WHAT AGE?

Autism usually manifests itself around about two to three years of age. Diagnosed by US neurologist Leo Kanner in 1943. However, Theodor Heller, an Austrian educationalist noted late onset of Autism, e.g. 4 years +, as early as 1908. Late onset of Autism is known to-day as Heller's Syndrome or Disintegrative Childhood Disorder. Asperger Syndrome is pure Autism, i.e. Autistic traits without retardation. Asperger Syndrome was first diagnosed by an Austrian Professor, Hans Asperger in 1944.

There are three main areas in the Autism brain with which the individual has difficulties. Obviously, those can be fragmented into smaller areas within the main parts, but those can be defined as 'Social Behaviour', 'Communication' and 'Imagination', e.g. imaginative play, like children pretending a cardboard box is a car. Children/ adults with Autism cannot do this, they cannot place themselves into a false world, they are tied to what is physically real.

Also, they are not able to recognize whether someone is sad, unless they eventually have learnt that if a person looks sad, then this means 'sad' i.e. they can do this intellectually, but not emotionally.

(Howard A. Ring, MD, MRCPsych, 1998).

 

WHY DO PERSONS WITH AUTISM HAVE NO EYE CONTACT?

Children with Autism cannot make eye contact, they cannot use the direction to assume to understand what is going on in other people's heads or minds.

Why can't they do that? Well, what we do know is that one particular area in the brain, the Temporal Lobes, has to do with this process. There are cells in the Temporal Lobes that respond to the direction of the eyes looking.

There is something in this part of the brain that is not working as it should be.

(Howard A. Ring, MD, MRCPsych, 1998).