What is Autism? Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), is a developmental disability. It can cause many problems such as social, communication and behavioral challenges. People with autism process information differently in their brain than other people do. Although there are many different types of Autism, there are three that are more commonly seen currently. The first one is Autistic Disorder, also called classic autism. This is usually accompanied by substantial language delays, social and communication challenges, and odd behaviors and interests. The second is Asperger Syndrome. Asperger Syndrome is usually accompanied by some milder symptoms of autistic disorder. Although they may still have social challenges and odd or unusually interested and behaviors, they usually do not have any problems with language disabilities. The third is Pervasive Developmental disorder (PDD-NOS) or also called atypical autism. Most people that are diagnosed with PDD-NOS usually have fewer and much milder symptoms then the others. People that are diagnosed with PDD-NOS may only have challenges in social and communication areas. Although there are different types of autism, they all require the same attention to the signs and symptoms of them. Autism is usually detected in early childhood. It will appear in the first three years of life. Often the child will seem to be normal and then regress. Some parents have described it as their child use to talk and then all of a sudden they just stopped talking. There are also some parents that suspected something was not right for a long time and it didn’t become more obvious until around the fifteen to eighteen month stages. Not one child with autism is the same. It affects children and adults in so many different ways. Who does Autism affect? Autism affects all types of people. It is not
References: A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. (2012, May). Autism. Hertz, P. & Delwiche, L (2009, Jan.) New Study: Autism Linked to Environment Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=autism-rise-driven-by-environment Nauert R. (2011, September) Early, Intense Therapy Benefits Children with Autism. Ulbelacker, S. (2010, September) Why more boys than girls are autistic. The Canadian Press Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/article/862117--why-more-boys-than-girls-are autistic