Autism, Hope and Positive Intervention
Autism is a neurological condition characterized by impairments in social, communicative and behavioral development. It is three times as common, like ADHD, in boys. The level of severity varies and the problem of autism is international in scope. It has been described as a "public health concern." In 1943 Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital studied a group of 11 children and introduced the label early infantile autism. A German scientist, about the same time, labeled a milder form of the disorder which became known as Asperger syndrome. These are two the most common of the disorders known as pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), or as autism spectrum disorders. The five PDD disorders are autism, Asperger syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (the latter two being less common that the first two). Also, a 5th is labeled as PDD-NOS, that is pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, a disorder that does not meet t...