Autism is one of a group of disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders or PDD.
Pervasive Developmental Disorders involve problems with speech, communication and social interaction, as well as repetitive and compulsive behaviours. Autism can involve all of these problems to varying degrees, or just a few. Autism is thus a spectrum disorder. At one end of the spectrum are people with very few noticeable autistic problems; in the middle of the spectrum, people may be diagnosed with high-functioning autism or Aspergers syndrome; the other end is called classic autism, and people with this degree of disability may take many years to communicate with other people or may never learn to do so. Every person with autism is an individual and each individuals personality has a big impact on the degree of autism manifestation. When talking about the behaviours associated with autism, we are talking in general terms. The way one person responds to autistic problems is different from the way another responds. *It seems that for every four boys with an autistic disorder there is only one girl. All people with an autistic spectrum disorder have similar problems with three specific areas: social relationships, verbal and non-verbal communication, and imagination. These are often known as the triad of impairment. Social relationships: Some people describe autism as being born without a social sixth sense. They do not naturally pick up and learn social rules. People with autism may appear indifferent to other people. They find it hard to understand other peoples thoughts and feelings. Verbal and non-verbal communication: Speech development can be severely impaired in autistic children. Some never learn to speak at all, and some learn to speak and then just stop and become mute. Some children can sing or hum, or accurately mimicking machine or animal noises, but cannot speak. Some children with autism learn to speak fairly normally but have other problems with language. People with autism find it difficult to understand figures of speech; they tend to take words literally. They also find it difficult to interpret body language and they tend not to produce facial expressions. Imagination: People with autism lack empathythey do not automatically imagine how other people feel. Children with autism play very differently from normal children. Normal children usually play pretend games. Pretend games help children learn to think about how other people might feel in different situations. Learning to imagine other peoples viewpoints is called developing a theory of mind. The development of a theory of mind depends upon brain function and development. If the necessary brain structures do not develop properly, then imaginative play will not occur. Some children with autism do seem to act imaginary play situations but these are often based on things they have seen on TV or real life. Many children with autism become obsessed with a particular show or video and watch it repeatedly. Although they may be able to quote the whole show perfectly with the right accent, they often do not understand the story. People with autism usually have routines and interests, which are repetitive (rocking, spinning around, staring at the washing in the washing machine). Repetitive routines vary upon the individual. Interrupting these routines in any way can result in tantrums and distress. For people with high-functioning autism or Aspergers Syndrome these routines can appear as an obsession or fascination with a particular subject: train-spotting, space missions, Lego, etc. Aspergers Syndrome Aspergers Syndrome and high-functioning autism are the names given to conditions that affect a distinct group of people on the autistic spectrum. They tend to be clever, with an average or above- average intelligence level, but still show the triad of impairment. Social relationships: Unlike most people with autism, people with Aspergers syndrome actually want to make friends. They often feel lonely and want to make social contact. Verbal and non-verbal communication: People with Aspergers often speak fluently, using complex words, but often in the wrong syntax. For example: an 8-year-old girl with Aspergers may refer to a classmate as that nice young man. Imagination: People with Aspergers tend to want things to be real, preferring data, science and maths. When they are children, they may well play in what appears a normal imaginative way, but a closer look often reveals that they are actually re-enacting situations they have seen on television or in life and they will often go over the same situation again and again. People with high-functioning autism dislike change. Aspergers syndrome differs from classic autism in the age at which they are diagnosed. Classic autism is usually diagnosed at a young age, when it is noticed that a child is not developing normally. However, speech develops normally in children with high-functioning autism and so these autistic conditions often do not become noticeable until when the child is around 7 years old. It is often the lack of social interaction that leads to the diagnosis in Aspergers. Between 50 and 90% of people with Aspergers have problems coordinating their movements. They can find it hard to ride a bike or catch a ball, and such un-coordination becomes worse when the individual is anxious. However, one advantage of Aspergers syndrome is that they can concentrate for hours at a time on a task they are interested in. Therefore they often practise until they become highly skilled at an activity. People with high-functioning autism and Aspergers syndrome may not do well in intelligence tests, even though they are very able. This is because most intelligence tests look at a persons ability across a large number of areas, whereas people with Aspergers tend to be exceptionally good in some areas and not so good in others. Another feature of people with Aspergers syndrome and high-functioning autism is that they often think in pictures (visual thinking). They find it hard to remember things related to speech, such as messages, but they tend to have superb long-term visual memories. They also often display rigid thinking. One of the main features of high-functioning autism is their variability. On a good day the conditions hardly affect a person at all, on a bad day, they will suppress their fear and anxiety in school, and then explode with tension at home.
Conditions that may look like autism - Fragile X syndrome: Rare, found mostly in males, caused by an abnormality on the X chromosome which results in long face shape, large ears, learning difficulties, over- sensitivity to sound and touch, repetitive movements and routines, hyperactivity and abnormal speech. This condition is different from autism in that people with Fragile X syndrome tend to avoid other people because of anxiety and dislike of bodily contact, whereas people with autism tend to be indifferent to other people. - Retts syndrome: rare, found mainly in girls, caused by a gene mutation. Children with Retts syndrome develop normally up to 18 months but then gradually lose the ability to coordinate their hands. Their head growth slows, walking is difficult and the child may develop a curvature of the spine. Children with Retts often become very anxious and withdrawn, with learning difficulties and poor language skills. Few live to adulthood. - Attention deficit disorder: Have difficulty concentrating; no problems social-wise - Tourettes syndrome: Known as the swearing syndrome, where sufferers have an uncontrollable urge to shout swear words in public. In fact, only a small number of Tourettes sufferers have such a severe version of the syndrome. Most experience an uncontrollable urge to make noises and tics or twitches. These are repetitive and not under the control of the individual. Can occur with autistic spectrum disorders.