April is National Autism Awareness month.
At Aiming Low, we’d like to do our part by sharing a little information with you about what, exactly, autism is.
According to Autism Speaks:
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The other pervasive developmental disorders are PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Many parents and professionals refer to this group as Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Ummm… what? What does that mean, exactly?
First of all, it means that there is no singular way to describe autism. You might hear parents of children with autism say that their child is “on the spectrum” as opposed to describing their child as “having autism.” Autism can manifest itself differently in each person affected by it.
Autism is a developmental disability of the brain, a neurological disorder. It is not mental retardation, a psychosis, or an emotional problem.
Autism is often associated with impaired social interaction, communication difficulties,and a restricted repertoire of activities and interests. Sensory processing may also be affected, making people with autism more or less sensitive than people without autism.
The bottom line is that there is no one answer to the question, “What is autism?”
That can make it very difficult for parents to recognize autism and find support and resources if their child needs them. Every journey with autism is, essentially, the first of its kind.
These sites provide more information about autism:
Would you like to help raise awareness and funds for people living with autism?
About Aiming Low Does Good
That is very good advice, not everyone with Autism is the same as everyone else with Autism. There may be some similarities but there may be none. It’s always an adventure, that’s for sure.
Twitter Name: penbleth
You are completely right. Autism is an umbrella term to describe so many variations of the spectrum. One thing I was told by an evaluator from the school system is that if you know one child with autism you only know one child. Each child can be so different that you have to know that child to understand their form of autism. Thank you ladies for helping raise awareness this month!
Twitter Name: lifewithbutters