Autism is a life-long disability that affects the way a person relates and communicates with others. It is a condition with wide-ranging degrees of severity, which is why it is often referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Autism comes from “autos”, the Greek word for “self”, and an autistic child is often referred to as someone who lives in a world of his own.

In 1943, Leo Kanner was the first person to describe and name a pattern of behavior he observed in a small group of young children, which he termed “early infantile autism”. A year later, Hans Asperger wrote about different patterns of behaviour in more able older children and adolescents. This form of autism became known as Asperger Syndrome.

The autism spectrum covers the two groups describe by Kanner and Asperger. Many people have a mixture of features and do not fit neatly into either category.

The range of intellectual ability in children with ASD is considerable. It ranges from those who are severely learning-disabled to those who have average or above – average intellect. There are some children who are linguistically fluent whilst others are mute. No two people with ASD will exhibit all the same features.

Children with ASD do not look any different from other people and sometimes this leads us to refer to autism as the “invisible disability” This makes awareness more problematic. You may find that other people look at your child and wonder why he is behaving so unusually, as he looks like every other child.

ASD can also occur in association with a psychological or physical disability such as epilepsy, Down’s syndrome or cerebral palsy. Children with ASD may also have additional problems such as dyslexia or a language disorder.