Children and Austism Spectrum Disorder

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One in sixty-eight children in the U.S. have an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is a 30% increase from 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism is more common than childhood cancer, cystic fibrosis, and multiple sclerosis combined (Ana Maria Rodriguez, Autism Spectrum Disorders).A common sign of Autism is difficulties in social interaction. Autism socially impairs by making it difficult to interpret others’ emotions, not understanding social cues, and inhibiting the ability to initiate or carry on conversations. According to Elaine Landau in the book Autism, children with Autism do not respond to situations the same as other children and slowly develop language skills.
Autism is not just one disorder; it is a spectrum of neurological disorders. There are five widely recognized pervasive disorders. They are classic autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Rett’s disorder. Signs of autism usually appear between ages of 18 months to 6 years, and are usually diagnosed by age 3. In the early days of autism, it was believed to be caused by uncaring and unresponsive mothers, or refrigerator mothers. Children with autism were believed to be psychotic, insensitive, or to have schizophrenia. The theories of Leo Kanner (one of the first to conduct research on autism), Hans Asperger, and Bruno Bettelheim among others were widely accepted by society. Many believed that if children with autism could not be “controlled,” they should be institutionalized. Today we know much more about autism, and that they do not belong in institutions, proving many of the early theories to be inaccurate but at th...

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