Autism: The Medical Professions View.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), issued by the American Psychiatric Association, autism is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder that is considered an episodic and more transient clinical disorder, (Autism.Org, 1995). The medical profession asserts that the signs and symptoms of autism vary, which makes the formal diagnoses process challenging since physicians have no blood test or diagnostic scan to rely on to diagnose the disorder (NAAR Website, 2003). .
According to the DSM-IV, the symptoms for autism include the following:.
- A total of six or more impairments in social interaction; communication; and restrictive or repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior.
- Delays or abnormal functioning in social interaction; language as a means for communication; or symbolic or imaginative play.
- Symptoms that cannot be described as Rhett Syndrome or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. (NAAR Website, 2003).
Autism is three times more likely to affect males than females and its prevalence has ranged from ¼% to ½% of the population (Autism.Org, 1999). According to the Autism Society of America, autism knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries, and family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence (ASA Website, 2003).
According to the medical profession, many autistic babies are different from birth. Two common characteristics they may exhibit include arching their back away from their caregiver to avoid physical contact and failing to anticipate being picked up. As infants they are often described as either passive or overly agitated babies. Some even begin to rock and/or bang their head against the crib; but this is not always the case (Autism.Org, 1999).
In general, autistic behavior is seen in its most typical form between 2 and 5 years of age, although the abnormalities in some passive and some active-but-odd children are not detected until school age (Cohen, p.