Autism

Autism

Autism is a disorder that impairs the development of a person's capacity to

interact with, communicate with, and also maintain regular "normal"

bonds with the outside world. This disorder was described in 1943 by Leo Kanner,

an American psychologist. Autism is considered one of the more common

developmental disabilities, and appears before the age of three. It is known to

be four or five times more common in males than in females. It most cited

statistic is that autism occurs in 4.5 out of 10,000 live births. The estimate

of children having autistic qualities is reported to be 15 to 20 out of 10,000.

The gender statement noted before is not uncommon, since many developmental

disabilities have a greater male to female ratio. Autistic characteristics are

different from birth. Two more common characteristics that may be exhibited are

the arching of the back while being held, to avoid contact, and also failing to

anticipate being picked up (limpness in the body). Infants with autism are

described as being either very passive, or very agitated. Sometimes during

infancy there will be cases of head rocking, and or banging, against the crib,

but this is not always the case. Approximately one-third of children develop

normally until the ages of 1 1/2 to 3, and then the symptoms emerge, referred to

as "regressive autism." During childhood, there is a commonality of

the affected child insisting routine. The reasoning is that the child is not

able to cope with "novel" situations. Wearing the same clothes, or

eating the same foods during meals, are examples. Tantrums can occur when these

perseverative behaviors occur. Twenty years ago, most autistic individuals were

institutionalized. Now only the most severe cases live in institutions. During

adulthood, autistic individuals are known to live with their parents, in

residential institutions, and some do live independently. Because there are so

many forms of this disorder, it has been said that there is no true adjective to

describe every type of person with autistic symptoms, or autism. My research

shows that there are no physiological tests that can be performed to determine

whether a person has autism. The diagnosis is given when a person exhibits the

characteristics of the disorder. Note: In the last five years, researchers have

agreed that those who display autistic characteristics are commonly suffering

from other related but distinct disorders, such as Asperger Syndrome, Fragile X

syndrome, Landau Kleffner syndrome, Rett syndrome, and Williams syndrome.

Physiological researchers have discovered abnormalities within the brain, but

the reason for the abnormalities is not known, and it is not known where the

relation