| Autism is defined as a complex neurobiological | | | | you while maintaining eye contact. Autistic people may |
| disorder of development that last throughout a | | | | have to say sentences repetitively. Some autistic |
| person's life. The word development in the definition | | | | people may have never even learned how to talk at |
| presents a great reason why the disorder is | | | | all. Autism affects individuals in different ways, which is |
| commonly referred to as a "developmental disability". | | | | where the spectrum mentioned earlier comes into play. |
| The words "last throughout" without doubt answer the | | | | Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASDs, covers mild to |
| question of whether or not the disability could ever be | | | | more serious symptoms. The ASD category features |
| cured. The answer is a definite no. By 18 months of | | | | the conditions Autistic Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, |
| age, autism can be detected through the developing of | | | | and Atypical Autism. |
| behavioral symptoms that include problems with eye | | | | PDD, or Pervasive Developmental Disorder, is a term |
| contact, being unresponsive to one's name, attention | | | | that defines autism more broadly. PDD can include the |
| problems, etc. Autism often includes a spectrum of | | | | ASDs mentioned above, while also including Childhood |
| different behaviors and for that reason is separated | | | | dis-integrative disorder, and Rett Syndrome. Whether a |
| and classified onto different areas of that spectrum. | | | | person falls into the PDD category or the ASD |
| The major signs and symptoms of autism include | | | | category depends on specific symptoms. Sometimes |
| communication, social interaction, and routine behavior. | | | | however, the acronyms are used to mean the same |
| Communication involves both spoken and unspoken | | | | thing because autism is a disorder that fits into both |
| communication. Social interaction involve sharing | | | | categories. |
| emotions, the concept of being empathetic to others' | | | | An estimated one child in every 1,000 children has an |
| thoughts and feelings, beginning and maintaining | | | | ASD. It is not limited to any specific ethnic group, racial |
| conversation, and time spent interacting with others. | | | | group, or social class. However, studies show that |
| Routine behavior surprisingly does not seem as routine | | | | boys are three to four times more likely to be autistic |
| as it seems obsessive. Routine behaviors | | | | than girls. A family that has one child who has autism is |
| accommodate repeating words over and over again, | | | | two to eight percent more likely to have an |
| following schedules obsessively, and being extremely | | | | occurrence of another autistic child. This is a higher |
| specific about the way items have to be arranged. | | | | likelihood than any other numbers out there in the |
| Autistic people could have a problem with talking to | | | | nation's general population. |