What is Autism?
Look around you, walk into a school, or take a walk around the mall; you are bound to find someone with the horrible disease we call Autism. The truth is some might not even know they have it. There really isn’t even a medical test that diagnoses a person with Autism; diagnosis is based merely on people noticing strange or abnormal behavior and then a doctor doing a behavior evaluation monitoring specific attributes. Since it is not easy to give a diagnosis of this disease, it is important that the world knows the facts and symptoms to expect when dealing with a person who they think doesn’t function as normally as they do.
Knowing the facts:
Did you know that boys are five times more likely to have autism than girls. Autism is an ever so growing disease. It is actually the fastest growing developmental disorder in the US right now. It affects 1 in 88 children and can cost a family an average of $60,000 a year when it comes to medical bills and special services that they have to pay for. Even though Autism is a huge deal and is rapidly growing, there is actually very minimal research funding going towards this disease.
Signs and Symptoms:
Autism comes in a variety of ways. There are high functioning and low functioning autistic people. I went to high school with a guy who was autistic and I honestly never knew he was autistic till our sophomore year of high school. He was very high functioning. Sure he had some strange behaviors but I just thought that was his personality.
Most signs of autism don’t get recognized until the child is about 2 or 3 years old. Early signs to look for in babies are lack of expressions and lack of babbling and work making between years 1 and 2.
Children with autism normally have a very difficult time socially and communicatively. They typically prefer to be with their parents and they don’t do good in crowds. I have first hand experience with this. I rarely get to see my little cousin who has autism because he doesn’t like being around anyone but his parents and they can’t bring him to family functions because the amount of people is too much for him. Communication barriers are also symptoms of autism. They sometimes can only use nonverbal communication which makes it difficult to know what exactly it is they want.
Look for repetitive behaviors. Most autistic kids have a fascination with one single thing and don’t like things that disrupt order. For instance the kid that I went to high school with was fascinated with all things Russia.
For a more detailed list on some of these symptoms visit this link:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/symptoms
Autism is a horrible disease that affects a lot of people in this world. It might not allow them to function like normal person, but they are great people who are just like you and me and can do a lot of great things in this world.
Sources:
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