Diagnostic criteria according to Szatmari, Bremner and Nagy ( 1998)

1. Social isolation (at least two of the following):

a. no close friends

b. avoids others

c. no interest in making friends

d. a loner


2. Impaired social interaction (at least one of the following):

a. approaches others only to have own needs met

b. clumsy social approach

c. one-sided responses to peers

d. difficulty sensing feelings of others

e. indifference to the feelings of others


3. Impaired non-verbal communication (at least one of the following):

a. limited facial expressions

b. impossible to read emotions through facial expression of the child

c. inability to convey message with eyes

d. avoids looking at others

e. does not use hands to aid expression

f. large and clumsy gestures

g. infringes on other people’s physical space


4. Speech and language peculiarities (at least two of the following):

a. abnormalities of inflection

b. over-talkative

c. non-communicative

d. lack of cohesion to conversation

e. idiosyncratic use of words ( uses words in a different way then what they would normally mean)

f. repetitive patters of speech

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