An autistic toddler stacking cans, associated with autism sometimes.
Autism can be described as all of the following:
Disability– may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.
Developmental disability– a term used in the United States and Canada to describe lifelong disabilities attributable to mental or physical impairments, manifested prior to age 18.
Double empathy problem– a theory suggesting that the communication difficulties present in autistic individuals are due to a reciprocal lack of understanding and bidirectional differences in communication style among other factors rather than an inherent deficiency.
Epidemiology of autism– the study of factors affecting autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).
Mirror neuron– a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.
Spindle neuron– also called von Economo neurons (VENs), are a specific class of neurons that are characterized by a large spindle-shaped soma, gradually tapering into a single apical axon in one direction, with only a single dendrite facing opposite.
Weak central coherence theory (WCC) – also called the central coherence theory (CC), suggests that a specific perceptual-cognitive style, loosely described as a limited ability to understand context or to "see the big picture", underlies the central disturbance in autism and related ASDs.
Applied behavior analysis– a therapy that some have argued may be potentially abusive or too controlling, especially if the therapist is poorly trained.
Autism Speaks– the world's largest autism advocacy organization that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public; some have argued that it is exploitative and unkind.
Refrigerator mother– an accusing label for mothers of children diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia, now widely understood to be a myth.
Thiomersal and vaccines– describing discredited claims that vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thiomersal contribute to the development of autism and other brain development disorders.
Diogene's Theory - The possibility that Autism, or any other related classifications does not exist at all, as this term was never used in the Stone Age; disregard of Eugen Bleuler
Craniosacral therapy– (also called CST, also spelled Cranial Sacral bodywork or therapy) is an alternative medicine therapy used by physiotherapists, osteopaths, massage therapists, naturopaths, and chiropractors.
Chelation therapy– the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. Not effective in autism.
Facilitated communication– a debunked technique which purports to allow non-verbal autistics to communicate.
Secretin– a hormone that controls the secretions into the duodenum, and also separately, water homeostasis throughout the body. Ineffective in autism.[1]
Vaccine controversy– a dispute over the morality, ethics, effectiveness, or safety of vaccinations.
Greta Thunberg in 2019.
Susan Boyle (b. 1961) was first seen on Britain's Got Talent when she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. She has since become a successful singer and has mentioned how alive it makes her feel. She has also stated that her autism diagnosis came as a "relief" to her.[2]
Temple Grandin (b. 1947) is an American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior.
Jim Sinclair (activist) is an autism rights activist who wrote the landmark essay "Don't Mourn For Us".
Greta Thunberg (b. 2003) is a Swedish leading climate change activist.
Donna Williams (1963–2017) was a best-selling Australian author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and sculptor diagnosed with autism after being assessed as a psychotic infant in 1965 at age two, tested multiple times for deafness and labeled disturbed throughout childhood, before treatment for gut, immune and sensory perceptual disorders in adulthood.
Neil Gaiman (1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and screenplays.
See also
Autistic savant– an autistic person with an extraordinary skill in one or more areas.
Autism rights movement (ARM) – (a subset of the neurodiversity movement, also known as the anti-cure movement or autistic culture movement) is a social movement that encourages autistic people, their caregivers and society to adopt a position of neurodiversity, accepting autism as a variation in functioning rather than a mental disorder to be cured.
Autistic art– art created by autistic artists or art which captures or conveys a variety of autistic experiences or demeanor.
Global perceptions of autism − an overview of the diagnosis, treatment, and experience of autism in developing nations.
Identity-first language − the practice of using disability-related words as regular adjectives, such as saying "autistic person" rather than "person with autism".
Neurodiversity– the standpoint that atypical neurological development is a normal human difference that should be accommodated instead of rejected.
Neurotypical– (or NT) is a term that was coined in the autistic community as a label for non-autistic people who have no brain-related health conditions or disabilities: specifically, neurotypical people have neurological development and states that are consistent with what most people would perceive as normal, particularly with respect to their ability to process linguistic information and social cues.
Social model of disability– the view that disability is caused by societal failure to accommodate human diversity, rather than by a defect in the individual.
Societal and cultural aspects of autism– come into play with recognition of autism, approaches to its support services and therapies, and how autism affects how we define personhood.
Autism Act 2009– campaign which led to the creation of a Private Members Bill.
Children's Health Act–The children's health act increased research and treatment of health issues, including autism, asthma, and epilepsy, in children.[6]
Combating Autism Act– an act in the US that authorized funding into autism; it was renamed after controversy.
Jonathan's Law– an act meant to curtail abuse in care facilities, named in honor of a child who was killed.
Organizations
Aspies For Freedom (AFF) – a solidarity and campaigning group which aims at raising public awareness of the autism rights movement.
Autism Awareness Campaign UK– The Autism Awareness Campaign UK were involved in the first United Nations World Autism Awareness Day, declared by the UN General Assembly on Wednesday 2 April 2008 on the recommendation of the State of Qatar.
Autism Network International– founded and run by autistic people. Parents and professionals are welcome but the focus is on living autistic rather than curing it.
Autism Society of America (ASA) – was founded in 1965 by Bernard Rimland, PhD, together with Ruth C.
Autism Speaks– the world's largest autism advocacy organization that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network– a nonprofit advocacy organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN holds that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights, and opportunities as all other people, and that Autistic voices should be included in the national conversation about autism.
Generation Rescue– a nonprofit organization that advocates the view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccines.
National Autistic Society (NAS) – a British charity for people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), including autism and Asperger Syndrome.
