| Many people ask why autism seems to be so much | | | | autism in a young child, especially a child who is young |
| prevalent today than it was years ago, but | | | | enough to not fully understand what is supposed to be |
| unfortunately while there are significant amounts of | | | | "normal" versus abnormal. It is known that autistic |
| speculation to that question, there are no definitive | | | | children frequently have chronic diarrhea and |
| answers. | | | | frequently have trouble keeping food down. Would that |
| We know that today, approximately 1 out of every 160 | | | | indicate that the intestines are somehow involved in |
| children are affected with autism to varying degrees. | | | | providing a sign? Although that aspect has been |
| Perhaps our measurement of what defines autism has | | | | studied, the results are as yet inconclusive. Autistic |
| grown more granular where even very mild cases of | | | | children also frequently have more occurrences of |
| autism that were not counted years ago are now | | | | colds, earaches, and allergies, so does that mean that |
| included in that figure. Many people believe that years | | | | the child's immune system is trying to tell us |
| ago, we spent too much time just assuming that the | | | | something? Again, this aspect has been studied and |
| child was naturally withdraw or anti-social instead of | | | | the results to date are inconclusive. |
| recognizing those symptoms as being signs of autism. | | | | Could autism be caused by some chemical that is |
| We know that boys are more affected with autism | | | | commonly used in our modern day environments? |
| than girls by a significant ratio, and perhaps years ago | | | | Again, this is a possibility, but the lack of funding has |
| it was thought just to be a gender difference in the | | | | permitted the study of only about 30 to 40 of the |
| rate of maturity of boys versus girls. | | | | more than 80,000 chemicals that may commonly be |
| Finding out what causes autism and what can be done | | | | found in most environments, so that question is still up |
| to prevent it or treat it has become a major priority in | | | | in the air. |
| the medical and scientific community. Many children are | | | | Your best bet at this point is to watch your child for |
| "losing their childhoods" because of autism, and despite | | | | signs of autism and if seen, to get a professional |
| their parent's best efforts to help them, many only | | | | diagnosis as soon as possible. If your child has autism, |
| reach of state of marginal self-reliance as they grow | | | | work with the teachers at their school to form a team |
| older. | | | | to accommodate their special needs, which can aid in |
| Although it is commonly accepted that autism is a | | | | minimizing the effects of autism until a cure can be |
| neurological disorder, there are many theories as to | | | | found. |
| what constitutes a "concrete sign" of the existence of | | | | |