Autism Signs Autism is a disease that affects millions of people all around the world.  Not only does it affect those who actually have the disease, it affects the individuals and families that are taking care of them.  It is actually a brain disease that causes several different social disorders to develop within the individual.  Typically, the signs of this particular disease are recognized before the individual turns three.  At this particular time, there is not a cure for autism so early detection is necessary in order to help the individual and their families to be able to deal with life as normally as possible.  Here are some of the autism signs in order to help you to recognize this particular disease. Autism signs generally show up in three different areas, social skills, language and behavioral problems.  As far as the social skills are concerned, the individual may not respond to their name, display decreased eye contact, is not interested in cuddling or touching and does not appear to be concerned about others' feelings.  They may also enjoy playing and being to themselves and are often in their own world, so to speak. The language problems that individuals with autism may display include a late start in talking, not making direct eye contact with you whenever they are requesting something, an inability to start a conversation or repetitive symptoms, such as repeating words or phrases over and over without actually using them in conversation. The behavioral autism signs include repetitive movements that may show up in the form of rocking, spending or flapping of the hands.  They may have very specific routines that they follow on a daily basis and will become disturbed if that particular routine is interrupted in any way.  The individual may move constantly or may find a particular fascination with certain parts of an object.  They may also be sensitive to things such as light, touch and sound. If you recognize these autism signs in any individuals, you should seek medical attention.  Early detection of autism is the best way that we have now in order to combat this disease.

Autism Fact #1 Because of the special way autistic minds function, normal teaching methods don't work. Understanding how the autistic mind functions, allows you to take advantage of this functionality to provide specialized teaching that will help young autistic minds learn much more rapidly than they could with standard teaching methods.

Autism Fact #2 The autistic mind tends to function in a visual manner. Specialized teaching for autism makes heavy use of pictures. Using words to describe something is nearly useless. Providing pictures of what you are describing is much more successful. Even better though is taking the child to see the actual item or place being described.

Autism Fact #3 Take advantage of the natural skills an autistic child may have, instead of focusing on weaker points. It is interesting to note that although autistic children tend to be visual and are often very good at drawing, they can also be very good with music. Take advantage of this by creatively using music and art as part of teaching other topics.