Autism
Chances are you know someone who has autism, or who has a child with autism. I would like to tell you about autism, about teenagers with autism, and about dealing with someone with autism. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder which affects social and communication skills and, to a greater or lesser degree, motor and language skills. It is such a broad diagnosis that it can include people with high IQ's and mental retardation - and people with autism can be chatty or silent, affectionate or cold, methodical or disorganized. This is why it is called a spectrum disorder, because the levels of autism can fall into such a broad spectrum (1) so, what exactly is an autism spectrum disorder? There is a saying that goes, if you see one person with autism, you see one person with autism. This is because no two people with autism are alike. (2) Autism (sometimes called “classical autism”) is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS). Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 200 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling. Again, this is why autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder. The individual with autism may be highly functioning with an extremely high IQ, or non verbal, with mental retardation.
The main feature of autism is impaired social...
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