Knowing what Autism is

Autism is a developmental disability that often occurs during the first three years of a child's life. It may sometimes be called Childhood Autism, Early Infantile Autism, or Kanner's Autism. This is one of the developmental disorders that fall under the Pervasive Developmental Disorder or PDD as mentioned in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition.

Impairment in social interaction and communication
Autism is said to be caused by a neurological disorder that typically affects the normal functioning of the brain, particularly in the areas of social interaction and communication. Children diagnosed with autism are often hard-pressed to express themselves not only verbally but also non-verbally. They have problems in their social skills and show difficulties in engaging in leisure and play activities.

Similar to other disorders, not one case of autism is the same. There are varying degrees of autism, mild to severe, and one child's prognosis may not be the same as another's. This is why early diagnosis is very important because there are cases where treatment is effective. The sooner a child can begin treatment procedures and get specialized intervention, the better is the chance for reversal or minimization of the disorder's impact and pervasiveness.

Disorders under the umbrella term PDD have similar characteristics. What differentiates autism from other developmental disorders is the marked impairment in social interaction. Before a diagnosis of autism is made, marked impairments in the areas of communication and socialization. There should also be an abnormally lack of interest in activities.

Criteria for diagnosis
Impairment in social interaction, for instance, may be manifested through the presence of a problem with holding eye-to-eye contact, use of facial expressions, use of body postures and gestures. Children also fail to develop some kind of social relationship that are often seen in their ages. There is also a lack of response or interest in things. They do not share their feelings and opinions with other people. Impairment in communication, on the other hand, may be seen in the total lack or abnormal delay of spoken language development.

This lack should not be accompanied by frequent tries to use alternative methods of communication such as hand gestures.
For those children or adults with autism, who can speak, they display some problems in initiating and sustaining conversation with other people. Children with autism do not also show any interest in make-believe play that should be present during certain developmental year levels.

Another behavioral criteria of autism is the abnormal preoccupation with certain activities manifested with great intensity or focus. There is also some repetitive mannerisms such as flapping or twisting the hands.

Early diagnosis and the right one

It is crucial that autism be diagnosed really early in life and that the diagnosis be done by experts in the field who are qualified to make it. Any misdiagnosis can make great impact on the child, not only in terms of undergoing treatment procedures but also in how people treat them.

Ideally, evaluation should be done by different individuals coming from different fields related to it. Examples of those who are qualified to make an evaluation are child psychologists, psychiatrists, speech pathologists, developmental pediatrician and neurologist. Parents and teachers may also contribute by sharing their observations of the child's behavior in school and at home.