All children with ASD demonstrate deficits in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviours or interests. Children with autism often have unusual responses to sensory experiences, such as certain sounds or the way objects look. Each of these symptoms runs the gamut from mild to severe. Prevalence estimates range from 2 to 6 per 1,000 children. This wide range of prevalence points to a need for earlier and more accurate screening for the symptoms of ASD. The earlier the disorder is diagnosed, the sooner the child can be helped through treatment interventions.

• Does not babble, point, or make meaningful gestures by 1 year of age
• Does not speak one word by 16 months
• Does not combine two words by 2 years
• Does not respond to name
• Loses language or social skills
• Poor eye contact
• Doesn’t seem to know how to play with toys
• Excessively lines up toys or other objects
• Attached to one particular toy or object
• Doesn’t smile
• Difficulty learning to engage in the give-and-take of everyday human interaction.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neuropsychiatric conditions of childhood and adolescence, accounting for as much as 50% of child psychiatry clinic populations. ADHD is a persistent problem, manifesting its core symptoms throughout the life cycle, from preschool through adult life. ADHD symptoms interfere with a child’s family and peer interactions, academic attainment, emotional development and self-esteem and in overall quality of life. Given the high prevalence, impairment and societal cost of ADHD, treatment is essential.

• Inappropriate or excessive activity, unrelated to the task at hand, which generally has an intrusive or annoying quality;
• poor sustained attention;
• difficulties in inhibiting impulses in social behaviour and cognitive tasks;
• difficulties getting along with others
• school underachievement;
• poor self-esteem secondary to difficulties getting along with others and school underachievement;

Children may suffer from specific reading, processing, writing, mathematical, and language disabilities in spite of having normal intelligence (IQ above the score of 80), and adequate exposure to schooling.

• Learning disability in reading (Dyslexia)
• Learning disability in writing (Dysgraphia)
• Learning disability in mathematics (Dyscalculia)

Conduct disorder is a pervasive and repetitive pattern of behaviours that violate the rights of others or violate social rules. Childhood-onset describes those with at least one symptom of conduct disorder before age 10. Children with ODD have problems with anger, irritability, and defiance. They have their problems circumscribed to their home environment.

• Physical aggression toward people or animals
• Property destruction
• Stealing
• Lying
• Truancy
• Running away from home.

Depressed preschool children often demonstrate behavioural difficulties, such as hyperactivity and aggression, more than older children. In children and adolescents, the depressive mood is commonly expressed as marked irritability. Adolescents may also demonstrate the usual signs of depression, especially a pervasive sense of boredom and lack of future orientation. The incidence of depressive disorders increases in adolescence, with girls, affected more often than boys.

Obsessions are recurrent and persistent thoughts, images, or impulses experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and causing severe anxiety or distress. When this happens, the person tries to suppress these thoughts, images or impulses with some thought, or actions. These are called compulsions. Compulsions are practised in order to prevent or reduce distress. An individual who suffers from OCD finds these thoughts and actions irrational but he cannot stop himself from doing them.

• Excessive cleaning and washing
• Excessive need for symmetry or exactness
• Hoarding
• Excessive concern about contamination or illness
• Excessive concern about harming others or self-harm
• Religious Obsessions
• Sexual Obsessions

Fear of social situations and humiliating oneself in social or performance situations that involve social scrutiny. Fear of making mistakes and being judged as a fool are the major concerns of an individual who suffers from social phobia or social anxiety disorder.

Childhood schizophrenia refers to children who have a history of poor premorbid functioning; problem areas include learning, language, behaviour, and socialisation. They lose touch with reality.

Children have sleep problems, particularly settling and night-waking problems. Parents would have tried over a period of months or years to solve the problem with little success.

Enuresis and encopresis or wetting and soiling are the main toileting problems. The development of bladder and bowel control occurs in a stage-wise manner in most children during the first five years of life. By 4 years of age, most children have developed bowel control and by 5 most children have developed bladder control, so these ages are used as the cut-off ages for diagnosing encopresis and enuresis respectively.

Children who crave and rely on the adrenaline rush they get from activities like drug use, gaming, porn videos, sexual activities, or any other addictive behaviours put themselves at higher risk for addictive behaviours. When children experiment with these behaviours very young, between nine and 12 years old, they have a much greater risk of becoming addicted later on. 

• Alcohol addiction
• Gaming addiction
• Smoking addiction
• Phone addiction
• Porn addiction