Infancy and ToddlerDislikes being cuddled
Irregular sleep patterns Infrequent eye-contact Not smiling in response to others smiles No warm, joyful expressions Unresponsive to sensory stimuli (e.g, sound, lights) Decreased activity level Extreme irritability Tendency to fixate on objects rather than people No babbling Delayed language development Uses few gestures (e.g., pointing, waving, showing, etc.) Does not imitate others behaviors Does not engage in back-and-forth exchanges during interactions Uses few exclamations (e.g., “uh-oh”) Proneness to accidents |
Pre-SchoolArticulation/pronunciation problems
Slow expansion in vocabulary…Has difficulty finding words to express self Difficulty with rhyming words Difficulty learning ABC’s, numbers, days of the week, colors, or shapes Is easily distracted Difficulty interacting with other children Difficulty following directions or routines Extreme restlessness Difficulty holding small objects or picking objects up with fingers Proneness to accidents Unresponsive to traditional disciplinary strategies Temper tantrums Extreme mood swings Aggressive behavior Destruction of toys or other property, not necessarily maliciously |
ElementaryPoor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents
Short attention span Is easily distracted Difficulty sustaining and making friends Difficulty sustaining topics during conversation Excessively silly behavior Does not appear to know when to stop certain behaviors during interactions Decline in self-esteem Inability to organize self and schoolwork Excessive talking Forgetting homework and chores Failing to complete activities Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in chair Temper tantrums Interrupts others Difficulty waiting for turn in activities/games Difficulty learning the connection between sounds and letters Confuses basic words (run,eat, want) Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home) Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =) Slow to remember facts Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization Impulsive, has difficulty planning Unstable pencil grip Trouble learning about time |
Adolescence to AdulthoodDifficulty making friends
Trouble understanding body language and facial expressions Difficulty adjusting to new settings Either pays too little attention to details or focuses on them too much Works slowly Decline in self-esteem Depression Substance abuse Sexual acting out Thoughts of suicide Engages in thrill seeking behavior Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing Avoids reading and writing tasks Has difficulty summarizing Trouble with open-ended questions on tests Weak memory skills Poor grasp of abstract concepts Misreads information Reverses letter sequences (soiled/solid, left/felt) Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies Avoids reading aloud Trouble with word problems Difficulty with handwriting Awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip Avoids writing assignments Slow or poor recall of facts Truancy |
