time those of us with autism have already planned what we will do in advance, so changing the plan causes stress. It means we have to create a new plan now and we don't have time to figure it out. I did not like trying new foods. I ate macaroni and cheese almost all the time. I was very weird about trying anything new.
3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).
I cannot think of any abnormal interests I had, but I was very fixated on this doll I had. She would come with me everywhere and I would have my family pretend to feed her and treat her like she was a real person. She would play games with us and be in family pictures. I was excessively attached. I did really enjoy writing essays, which was odd to a lot of people, but I wouldn't say it is to the point of being abnormal.
4. Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g. apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).
I think it is good that they put hyper or hypo. It can range either way because it is a spectrum. Personally, I am hypersensitive to sensory input. I do not like bright lights and the sun used to bother my eyes a lot more than others. It is hard for me to open my eyes when it is really bright outside. Loud noises also have always bothered me. I always wanted to cover my ears when there was a lot of noise or I would have a meltdown. I also looked down a lot because of all the lights around me. I also have a strong sense of taste. I notice small differences in my food when it is made differently. This is probably why I like my food very plain. It does not taste as plain to me as it may to other people. I hated tightening my bra straps and never really learned how to because I wouldn't do it. I was sensitive to the feeling of it and it bothered me when it was tightened. I also loved to smell everything and touch everything. I have always loved blankets! The texture is so satisfying to me. I would also feel the need to touch everything with both hands because if I didn't I would think I am leaving the other hand out. This is very relatable to me.
C. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).
This is basically just saying all of these things must be present when you're growing up and during your developmental stages. It is also saying that as you get older these symptoms may become more or less apparent depending on your situation.
D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
This means that these symptoms are causing a strong impact on your life and functions.
E. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.
This is when someone with autism has an intellectual disability along with ASD. This would be considered comorbidity, which is having two or more disabilities present. Having autism does not mean you will have another disability as well, but it is possible. For example, I have autism and an anxiety disorder, but they are not the same thing. They have nothing to do with each other. Autism is its own diagnosis.
This is the diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-5 and I hope this information helps if you suspect someone might have autism. Hopefully having some of my personal experiences helped a little as well. It is important to remember that not everyone with autism is the same. I am just one person and I am only speaking for myself. It is a wide spectrum. I will try to give more information in the future on other signs of autism. All of the italicized information on the DSM-5 came from this website: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-dsm.html
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