Dustin Hofman did a world of good with the film: Rainman.
He made people aware of autism and showed that autism is more than an unability to communicate and an irritating habit of repetitive movements.

There is a wide spectrum of autistic, autistic-like (autistiform) and -associated disorders.
The last years autism is described by using terms like core autism and autism spectrum disorders.

I'll be talking here about autistic children, but spectrumchildren show the same behaviour, but in a lesser degree, or on less areas.

The main feature is impaired social communication.
Many people with autism are not able to develop the skills and behaviour that are necessary for optimal functioning in a social environment.
They can't deal with all feelings we are unconsciously and automatically dealing with.

Autism is a neurological disorder with serious consequences for communication.
Our knowledge is far from complete, but it has been proven that there is a heightened susceptibility for sensory stimulation, and an inability to deal adequately with certain feelings.
Because autists experience changes in their environment in a broader spectrum than other people do, they react different.
The stimulation they experience from the outer world is far greater than we experience. They can't deal with this abundance of unwanted feelings, and because of that they have developed a resistance against change of routine, and an avoidance of eye-contact and bodily touch.
Some create a constant inner energy that filters unwanted sensations out by constant repetitive movements.


Early diagnosed children show manifestations of autism during the first three years of life , like a persistent avoidance of eye contact. Or the parents turn to their doctor because the baby doesn't want cuddling and cries severely during nappy changes and visits to family and bussy places.

Some sources say that about fifty percent of the children are non-verbal and up to eighty percent are intellectually challenged. These children will be brought under the attention of the professionals because the difference from other children is apparent.

Other children can't be diagnosed as easily, because they have been trained to have eye contact and are conditioned to show socially desirable behaviour.
(40% of all children with autism wait more than three years for a clear diagnosis.)
When they grow up and their world becomes more complex they will attract attention at school because of their behaviour. Whereas other children get more and more independable in their behaviour and enjoy new activities, the autistic and spectrumchildren will cling to their teacher, or choose for loneliness. They won't make friends, won't share hobbies, and get upset with changes in the daily routine.

Most autistic children have one or more subjects they know a lot about. Often these are subjects that require specific knowledge.
But only a few demonstrate the typical fantastic mathematical and artistic abilities that are ascribed to autism.
Those with abundant knowledge on one or two subjects are called savants.

Most autists are not intellectually impaired, but function at an average or above average level at school. Which adds to the fact that it is difficult to recognise autism and autistiform disorders in some.

The inner world of autistic children and adults, and those who suffer from autistiform disorders can't be understood easily. They have developed all sorts of ways to compensate for the overstimulation, and because they experience the world different from us, they react different too.
The way they deal with people often resembles the way they deal with objects, which results in a lack of social flexibility.
A child will cling to his opinion about a person, untill he's very upset.
For instance: A nice trusted teacher can become a threat from the moment on that she wasn't available for help.
The autistc child feels she can no longer be trusted, and doesn't consider her a part of his world anymore.
He'll treat her as a stranger. A teacher who doesn't understand this, will feel insecure and thus changes her behaviour. The child will sense this and this will stress the feeling that he doesn't know her anymore.
And thus they slip into a spiral of misunderstanding....

Children with autism are 20 times more likely to be excluded from school than other children.

Autism has not always been considered to be a neurological disorder.
There have been times that the parents were blamed for their childs behaviour.
Especially the mothers who considered to be of high intelligence were the target of theories. It was said they didn't pay enough loving attention to their children.
Luckily further research showed that this theory couldn't be proven.

Although a specific cause of autism is not discovered yet, current research shows strong correlation between autism and biological and/or neurological differences in the brain.
The fact that boys are four times more likely to develop autism than girls is consistent with findings for some other genetic disorders.
A deficit on chromosome 15 has been directly linked to certain forms of autism, which guides further research into the area of genetic causes.

This also would mean that more targeted research to treat autism is possible in the near future.

Right now there's no cure for autism.
Children and adults are dependent upon the acceptation of the people around them and of their willingness to focus their attention upon a structured environment.
When they find the right place to be many adults with autism can function well and many are able to work.

Most experience a willingness to make friends, but they find it difficult to initiate contact.

A combination of behavioral training, support,targeted education and sometimes medication will enable autistic children to develop the necessary skills to function at an adequate level at school and in society.
And more important: to feel happy.