No one will exhibit all of these characteristics, as each case of autism has its own unique gifts and struggles. This is a list of commonly seen characteristics found on the autism spectrum. This list is provided for educational purposes and not meant to be used for diagnosing autism. Many of these characteristics can also be found in those struggling with ADD/ADHD. Generally, an individual with autism will have struggles in several categories below, not just one:
Social skills
Very little or no eye contact
Resistance to being held or touched
Tends to get too close when speaking to someone (lack of personal space)
Responds to social interactions, but does not initiate them
Does not generally share observations or experiences with others
Difficulty understanding jokes, figures of speech or sarcasm
Difficulty reading facial expressions and body language
Difficulty understanding the rules of conversation
Difficulty understanding group interactions
Aversion to answering questions about themselves
Gives spontaneous comments which seem to have no connection to the current conversation
Makes honest, but inappropriate observations
Seems unable to understand another’s feelings
Prefers to be alone, aloft or overly-friendly
Difficulty maintaining friendships
Finds it easier to socialize with people that are older or younger, rather than peers of their own age
Unaware of/disinterested in what is going on around them
Talks excessively about one or two topics (dinosaurs, movies, etc.)
Overly trusting or unable to read the motives behinds peoples’ actions
Minimal acknowledgement of others
Linguistic/language development
Abnormal use of pitch, intonation, rhythm or stress while speaking
Speech is abnormally loud or quiet
Difficulty whispering
Repeats last words or phrases several times. Makes verbal sounds while listening (echolalia)
Often uses short, incomplete sentences
Pronouns are often inappropriately used
May have a very high vocabulary
Uses a person’s name excessively when speaking to them
Speech started very early and then stopped for a period of time