What is Autism?

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects normal functioning and development of brain areas related to social interactions and communication skills.  It generally appears in the first three year of life.  People with autism have problems engaging in social interactions, they are often uncommunicative verbally and non-verbally, have difficulty engaging in play activities, and may display rigidity and repetitive behaviors.  The American Psychiatric Association has placed autism under the category of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) in its DSM-IV-TR, (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders).  Disorders in this category are said to have  "severe and pervasive impairment in several areas of development".   

 

 

What are some of the characteristics of autism?

 

Click on these links to get more detailed descriptions of the characteristics of autism:

 

-       early childhood signs (developmental problems and language)

-       brain abnormalities  (of structure and biochemistry)

-       psychological and social (communication and theory of mind)

-       savant skills

-       others (a summary list)

 

 

Who does autism affect?

 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2001), 2 to 6 out of every 1,000 people have some form of autism.  What does ‘some form of autism’ mean?  Well, autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there are different levels of impairment.  Not all people with autism are affected by the disorder in the same degree.  Not all people display the same symptoms or with the same intensity.  Some autistic children are extremely uncommunicative and unresponsive, where as others may have difficulty, but will still display some communication skills. 

Autism is three times more prevalent in males than in females.  This is not surprising because many developmental disabilities tend to affect more males than females (1).  Autism is equally prevalent around the world and across race, ethnicity and social class.  Education, lifestyle and income have no influence in the development of autism (2).  Thus, it appears that environmental factors do not cause autism. 

 

So, what are the causes of autism?