Autism - What it is and What it Isn't

With the terms 'autism' and 'Autistic Spectrum Disorder' being thrown around so much lately many people are confused about what exactly autism is. With the rising incidence of autism, it is important for the general public, and especially those with autistic people in their lives, to understand this spectrum of disorders and how it affects people.

Autism is a developmental disability, which means it is a disability which begins to present itself in childhood and which lasts throughout life. Other developmental disability diagnoses that are related to autism, such as Aspergers Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, are said to exist on the Autistic Spectrum, which makes autism a spectrum disorder. This means that there are a spectrum of symptoms and degrees to which the symptoms can manifest, but that all of these diagnoses are autism. People with a High-Functioning Autism diagnosis therefore have the same symptoms as lower functioning autistics, but they vary in severity.

At its root autism is a non-typical type of perception and cognition. An autistic perceives the world differently than a non-autistic, or neurotypical. This means that sound, sight, taste, touch, and smell are experienced differently by autistics than neurotypicals. The senses can be amplified, dampened, or just plain different. Because of this an autistic person might be overwhelmed or mildly repulsed by certain types of sensory input and might be drawn to others. A good example of this would be an autistic child at a fireworks display - the sudden loud noises synched with the explosive visual displays can send the child into a severe meltdown, because he cannot cope with the way that the sensory input affects him. Another example would be that it is a common (but by no means universal) trait for older autistics to enjoy particularly spicy foods, or to have otherwise unusual tastes in foods.

This affectation of sensory perception is a part of the cognitive alterations at the basis of autism. Another part of this is the way that thought patterns are affected. Autistics often describe thinking in pictures, or even matrices of information, rather than linear strings of data like words. Different lines of thought can be experienced as interactions between these pictures. This is part of the reason that verbal autistics often communicate particularly well with each other.

These are the basic foundations of autism, and of course they exist to different degrees and can cause different traits in different people, but it's important to remember that this, and not the behaviors or other observable symptoms, is what autism is.

Lars is a relationship counselor who has experience working with autistic children and severely impaired autistic adults, and who has friends and family with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. He is now involved with internet marketing to be able to spend more time at home with his new family. Visit his website at http://www.treatmentsforautism.info for more information about Autistic Spectrum Disorders and different options for treating some of the difficulties that go along with them.