Social relations
The autism is characterized by a lack of reciprocity in relation to others – put yourself into feelings, ideas and thoughts of other people. Many children and adults are interested in contact with others but the specifics of their disorder does not allow them to establish relationships appropriate to their developmental level.
According to the ability of social interaction we recognize these types of autism:
High-functioning autism: good adaptability and high level of socialization.
Medium-functioning autism: reduced levels of adaptability and socialization.
Low-functioning autism: significantly reduced ability to adapt and only a very limited ability of socialization.
Some people with autism appear as significantly isolated, others in turn are active, but very special. Characterized by a lack of understanding social rules. Social contact is represented by the number of rules that healthy people intuitively manage without having to separately learn them. On the contrary, people with autism have to laboriously learn each new rule.
They have serious lacks in understanding facial expressions, gestures and body language of other persons. They can not assign an external sign to its inner meaning (e.g. tears mean sadness, joy means smile etc.).
Sources:
Autism in practice, Children and pupils with autism in teaching practice, Dagmar Beluskova, Andrea Sedibova, Methodological and Pedagogical Center, 2014, Bratislava