Autism is a lifelong developmental condition affecting 1 in 100
people in the UK. It impacts on the way a person communicates and how
they experience the world around them. Autism is described as a spectrum
condition. This means that while people with autism, including
Asperger’s Syndrome, share certain characteristics, they will be highly
individual in their needs and preferences. Some people with autism are
able to live relatively independent lives but others face additional
challenges, including learning disabilities, and need varying levels of
support for the whole of their lives.
Broadly speaking, about half of people with autism will be at or
above the normal range of intellectual ability, and about half will be
below the normal range of ability. People at or above the normal range
of ability are often said to have “high-functioning autism”, or to have
Asperger syndrome (the two are similar but there are differences).
Autism is strongly linked to genetic factors. As our understanding of
the human genome increases, we are able to identify genetic markers
which may result in autism. For different conditions – for example
cystic fibrosis – the genetic markers are clear. With autism, there
seems to be a range of genetic markers which may produce autism, but
which do not invariably produce autism. As an example, there are cases
of identical twins where one twin has autism and the other does not. The
current thinking, therefore, is that autism results from a combination
of a genetic difference and one or more environmental factors.
Autism involves a difference in brain development. Understanding is
at a very early stage, but researchers are now looking at neural
pathways and at (for example) the length of neural connections, and at
the differences in brain activity in response to stimuli.
The effects of autism can vary enormously. Typical effects can include:
- High anxiety, probably because of reduced ability to understand the world
- Repetitive behaviour
- Lack of interest (for children) in playing with other children
- Lack of understanding of facial expressions or tones of voice
- Literal understanding of words: a person with autism may have difficulty in understanding common metaphors such as “it’s raining cats and dogs”
- Special interests which may be obsessive source :
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