Autistic Disorder - One Term, Many Meanings
Though autistic disorder is often thought of as a single condition, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in fact refers to five different kinds of autism. When most people think about autism, they're only thinking about one type - the kind they saw in the movie Rainman - and don't realize that this is only a fifth of the disorders to which autism truly refers. The first type of autism is called Classic Autism . It's also known as Kanner's autism, or Kanner's disorder after a doctor who researched the condition in the 1930s through the 1940s. Classic autism is one of the lower functioning forms in the spectrum, and is identified by its high level of social and communication issues. Children with the classic autistic disorder rarely interact with the majority of people. They often suffer from poor motor skills and frequently repeat actions and motions. They are also generally reluctant to make eye contact and may display temper tantrums when they ex...