April is National Autism Awareness Month
Posted April 13, 2015 by Mandy Smith in Disability Spotlight
Since April is National Autism Awareness Month I thought I would share some information about Autism.
What is Autism? “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability; signs typically appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others. ASD is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum condition” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause of autism, but increased awareness and early diagnosis and intervention and access to appropriate services/supports lead to significantly improved outcomes. Some of the behaviors associated with autism include delayed learning of language; difficulty making eye contact or holding a conversation; difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning; narrow, intense interests; poor motor skills’ and sensory sensitivities. Again, a person on the spectrum might follow many of these behaviors or just a few, or many others besides. The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is applied based on analysis of all behaviors and their severity.” (This information is from www.autism-society.org. Please visit their website for more information.)
Please visit this link for some very interesting facts and statistics regarding Autism. http://www.autism-society.org/what-is/facts-and-statistics
