What we know about Autism?

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorders include Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (not otherwise specified). Autism is a lifelong neurological developmental disability which is characteristised by three distinctive behaviors:

• problems with verbal and non-verbal communication
• difficulties with social interaction
• repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests.

About Autism

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.”

Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favourite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.

Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive