Matthew Blacksmith
Mr. Ruggieri
English 11
3/28/14
Living With Autism Autism, once a rare disorder only possessed by a mere five in ten-thousand births has grown to become a major disorder in our society. This disease now encompasses 1 out of 87 births. However with this growing number of those diagnosed, the knowledge to cure or treat symptoms goes with it. Learning more about this disease and those who have it is the first step to stopping it. Autism is a wide spectrum disorder with varying levels of severity. A spectrum disorder is a disorder in which there is a wide range of symptoms and severity in which this disorder encompasses. Autism is defined as a "childhood onset developmental disorder defined by a variety of different deficits." There are three major types of autism. The first of these is Autistic (classic) disorder. This is the most common form of autism and the one most people think of when autism is mentioned. Second of these is pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. This is the least common variant of the disorder and can oftentimes be the most severe. Those with this form of autism may suffer the widest range of symptoms. The last form of autism is known as Asperger's syndrome. This is often known as the least severe type of autism. Those with this form of the disorder can in most cases function the most normally and require the least amount of treatment. However aspergers syndrome may lead to impulsive and sometimes rude behavior. Keep in mind that no two cases are exactly the same and all three of the types of this disorder have varying levels of severity and wide ranges of symptoms.

To this day doctors aren't entirely sure of what truly causes autism. However current research has led to many commonalities in what may or may not cause autism. First of these is if the mother has any medical disorder during pregnancy. Most common is influenza. Having something as simple as the flu during pregnancy can double a babies chances of having autism. Even worse, if the disease lasts for over a week the chance of having an autistic child triples This leads to doctors telling pregnant women who have the flu to always have their baby checked out. Another cause is oxygen starvation before birth. This can lead to the shutting down or "malfunctioning" of cells or throwing off of brain chemistry that can lead to autism itself, or autism like symptoms. Over time scientists have discovered a number of gene abnormalities that can lead to autism. Studies further show that as parental age increases, so too does the chance of having one of these genetic abnormalities, The brain activity of those with autism often is incredibly close to those who have disorders like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, and having a parent who has either of these disorders can and does raise chances of having being autistic by a considerable amount. Most of the above causes can't alone cause autism. For these to happen one must have already had the genetic predisposition of autism before any occurrence of these causes. These are just catalysts to what may or may not have happened anyways over time. Lastly, one thing to be observant of is that those who have an overactive immune system may have many autism like tendencies. Symptoms may be similar or completely line up to those of autism, and this is why having your baby professionally diagnosed is so important.

Diagnosing autism is a difficult time consuming process, but ultimately a necessity in the life of one who suffers from autism, and is the first step towards treatment. Unfortunately there is no test determine whether one suffers from autism or not. So a lengthy process is needed to be conducted and an entire range of doctors including but not limited to psychologists, psychiatrists, audiologist, neurologists, therapists, pediatricians, and pathologists. Autism can be noticed in normal screenings as early as three months of age, but usually is