Autism-World

Ask:I have been reading and reading about autism on here and I have a daughter that when she was little, her dr said she had autistic tendencies. I’d like to know what the typical signs are that a child might be autistic, in the mildest form. I am very uninformed and uneducated on this topic. But the websites I have found are overwhelming. My husband and I are quiet–there might be some odd behavior on his side of the family in the way of social settings. Our seven children are very shy–well one, is less shy and more of an extravert. But all of my others are quiet and do not like to talk with strangers. But I was the same way. If you have a resource or a general explanation of this description of a personality, or however it is defined, I would love to know it. I do not want to label my child, I only want to understand what they may be experiencing. I sort of like my quiet family…just the way they are

Answer:People with autism are not antisocial they just don’t understand other people. They feel afraid and alone because few understand their difficulties in socializing. To autistic people, understanding simple social skills that are innate in most people, for us has to be taught through instructive means. For example eye contact when talking most people use eye contact without realizing. But autistic people don’t, they have to be taught. However I am now able to make more friends easily because I was trained through intensive social skill instruction, however there are still some human behaviors that to this day I don’t understand. That is dating and relationships. Being autistic is like being from an alien planet were you observe humans and your interpretation of their behavior and culture seems foreign and incomprehensible. It is almost like we just have to sit back and hopefully learn through observations. This is what it is like growing up with autism.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Ask and answer.