These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual development or disorder) or global developmental delay.Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not be fully manifested until social demands exceed limited capacities, or be masked by learned strategies in late life).Hyper- or hypoactivity to sensory input, or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movements).Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to, or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or preservative interests).Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualistic patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day).Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys, flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive).Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behaviors to suit various social contexts to difficulties in sharing, imaginative play or making friends, to the absence of interest in peers.
Deficits in social emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect, to failure to initiate or respond to social interaction.Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested currently or in history by (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive):.As mentioned above, the diagnostic criteria for the autistic (ASD) disorders are defined by the DSM IV criteria. The full diagnostic criteria for the pervasive developmental disorders are outlined below.