The Effects Of Autism On Children And Children Who Had...

I was introduced to autism at an early age. My mom used to work for a preschool as an aid for children who had special needs. Whenever I was sick as a kid, she would take me to work, where I had the opportunity to observe a boy named Connor. I found him fascinating. I wondered why he was so obsessed with this blue truck, and why he had to have it with him at all times. Because wherever this blue truck was, Connor was, and this I couldn’t understand as a young girl. I always wondered why he couldn t have the red truck, or the yellow truck, or even a different toy to play with. What was so special about the blue one? I didn t know it back then, but Connor had autism. Autism has been considered a mental disorder since the 1940s.†¦show more content†¦Another was that the mercury in the vaccines given to children at a young age was causing a rapid increase in this disorder. Again, these are only a few of the many hypotheses’ in order to explain the autism enigma. This is not a US only problem. Families everywhere are now coping with caring for a child diagnosed with autism, which leads us to how families cope with this life changing news. Cultural variables are crucial in determining how well a family will accept a medical diagnosis and thus the outcome for the child as well (Pitten). So What Is Autism? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is the umbrella diagnosis for all disorders ranging from Asperger’s to autism itself. There are varying degrees of autism, and people can describe this as being â€Å"on the spectrum†. Autism is a mental disorder that is characterized by difficulty in both communication and with forming relationships with peers (Autism Speaks). Researchers believe that before the pattern of symptoms now known as autism existed within societies, people did exist with this disorder but were instead classified as mentally retarded and deemed insane (Bettelheim). Autism itself was not named a disorder until around the year of 1943 by Leo Kanner when he published a paper describing how he had noticed a certain pattern of symptoms within children who had previously been diagnosed as either disturbed or mentally insane