Autism can be classified as an interaction problem. Some doctors describe it as emotional disorders. Because of its various symptoms autism may go unrecognized especially for people that develop an easier form of autism, or for those who suffer from other diseases that involve different kinds of handicaps. In order to realize if a possible patient has autism, specialists look after their symptoms.

The symptoms that are seen in patients with autism are lack of imaginative and social play, impossibility to make friends, impossibility to keep a conversation, a repetitive language, often thinking of things of no importance, preoccupation with parts of objects.

The first persons that get to notice the abnormal behavior of their children are the parents. Their baby looks different from the first years of his life. The baby with autism is not attracted to toys or to other people. In most of the cases he likes to be alone and to focus over an item for a long period of time. Children who grow normally can also develop autism even if they were not born with it. If they suddenly start to become silent or violent with others and with them too, it is certain that a problem occurred. Parents need to go to a specialist in order to evaluate their child.

Even though family members and friends are the ones that should observe the strange behavior of their infants, it is not always like that. It could take years to realize the problem of their children. They might say that every child develops in his way and step over the fact that their child is not talking at the age of 2. They should ask themselves why and if they can't answer they should go with their child to a specialist.

Because there is no medical procedure to determine if a child has autism or not doctors, should analyze every symptom before pronouncing. If the child presents symptoms that resemble autism symptoms such as mental retardation, speech problems or neurological problems a evaluation from a doctor specialized in autism is recommended.

The specialists have other methods to realize what case they are dealing with. In the first phase they start with an interview to evaluate the child's language and behavior, and go on with a test for genetic and neurological problems. After a close observation of the test results and after the responses from the interview, specialists can say what kind of communication and interaction problems the patient may be having.