What is Autism?

What is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterised by different degrees of impairment and deviance in the development of social communication, cognition and emotions, and presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviours and interests as well as sensory processing problems. Other areas of impairments, such as intelligence and language, may co-exist.

ASD creates various challenges which change along with the child’s different developmental stages. The syndrome can cause significant impact on parent- child relationships, peer relationships and adjustment to school and society. Children with ASD vary greatly in the overall functioning depending on the individual’s age, language and intellectual development, as well as other factors such as treatment history and ongoing support.

Symptoms

Although symptoms of autism vary from child to child, the core areas affected include:

Deficits In Language And Communication

Impairments In Socialization And Social Interactions

Undeveloped Cognitive And Adaptive Functioning

Restricted Repetitive And Stereotyped Patterns Of Behavior And Interests.

Cause of ASD

Though the exact cause is still not fully delineated, ASD is now widely accepted to be a neurodevelopmental disorder that is highly heritable and resulting from multiple genetic and non-genetic causes.

Heritability is demonstrated by the higher recurrence rate of siblings of children with ASD. About 10% of children with autism are also identified as suffering from Down’s syndrome, fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis or other genetic and chromosomal disorder.

There is overwhelmingly strong evidence that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is not associated with ASD.

Prevalence of ASD

As of December 2021, about 1 in 44 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which is 50% higher than previous estimates reported in 2012 of 1 in 88 children. (Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, CDC 2021)

Approximately 67 million people worldwide are affected by autism

Every child deserves to thrive, and children with autism should have the opportunity
to realize their inherent potential and achieve the highest quality of life possible.

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