2018 … The numbers and range of Autism Spectrum Disorder is much higher than reported
Adults with high functioning autism are often unaware that they are affected, some seeing it as OCD or Asperger’s, as the patterns overlap. I’ve met adults who display autistic patterns and struggle to figure out the nature of emotions often having issues with relationships and physical intimacy. Careers often include working with numbers and computers.
In the healing worlds many people with ASD work with others helping them bring up and process emotional baggage from their past as the healer explores and examines the emotions experienced by the person they are working on. This overlaps into empathy and degrees of assimilation. It’s all about the brain as a computer and its programmed experiences in the hologram of our reality. The 2016 film “The Accountant” brings additional insights.
Autism spectrum or autism spectrum disorder describes a range of conditions classified as neuro-developmental disorders in the DSM-5, published in 2013. Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder must present two types of symptoms:
Deficits in social communication and social interaction
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities
The DSM-5 redefined the autism spectrum disorders to encompass the previous (DSM-IV-TR) diagnoses, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and childhood disintegrative disorder. Features of these disorders include social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviors and interests, sensory issues, and in some cases, cognitive delays.
Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child’s life. These signs often develop gradually, though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at a normal pace and then regress. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent in early childhood, typically before age three.
Autism is due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Some cases are strongly associated with certain infections during pregnancy including rubella and use of alcohol or cocaine. Controversies surround other proposed environmental causes; for example, the vaccine hypotheses, which have since been disproven. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; In the DSM V, autism is included within the autism spectrum (ASDs), as is Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which was diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome were not met.
Early speech or behavioral interventions can help children with autism gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder.
As of 2010, the number of people affected is estimated at about 1Ð2 per 1,000 worldwide. It occurs four to five times more often in boys than girls. About 1.5% of children in the United States (one in 68) are diagnosed with ASD as of 2014, a 30% increase from one in 88 in 2012. The rate of autism among adults aged 18 years and over in the United Kingdom is 1.1%. The number of people diagnosed has been increasing dramatically since the 1980s, partly due to changes in diagnostic practice and government-subsidized financial incentives for named diagnoses.