National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) – a private non-profit advocacy group which questions the safety and efficacy of commonly used vaccines.
Sacar (charity)– a charity devoted to helping people with autism.
TreeHouse– a United Kingdom charity working to improve the quality of life of children diagnosed with autism and their families, and to inform the general public about autism spectrum disorders.
Wrong Planet– an online community designed for people with autism, people with ADHD, PDDs, and other neurodivergent traits. There are forums and discussions to help neurodivergent people with daily life and the struggles that come with it, such as making friends, general socialization, and tips for going to overwhelming places.[7] (Sometimes referred to by its URL, WrongPlanet.net)
Events
2000 Simpsonwood CDC conference– was a meeting convened in June 2000 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), held at the Simpsonwood Methodist retreat and conference center in Norcross, Georgia.
Autism Sunday– also known as the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger syndrome, is observed annually on the second Sunday of February.
Autistic Pride Day– a celebration of the neurodiversity of people on the autism spectrum on June 18 each year.
Autreat – founded by members of ANI, this is a yearly gathering for autistic people along with parents and professionals to meet and share ideas in an autism-friendly environment.
Floortime– a developmental intervention involving meeting a child at their current developmental level, and challenging them to move up the hierarchy of milestones outlined in the DIR Model.
Gluten-free, casein-free diet– or gluten-free dairy-free diet (GFDF diet) eliminates dietary intake of the naturally occurring proteins gluten (found most often in wheat, barley, rye, and commercially available oats), and casein (found most often in milk and dairy products).
Hug machine– hug box, a squeeze machine, or a squeeze box, is a deep-pressure device designed to calm hyper-sensitive persons, usually autistic people.
Pivotal response therapy (PRT) – also referred to as pivotal response treatment or pivotal response training, is a behavioral intervention therapy for autism.
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) – a trademarked proprietary treatment program for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), based on the belief that the development of dynamic intelligence is the key to improving the quality of life for individuals with autism.
Son-Rise– a therapy encouraging adults to connect with autistic children.
Risperidone– (Risperdal, and generics) is a second-generation or atypical antipsychotic.
Vitamin B12– vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood.
Considerations
Ethical challenges to autism treatment– considerations about whether autism treatments could be harmful or inhumane, especially if therapists are physically hurting the person or training them to suppress important coping mechanisms in order to please non-autistic people.
Suspected genetic relations
Autism spectrum disorder– a spectrum of developmental disabilities present from birth usually resulting in social difficulties, communication differences, and restricted and repetitive behavior. Also referred to simply as "autism".
Fragile X syndrome (FXS) – (also Martin-Bell syndrome, or Escalante's syndrome), is a genetic syndrome suspected to be a genetic cause of autism in some cases
Isodicentric 15– a genetic variation involving extra genetic material in chromosome 15.
Rett syndrome– a neurodevelopmental disorder of the grey matter of the brain that almost exclusively affects females, previously considered to be a form of autism.
These are conditions that people on the autism spectrum may experience more often than is typical.
Alexithymia– a term coined by psychotherapist Peter Sifneos in 1973 to describe a state of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions.
Coeliac disease– spelled celiac disease in North America and often celiac sprue, is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward.
Communication disorder– a speech and language disorder which refers to problems in communication and in related areas such as oral motor function.
Crohn's disease (MAP) – which causes a similar disease, Johne's disease, in cattle.
Deafness– or hearing impairment, is a partial or total inability to hear where the ability would usually be expected.
Dyscalculia– a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic.
Dysgraphia– a deficiency in the ability to write primarily in terms of handwriting, but also in terms of coherence.
Dyslexia– a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid naming.
Echolalia– the automatic repetition of vocalizations made by another person.
Erotophobia– a term coined by a number of researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s to describe one pole on a continuum of attitudes and beliefs about sexuality.
Hyperlexia– the precocious ability to read words without prior training in learning to read typically before the age of 5.
Intellectual disability– a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors.
Language delay– slow development of language abilities compared to the usual developmental timetable.
Learning disability– a classification including several areas of functioning in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors.
Nonverbal learning disorder– or nonverbal learning disability (NLD or NVLD) is a condition characterized by a significant discrepancy between higher verbal and lower motor, visuo-spatial, and social skills on an IQ test.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder– an anxiety disorder characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior that temporarily eases anxiety.
Sensory defensiveness– a condition defined as having "a tendency to react negatively or with alarm to sensory input which is generally considered harmless or non-irritating" to neurotypical persons.
Sensory overload– related to cognitive load in general, is a condition where one or more of the senses are strained and it becomes difficult to focus on the task at hand.
Social alienation– estrangement, division, or distancing of people from each other, or of people from what is important or meaningful to them, or of a person from their own sense of self.
Tourette syndrome– a disorder characterized by repetitive motor and vocal tics.
Obsolete autism spectrum disorders
Disorders formerly considered distinct, but now diagnosed as autism spectrum disorder, include:
Asperger syndrome– a previously diagnosed form of autism often applied to people with a higher IQ who can have a less difficult time communicating with others and understanding concepts or phrases than other individuals with more severe autism. As of 2013, it is no longer a diagnosis on its own. Instead, patients are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which encompasses Asperger syndrome. Many people still use Asperger's as a term when referring to "high-functioning" individuals with autism, but it is not an official diagnosis.
Classic autism - (or Kanner's syndrome) the first described form of autism written about in 1943
Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) – as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), refers to a group of five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication.