Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. This is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain.
Autism shows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence. Autism and its associated behaviors have been estimated to occur in as many and one in 500 individuals. In this essay, I will discuss the signs and symptoms of autism, types of autism, the diagnosis of autism and studies done on autism. Autism affects the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills.
Children and adults with autism have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions and leisure or play activities. This disorder makes it hard for them to relate to the outside world. It is hard for them to communicate with others. Aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may be present in some cases. They may exhibit repeated body movement, such as hand flapping or rocking, unusual responses to people or attachments to objects and resistance to changes in routines.
They possibly will experience sensitivities in the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. People with autistic disorder fail to develop normal social relations with other people. Indeed, in severe cases they give no signs that they recognize that other people exist.
Grelotti, Gauthier, and Schultz (2002) found that people with autistic disorder showed a deficit in the ability to recognize faces and that looking at faces failed to activate the fusiform gyrus. The authors speculate that the lack of interest in other people, caused by the brain abnormalities responsible for autism, resulted in a lack of motivation that normally promotes the acquisition of expertise in recognizing faces as a child grows up (p.213). Most individual or parents seems to think that the...