Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears
during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that
affects functioning of the brain, autism and its associated behaviors occur in
approximately 15 of every 10,000 individuals and is four times more prevalent in
boys than in girls.
Autism interferes with the normal development of the brain in the areas of
reasoning, social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults with
autism typically have deficiences in verbal and non-verbal communication skills,
social interactions and leisure or play activities. They may exhibit repeated
body movements (hand flapping, rocking), unusual responses to people or
attachments to objects and resist changes in routines. In some cases aggressive
or self-injurious behavior may be present.
Autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder, meaning that the symptoms and
characteristics of autism can be present in a wide variety of combinations from
mild to severe. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and children and
adults can exhibit any combination of the behaviors in any degree of severity.
Thus, two children with autism can behave very differently.