Parents usually are suspect long before the diagnoses is given because they can see that the child may not give them eye contact or that the communication process that the child has learned has started to regress after the first year and a half or so of life.
The average age for diagnoses in this country is between the age of two and three and that is where the symptoms start to manifest themselves.
The difficulty in the diagnosis of autism is mainly due to the developmental changes a child goes through during the first three years of life. When a child is developing quickly the meanings of communication and social behaviour may elude doctors or even parents who are not specifically watching their child for autism.
The pattern of a child’s development is ever changing and without a close eye and experience, the beginning of autism is almost impossible to catch. Even the slightest social blunder may be that the child just has some odd quirks and the line between these quirks and minor autism is a very thin one.
Only the judgment of the doctor is the determining factor to label a child autistic. Some autistic children have gone through their entire life with the label of emotionally disabled or behaviouristic challenged. Many doctors stay away from this label because of the emotional impact on the parents or care providers and the chance of lawsuits if the label causes adverse reactions later in life.
There are no medical tests that can be administered that would clearly define autism. The doctor’s opinion is the only thing that will label a child and put them in a category among special needs that hasn’t even really been defined or researched much.
The criterion for autism is determined by a panel of doctors who compare related cases and find a common symptom. Though the criteria is sketchy at best, right now it is the only way some doctors can comfortably make a diagnosis. Most clinicians and medical staff use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders to classify autism and the basic guidelines only include the manifestations of communication use and social behaviour.
Another guideline that is usually diagnosed as compulsive behaviour is the constant vigilance toward established patterns or norms. The autistic child will find their comfort zone in a specific path they will walk around their house or at school. They may be schedule oriented in which they will only follow a specific schedule and will refuse to deviate from it. If an autistic child is made to change their pattern they will lose control of emotions and behaviour.
Behaviour then shows up as uncontrolled anger to verbal confrontation of an extreme nature. The need to follow the specific pattern in built into their system as a way to deal with
an ever changing world.
The one thing that the criteria does not cover is the fixation on certain things. Some autistic children can memorise entire books if it is something that they really like.
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