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Autism Activism

Introduction

Unlike flu or cold, autism is a disability, and affects how the person communicates and interacts with other people. It is a problem of the nervous system, which includes the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves. Further, autism is not contagious, and one person cannot catch it from another person. A person afflicted with autism has his individual development and learning to depend on the interaction of his nervous system with the environment. Children with autism have a set of certain characteristics and symptoms that are unique to them. These signs of autism in children could be mild or severe. The mild form of autism is called the Asperger syndrome. The range of autism behaviors is called the autism spectrum disorder (Brill, 13-17).

The Asperger syndrome characterizes children with a mild form of autism. Such children usually begin speaking at the age of four. These children might appear normal which is termed as the high-functioning autism. In the high-functioning autism, the symptoms are as bleak as to the person appearing normal and looking like others without the disability. However, children with Asperger syndrome might not be as good. They will have a steady tone in their speech and emotionless talk. They may even have problems interacting with other children their age. They may also exhibit an incessant focus on a single topic of their liking in their talk, or they may talk with too indifference. Further, these children might do well in all the subjects, in schools.

In this, the children with Autism see the world and react in unique ways. Children with severe autism also tend to have mental retardation. This retardation of mind hinders their learning and behavior. Results from studies show different children with distinct characteristics. While some may be good in one subject, they will be weak in others. There are also children who plainly refuse to participate in testing or study (Brill, 13-17).

Although some symptoms of autism will remain in every autistic person, such as the fragile eye contact, yet, other symptoms may fade. For instance, some autistic children may learn how to interact and behave socially. However, the autistic person will keep suffering from autistic traits that will inhibit his ability to interact and communicate (Brill, 13-17).

Autism Activism

History of the Movement

Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital first discovered autism as a psychiatric disorder in 1943. He described the afflicted as having infantile autism which resulted in the person being unable to feel emotions, underdeveloped or undeveloped speech or speech impairment, certain obsession with a few things, excellent rote memory, and deviant responses to things and objects in the environment (Caruso, 10).

Kanner's discovery started work on autism by psychoanalysts. Kanner described refrigerator mothers who could not get any emotional response from the autistic babies. The child psychologist, Bruno Bettleheim further endorsed Kanner's findings. Later, the narcissist behavior shed more light on it by identifying persons with overgrown egos who experience real problem interacting with others. However, the work of Bernard Rimland in 1964 ...