In the News Autism Acceptance Month – Part I

This April, across the world Autism Acceptance is celebrated. In order to accept those living with Autism, we first must understand what Autism is, the diagnosis of it, the treatment of it and the prognosis of it.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex, lifelong developmental condition that typically appears during early childhood and can impact a person’s social skills, communication, relationships, and self-regulation.

The way Autism affects everyone is different. It is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is often referred to as a “spectrum condition” that affects people differently and to varying degrees.

While there is no known cause of Autism, early diagnosis helps a person receive resources that can support the choices and opportunities needed to live a full and successful life.

Autism is diagnosed by persistent differences in communication, interpersonal relationships, and social interaction across different environments. This can look like: 

• Being nonverbal, nonspeaking, or having atypical speech patterns, having trouble understanding nonverbal communication, difficulty making and keeping friends, difficulty maintaining typical back-and-forth conversational style. 

Autism is also diagnosed by restricted and repetitive behavior, patterns, activities, and interests. This can look like: 

• Repeating sounds or phrases, repetitive movements, preference for sameness and difficulty with transition or change in routine, extreme sensitivity to low sensitivity to sensory stimuli. 

(Continued in Part II…)