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Affecting three crucial areas of
development: communication, social interaction, and creative or
imaginative play, Autism is a brain disorder that begins in early
childhood and persists throughout adulthood. The specific cause or
origin of autism is not known, however, many researchers suspect that
autism results from genetically mediated vulnerabilities to
environmental triggers.
Some professionals estimate that 1
out of every 166 children in America are affected by autism on one
level or another. The national health institute has a more conservative
number of 1 in every 1000; either way autism is prevalent! A family
that has born one autistic child has odds of 1 in 20 of another, which
leads to heridatary assumptions.
There is a set list of psychiatric
criteria and a series of standardized clinical tests that are used to
diagnose autism. Although not always physiologically obvious, a
complete physical and neurological evaluation will typically be ableo
to determine whether an individual is affected by autism.
The clinical definition defines that
'autism must manifest delays in "social interaction, language as used
in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play," with "onset
prior to age 3 years", according to the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders'. The symptoms of autism must manifest
before the age of three years to be clinically recognized; this is
stated in the ICD-10, which is a set of criteria for the proper
diagnosis.
It is possible for children affected
by autism to improve their social skills to a level where they can be
fully integrated with mainstream events without any notice. Often times
the case is that individuals affected by autism are un-willing to want
to cure their condition because they see it as a part of who they are,
and do not want to lose that.
Feel free to reprint this article as
long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact
with all hyperlinks.
Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator
of Autism
Area - http://www.autism-area.com,
which is the best site on the internet for all autism related
information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ryan_Fyfe
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