Autism-World

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. Most people with autism have difficulty communicating their wants/needs, feelings, etc. Children with autism have deficits in communication, social skills, self-help skills (pottying, handwashing, toothbrushing, etc). Most children with autism have poor eye contact and referencing skills. One of the first signs of autism is delayed language. Many children with autism speak much later in development (2 years or so) if at all.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there many variations of autism. Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, and Pervasive Development Disorders – Not Otherwise Specified fall on the autism spectrum. Some children are very low function and have very few skills, however there are children who are extremely high functioning who are able to learn in typical settings but just need a few tweeks in order to learn and socially interact.

The good news is is that there are many options for treatment for children with autism! And if caught early enough and an intervention put in place many children with autism are able to enter mainstream classroom and be virtually indistinguishable from their typical peers.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 11:31 pm and is filed under Definition of Autism.