Autism
...the middle of the twentieth century. In 1943 Dr. Leo Kanner studied a group of 11 children and introduced the disorder. It's first name was Infantile Autism. A year later Dr. Hans Asperger described a milder form of the disorder that became known as Asperger syndrome. The autism spectrum disorders can be reliably detected by the age of 3 years and in some cases as early as 18 months. Studies suggest that many children eventually may be accurately identified by the age of 1 year. The two disorders are today listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR (fourth edition, text revision). The two that will be the focus of this paper are Autism and Asperger.
Autism
Autism is not a disease, but a developmental disorder of brain function. People with classical autism show three types of symptoms: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication and imagination and unusual or severely limited activities and interest. Although there is no cure, appropriate management may foster relatively normal development and reduce undesirable behaviors. People with autism have normal life expectancy. Autism affects two to ten of every 10,000 people, depending on diagnostic criteria used. Autism strikes males about four times as often as females, and has been found throughout the world in people of all racial and social backgrounds. Autism varies a great deal in severity. The most sever cases are marked by extremely repetitive, unusual, self-injurious and aggressive behavior. The mildest form of autism resemble a personality disorder associated with a perceived learning disability.
Common Signs
The main feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Children with autism may fail to respond to their names and often avoid looking at other people. They often have difficulty interpreting tone of voice or facial...
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