Autism is commonly heard about but do people really know what it is? Autism is a series of developmental disorders that is generally diagnosed at a young age. Every now and then it is challenging to distinguish if someone is autistic. Many children with autistic behaviors do not have as much brain control as a person without autism. The disorder is not rare and more people should be acquainted with the term “Autism.”
Researchers have been exploring for the past century to find if Autism has a type of inheritance. Over the years researchers have been working hard to find a specific type of genetic background in order to find the precise genetic nomenclature that contributes to the development of Autism. Even though the solid connection between …show more content…
The first to classify Autism was a German psychiatrist named Emil Kraepelin. She described the series of psychotic disturbances in adults as “dementia praecox ” (Bursztyn, 2011, p. 7). Dementia is defined as a progression deterioration and a chronic disorder of the brain. Praecox is a Latin term meaning “very early”. Later on contributions were made by Eugen Bleuler. When the history of Autism comes up most people normally think of Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist. He is the first one who gave a general label for the symptoms and disturbances in children. Bleuer’s main criticism of Kraepelin’s disorder was the decline in cognitive abilities was not foreseeable and that the time of onset varied (Bursztyn, 2011, p. 7). Bleuer believed that these children were exposed by an early form of Schizophrenia. Schizo comes from the Greek root meaning “split” and -phrene means “mind.” In 1943 Austrian psychiatrist and physician Leo Kanner termed the disorder “ early infantile autism” and claimed that it was different from the disturbances described by Kraepelin and Bleuler in that it had a very early onset (Bursztyn, 2011, p. 7). There are many types of disturbances that helped Kanner characterize infantile autism. Autism means “an absorption in the self.” The critical key to diagnosing autism is the inability to socially interact and communicate. …show more content…
Research shows that the following are symptoms of Autism: sensory problems, emotional difficulties, uneven negative abilities, struggle with speech and language, restricted behavior and play, and difficulty with social understanding (Hutman, Smith, & Segal, 2017 ). Considering that Autism is a central nervous system disorder it does not just come with sign and symptoms, it also is escorted with other problems as well “Autism has entered the mainstream of brain research, like the conditions that often accompany it, such as epilepsy, sleep disorders, movement problems, and many psychiatric disorders” (Vahabzadeh, 2013). Being diagnosed with autism does not reduced life expectancy but it does challenge the person with day to day tasks. Early diagnostics are critical to the outcome of