| A lot has recently been said about autism. What is | | | | merely a condition and not an actual disorder to |
| autism exactly and how does it manifest itself? | | | | be treated. |
| Autism is a medical condition that stems from a | | | | Symptoms of autism |
| disorder in the process of brain development. This | | | | Autism is a disorder that keeps continuing without |
| causes abnormal, repetitive or restrictive behavior, | | | | respite or remission. This condition is regarded as |
| often affecting social development of the | | | | one of the five major Pervasive Development |
| individual, such as communication and interaction | | | | Disorders (or PDD), which severely inhibit the |
| of the sufferer with the society at large. | | | | development of the human brain, restricting the |
| The word 'autism' has been coined by Hans | | | | sufferer's social activities, interaction and |
| Asperger, when he was investigating the | | | | communication. |
| symptoms and causes of the Asperger | | | | One of other four PDD is the Asperger |
| Syndrome. | | | | Syndrome, which, though similar to autism, is a |
| Causes of Autism | | | | much milder version. This condition does not result |
| There is no one reason for autism, but most | | | | in tremendously delayed language development in |
| researchers believe that it might be inherited. It is | | | | the child and is also much more responsive to |
| unclear, though, as to which set of genes might | | | | treatment. |
| exactly be responsible for triggering autism. | | | | Autism spectrum |
| In rare cases, experts aver, autism could occur | | | | The range of autistic behavior varies widely, from |
| as the result of birth defects. | | | | merely exhibiting odd social or repetitive behavior, |
| A particular school of thought is of the view that | | | | to having very few interests, remaining |
| some vaccines could induce autism, but this is a | | | | abnormally silent, gazing blankly or even showing |
| highly controversial subject, which has not been | | | | symptoms of severe mental impairment or being |
| able to produce substantial evidence to back the | | | | actually mentally challenged. |
| claim. | | | | This condition has such a wide spectrum that it |
| Beginnings of Autism | | | | has been classified into three categories, namely, |
| The early symptoms of autism can set in an | | | | low-, medium- and high-functioning autism - LFA, |
| infant as young as six months. All the behavior | | | | MFA, HFA respectively. |
| patterns of autism set in by the time the child is | | | | Surprisingly, some autistic patients exhibit |
| three years old. These early signs will be very | | | | above-average sharp skills, such as memorization |
| different and can be easily distinguished from | | | | and other skills. |
| those of milder autistic varieties such as the | | | | Incidence of autism |
| Asperger syndrome. | | | | The recent statistics of autism reveals the |
| If caught early enough, the symptoms of autism | | | | prevalence of one or two cases per thousand |
| might come under control with treatment and | | | | people, which seems to indicate a rise in the |
| therapy. But there is no cure yet for this | | | | incidence of the condition. Of course, this cannot |
| condition. Those afflicted by severe autism might | | | | be used as a definite yardstick to measure what |
| find it impossible to live independently, though | | | | is the autism incidence range, as the chances are |
| there are those who are fighting and winning | | | | that diagnosis and treatment of the disease has |
| against milder forms of the disorder. There are | | | | now improved with the advancement in Medicine. |
| yet many other sufferers who consider autism as | | | | |