According to the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Guide to Early Childhood Care, autism is defined as a cognitive childhood disorder characterized by self-absorption, solitary behavior, late development of speech, inability to relate, and a tendency to engage ritualized, repetitive movements.
This condition is among a group of developmental disorders that include Asperger’s Disorder, Rett’s Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. In some cases autism is genetic, and in others may occur from prenatal damage to the brain. Some features of autism include severe lack of social interaction, difficulty in language, and the likelihood of repetitive actions, and a narrow focus of interest.
In infants, some of the earliest signs of autism are failure to engage in prolonged eye contact, lack of emotional expressions with another person, and failure to engage in shared visual attention. Autistic children seldom use gestures as a form of communication, and their language may appear to reflect a lack of sensitivity to other’s perspectives. In language, most children have difficulty with the pronoun I and you, which differentiates acknowledging that two people in a conversation have different perspectives. It becomes increasingly apparent that the child lives in a world of his own, where speech, facial expressions, and other forms of communication are non-existent or unintelligible. At times few words are spoken, but are repeated over and over for no apparent reason.
