Autism, is a rare, severe developmental disorder that begins before four years of age.
The condition appears as a group of symptoms, the most notable of which is an inability to relate socially to other people.
True autism, also called early infantile autism or infantile autism, occurs in about one child in every 700.
Boys are commonly affected than girls.
There is no known cure for the condition.
The term autistic or autistic-like is sometimes used to describe people with severe emotional problems that resemble autism.
Many people associate autism only with children.
However, the disorder hinders an individual's social and emotional development throughout life.
Symptoms, Most individuals with autism display the following symptoms: Social detachment and unresponsiveness.
Many autistic babies do not smile at their parents or reach out to be cuddled or picked up.
Children with autism do not play with other children.
They often appear to live in their own world, unaware of people and events around them.
Many autistic individuals never seem to develop normal concern for the feelings of others.
Abnormal language.
Autistic people have serious problems in speaking and in understanding language.
Many autistic children never speak.
Others utter words or phrases that have no place in a discussion.
They may repeat something they have heard on TV or in conversation.
Their voices may sound mechanical or robotlike.
Autistic children have trouble learning the words "I" and "yes".
They sometimes express the idea of "yes" by repeating the question they were asked.
Insistence on sameness.
People with autism are intolerant of changes in their physical surroundings or daily routines.
An autistic child may have tantrum if toys are not in their usual places.
An older autistic person may engage in the same hobby or have a set of topic of conversation, such as train schedule or road maps.
Unusual movements.
Many autistic children repeat the same motions over an over again.
for example, they may twirl about, rock back and forth, wave their arms,and flick their fingers.
Autistic youngsters may be hyperactive that is, they may constantly move from one place to another without apparent purpose.
Negativism.
Autistic children are sometimes described as negativistic, meaning that they intentionally do not comply with the requests of their parents or teachers.
But usually they are not negativistic.
Often the request is too complicated, or it is expressed in language that is too advanced for them to understand.
Mental fascination.
Children may seem more interested in physical object than in people.
Some become very attached to a certain object and carry it about at all times.
Autistic youngsters may become obsessed by a particular activity, such as flushing a toilet or turning the switch on and off.
Mechanical Retardation.
About 80 percent of all autistic children and adults are mentally retarded.
They cannot understand or solve problems at the level of normal individuals their age.
When autistic children are observed in a familiar situation, however, they may appear to be brighter than their intelligence test scores indicate.
Special skills are demonstrated by a few autistic children.
Some can memorize long list of names or numbers, or tell the day of the week on which a date will fall in any future year.
Other autistic youngsters can draw amazingly accurate pictures or street maps.
But their developmental problems usually prevent them from making full use of their special skills.
No one knows what causes autism.
Autistic children are treated chiefly by special teaching methods.