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Children and Autism


            An interesting viewpoint was shared with the world when Clara Claiborne Park (1982) wrote a book about the first eight years of her autistic daughter's life. Park defines autism as:.
             All the autistic child's deficiencies could be seen converging in this one: the deficiency which renders it unable or unwilling to put together the primary building blocks of experience. It affects the senses, it affects speech, it affects action, it affects emotion. The autistic child does not move naturally from one sound to another, from one word to another, from one idea to another, from one experience to another. (p. 267) .
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             Most people have heard of the disorder autism, but few actually know what it is. This leads us to the question: what is autism? Autism is a developmental disability that usually appears in children during their first three years of life. This disorder affects the brain's ability to function as well as other behaviors connected with the brain. "It has been estimated that as many as 1 in 500 individuals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1997) have autism. Autism is as much as four times as likely to affect boys than girls and knows no racial, ethnical, or social boundaries. Family income, lifestyle, and educational levels do not affect the chance of autism's occurrence" (www.autism-society.org.).
             Autism is considered a subgroup of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (P.D.D). and is thought to be at the most severe end of the P.D.D. continuum (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Characteristics of a P.D.D. include an impairment of social interactions, impairment of communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal and impairment of imaginary play. These three qualities as well as two others make up the classic characteristics of autism:.
             (1) Impaired Social Relationships.
             People with autism can be taught to manage their behavior (Dalrymple ,1991). Yet even those who have experience and expertise working with people with autism are confounded by the .


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