By: Rachel Britt

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a complex neurobehavioral disorder that include impairments in social interactions and developmental language and communication combined with rigid, repetitive behavior. Autism covers a large spectrum of skills, symptoms, and levels of impairment. It can also be associated with intellectual disabilities such as difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep. WHAT IS IT?

Autism isn’t strictly a genetic trait but if it were it would be an autosomal recessive gene Autism is linked more toward men than women It is nondisjunction Most affected genes look different in every case even among sibling so there is no one affected gene to compare to a healthy gene Chromosome number 15 if affected CAUSES

1 in every 68 people are affected by Autism and 1 in every 42 affected are men Autism occurs more frequently in men Children of foreign-born mothers who are African-American, Central/Southern America, Vietnamese, or Filipino have a higher chance of getting diagnosed with Autism than children of White U.S. born mothers Most kids are diagnosed at the age of 5 or older FACTS ABOUT AUTISM

Failure to respond to his/her name or appears to not hear you at times Has poor eye contact or lacks facial expressions Appears not to understand simple questions or directions Constantly moving May have odd food preferences, such as eating only a few foods or eating only a certain kind if texture SIGNS/SYMPTOMS

No medical tests currently Specially trained physicians and psychologists administer autism-specific behavioral evaluations The Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers(M-CHAT) is a questionnaire you can answer about your child that will tell you if further examination is needed for your child TESTING AND SCREENING

Speech and Language Therapy Occupational Therapy No medications can cure or treat core symptoms Medication allows some people with ASD to function better Autism isn’t a life ending disorder TREATMENT

Autism is one of the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S. Autism costs a family on average $60,000 a year OTHER INTERESTING FACTS

autism-diagnosed-at-5-or-older autism-diagnosed-at-5-or-older BIBLIOGRAPHY