Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. It is called a developmental disorder because symptoms generally appear in the first two years of life. 

People with ASD often have:

• Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people
• Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
• Symptoms that affect their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life.

Social communication and social interaction behaviors may include:

• Making little or inconsistent eye contact
• Appearing not to look at or listen to people who are talking.
• Infrequently sharing interest, emotion, or enjoyment of objects or activities (including infrequently pointing at or showing things to others)
• Not responding or being slow to respond to one’s name or to other verbal bids for attention.
• Difficulties with back-and-forth conversation
• Often talking at length about a favorite subject without noticing that others are not interested or without giving others a chance to respond.
• Displaying facial expressions, movements, and gestures that do not match what is being said.
• Having an unusual tone of voice that may sound singsong or flat and robot like
• Trouble understanding another person’s point of view or being unable to predict or understand other people’s actions.
• Difficulties adjusting behavior to different social situations.
• Difficulties sharing in imaginative play or making friends.
• Fails to respond to his or her name or appears not to hear you at times.
• Resists cuddling and holding and seems to prefer playing or doing thing on their own.
• Poor eye contact and lacks facial expressions.
• Doesn’t speak or has delayed speech or loses previous ability to say words or sentences.
• Can’t start a conversation or keep one going, or only starts one to make request or label items.
• Speaks with a abnormal tone or rhythm and may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech.
• Repeats words and phrases verbatim but doesn’t understand how to use them.
• Doesn’t appear to understand simple questions or directions.
• Doesn’t express emotions or feelings and appears unaware of other people’s feelings.
• Doesn’t point at or brings objects to share interest.
• Inappropriately approaches a social interaction by being passive, aggressive or disruptive.
• Has difficulty recognizing nonverbal cues, such as interpreting other people’s facial expressions body postures, or tone of voice.

Restrictive/repetitive behaviors may include:

• Repeating certain behaviors or having unusual behaviors, such as repeating words or phrases
• Having a lasting intense interest in specific topics, such as numbers, details, or facts
• Showing overly focused interests
• Becoming upset by slight changes in a routine and having difficulty with transitions. 
• Being more sensitive or less sensitive than other people to sensory input, such as light, sound, clothing, or temperature
• Performs repetitive movements such as rocking, spinning or hand flapping.
• Performs activities that could cause self-harm, such as biting or head banging.
• Develops specific routines or rituals and becomes disturbed at the slightest change.
• Problems with coordination or has odd movement patterns, such as clumsiness or walking on toes, and has odd, stiff or exaggerated body language.
• Is fascinated by details of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car, but doesn’t understand the overall purpose or function of the object.
• Sensitive to light, sound or touch, yet may be in different to pain or temperature.
• Fixates on an object or activity with abnormal intensity or focus.
• Specific food preferences, such as eating only a few foods, or refusing foods with certain texture.

They may also have many strengths, including:

• Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time.
• Being strong visual and auditory learners
• Excelling in math, science, music, or art