| Do you understand what autism is? This is a | | | | children are affected by autism to some degree. |
| neurological condition where impulses going to the brain | | | | The autistic child lives in his or her own world. They |
| are not interpreted correctly. There are various levels | | | | have significant difficulty with verbal communication. |
| of autism, from one extreme of being barely | | | | They have significant trouble with social interactions, |
| noticeable and where it has virtually no impact on the | | | | even with their peer group and even with their own |
| daily life of the afflicted person, to the other extreme | | | | parents. The autistic child needs to have a routine, or |
| of being so severe that the afflicted person cannot | | | | more accurately, REQUIRES a routine, and deviations |
| adequately function in today's world without | | | | from that daily routine can cause anything from |
| supervision or assistance. The very mild form of | | | | discomfort to extreme trauma. The child will also |
| autism is sometimes known as Asperger's Syndrome, | | | | intently focus on an object for long periods of time, |
| although that is not technically correct, since there are | | | | even an inanimate object, with intense concentration, |
| some differences between Asperger's Syndrome and | | | | almost to the exclusion of all else. |
| real autistic spectrum disorder. | | | | To give you a flavor of the life of the autistic child, I |
| The reported number of diagnosed cases of autism is | | | | would invite you to read an article that was written as |
| rising rapidly in recent years and the reason for that is | | | | if it were authored by an autistic child, looking at a day |
| unknown. Some theorize that it is because we are | | | | in the world of this child through his eyes. It brings a |
| more aware of autism as a society and are now | | | | new perspective to how we as a society view autism, |
| watching for it, while others state that it is natural for | | | | as well as shedding additional light on how life is |
| the number of cases to rise as the population of the | | | | viewed by the autistic child and how the people who |
| nation increases. It is mostly seen in children, and recent | | | | love that child can assist via that understanding. |
| studies have indicated that as many as 1 in every 160 | | | | |