what is autism?

Question

what is autism and how do u know if children have it

Answer 1

Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.

There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.

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 favorite 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 to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.

Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood. While people with schizophrenia may show some autistic-like behavior, their symptoms usually do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. Most people with schizophrenia also have hallucinations and delusions, which are not found in autism.

Autism varies widely in its severity and symptoms and may go unrecognized, especially in mildly affected children or when it is masked by more debilitating handicaps. Doctors rely on a core group of behaviors to alert them to the possibility of a diagnosis of autism. These behaviors are:

impaired ability to make friends with peers
impaired ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
absence or impairment of imaginative and social play
stereotyped, repetitive, or unusual use of language
restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal in intensity or focus
preoccupation with certain objects or subjects
inflexible adherence to specific routines or rituals

Answer 2

Autism is a condition where people have a hard time with socializing.
There is an autism spectrum which has Asperger's(an extremely mild thing compared to profound autism), profound(or classical) autism, Retts Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and childhood disintegrative disorder.
Some characterists they all share are poor eye-contact, some APPEAR indifferent to others emotions(appear being the key word because they may be feeling empathy but not know how to display it)one or more intense, narrow interests, take idioms literally, poor use and understanding of facial expressions and body language, have difficulty with abstract concepts, dislike change, difficets in motor and/or gross cordination, and not feeling physical things as strongly and/or feeling them stronger than most people and sometimes having very acute hearing.
Some people don't think of autism as a disability or disorder. Some even see it as a gift. There are positive qualities to autism such as honesty, great ability to think in pictures, indiscriminate social interactions, and some(less than 10%) are savants, like in Mercury Rising and Rain Man.
Not all autistics have all of the characterists I just described, but these are some characterists.

Answer 3

Autism is a neurological difference that often causes the person to have difficulty interacting with others, especially unfamiliar people. They may not even speak until being 3 or 4 and often appear to non-family members as the "silent and shy" types even after that. However, those with autism typically have exceptional talents in a single area and can develop a truly incredible passion for things that neurotypical people cannot. Also, many people with autism are truly intelligent in their areas of interest and can often bring incredible acheivements to the world. Also, people with autism tend to be very compassionate, even if they often appear silent and withdrawn

Answer 4

Autism is a brain disorder, cause unknown. It has varying degrees of severity. It manifests with a very poor ability to withstand social contact (even eye contact is avoided, much less social rituals); bizarre movements (head banging, flapping, rocking incessantly, etc.); a fascination with facts, no matter how trivial (memorizing entire phone books, for example); an inability to tolerate changes to the environment, even extremely minor ones, and so on. For a truly great fictional account of someone with autism watch the movie "Rain Man" with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.

Answer 5

autism is a disorder where children/people 's brain do not process information in a normal way causing problems which commincation and behavior. The best way to find out if your child has it is to have them tested if they are not meeting developemental milestones around the same time children the same age are. Also if a child refuses to look you directly in the eye or cry like they are in pain when held or spoke to they may have autism.

Answer 6

I have autism.

Answer 7

it's a disorder that kids have and thier brain can't function properly......my friends down the street...they are younger then me but they have autisum and if it's not so seriuos...it's called asburgers...it's not as bad

Answer 8

its when ur retarded cause ur mom couldnt finish her job