What is Autism?

According to autismspeaks.org, 

(1) Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. (4) It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). (3) Today, 1 in 150 individuals are diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four time more likely to strike boys than girls. (2) Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associate with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

I'll address this descriptions in segments correlating to the description. 


1. What is autism mean? 


To break it down, I'll rely on word origins. 

The word autism is derived from the Greek word autos, meaning "self." Thus autism is characterized by being introverted, as intentionally withdrawn and lacking 'social reciprocity" due to troubles communicating and unintentional disregard for social norms. 


From a more scientific and physiological (rather than psychological) perspective, autism is a common irregularity contrived from the body receiving signals transmitted by the brain, resulting in disconnects and misfires. 

2. How is autism characterized?


And from this characteristic of communication difficulty, many other attributes emerge: 

• Difficulty making eye contact, appropriate facial expressions, body language, and gestures 
• Challenged in developing friends and prefers to play alone 
• May talk, but finds difficulty starting or continuing a conversation socially 
• Physical speech impairment or delay during growth 
• Unusual language use; for example, using third person to refer to himself or repeating words and phrases 
• Engaging in strict routines, and upset if they are disrupted 
• Has a strong and intense preoccupation with certain item or topic -- a talent and passion

3. How was autism developed in terms of knowledge and statistics? 

Autism was discovered in 1801, when a French physician, Jean-Mark Gaspard documented the earliest account in The Wild Boy of Aveyron and since then, more and more studies and discoveries are being made concerning autism. In fact, this issue has become a point of concern, why does it seem autism is being heard more often than earlier and does this mean the number of children with autism is increasing? 

The answer to the first is that since 1994, when the publication of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it created a reference tome and more abundant, common, and standardized knowledge concerning psychological disorders. Now, children who were previously classified as mentally retarded of something else were identified with autism.

In 2007, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cite that nearly "500,000 individuals under age twenty-one" are autistic and that doesn't even account for the adults with autism today. But to conclude the second question, it is unknown whether the rise in statistics is a result of proper diagnosis or genetic, social, or environmental factors. 

4. What is the "Autism Spectrum Disorder?" 


The spectrum disorders refers to 5 variations of "pervasive developmental disorders" which correlate to different degrees of manifestation of autism, from very functional and nearly "normal" to noncommunicate. The 5 are (which will be addressed individually in a later post): 

1. Autism Disorder (or Autism)
2. Asperger's Disorder (or Asperger's syndrome)
3. Rett's disorder, 
4. child disintegrative disorder
5. pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)