Autism in children; what do you know?

1. 51

   Joseph Leekposted 8 years ago

   Autism in children; what do you know?
   
   Autism in children from the early yeats to young adult years. How well do people understand this?

   replyreport
2. 83

   tamarawilhiteposted 8 years ago

   Autism arises from "mind-blindness", a lack of interest infants have in other people or the reflexive reaction to someone else's facials expressions. Now the child isn't hardwired to be interested in faces or immediately mimic a smiling face with a smile and learns "that expression causes this reaction in me, smile equals happy, frown equals sad".
   The child thus fails to learn early on how others feel and can't understand then how others react, becoming unable to predict how they act and interact. When severe, it interferes with their ability to learn language, too.

   replyreport
3. 73

   LoisRyan13903posted 8 years ago

   Depends when a child is "diagnosed" with autism.l  It is-from personal experience-to catch autism at an early age.  I had suspicions with my younger daughter when she was close to 3 and she still was only saying one or two words and sitting and staring with a dazed expression.  I made an appointment with my local Handicapped Children's Association and went through a series of tests.  Once there she was put in a pre-school for children with mental and developmental disabilities.  I did find out that Autism is a developmental rather than a mental disability.  To make a long story short catching it early is best.  She started elementary school in Special Education in K and first grade.  Then she was left back in 1st grade but was main-streamed with the regular school program.  She graduated high school with a Regents diploma and on the honor roll.  She now is in her third semester in college.
   
   People do confuse autism with mental retardation.  However, a majority of people with autism are intelligent.  It takes them more time to learn to live an independent life.  However, there are many organizations out there such as Catholic Charities that provide services.
   
   As Tamara says there are extreme cases of autism.

   replyreport