Autism Spectrum Disorder is characterized by deficits in which areas?

• A. Overly empathetic social interactions.
• B. Deficits in social relatedness and communication with repetitive behaviors.
• C. Severe amnesia.
• D. Excessive appetite.

Answer: (B)

Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined by challenges in social communication and social interaction, together with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. This means people may have trouble with back-and-forth conversations, understanding or using nonverbal cues, and forming or maintaining relationships, while also showing repetitive movements or rigid routines and highly focused interests. These features often appear in early childhood and can affect daily functioning.

The other options don’t fit because they describe issues that aren’t characteristic of ASD: being overly empathetic in social interactions isn’t typical of autism, and severe memory loss or an unusually large appetite are not defining traits of the disorder.