Final answer:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves a range of symptoms, primarily impairing social interaction and communication. Symptoms vary widely across the ASD spectrum but can include difficulties with social cues, repetitive behaviors, and sometimes co-occurring conditions like epilepsy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a range of symptoms, predominantly characterized by pervasive impairment in social interaction and communication abilities. ASD is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, where individuals present differently on the spectrum, showing various levels of difficulties. The symptoms include, but are not limited to, challenges with making and maintaining eye contact, difficulties reading social cues, and issues expressing empathy. Other common traits associated with ASD are repetitive motor behaviors, an intense fixation on specific subjects, strict adherence to certain rituals, and atypical language use. In some cases, individuals with ASD may also have co-occurring conditions, such as epilepsy, intellectual disability (e.g., associated with conditions like Fragile X Syndrome), or they might have well-developed language skills and be highly functional, simply perceiving the world in a unique way.