Autism is a developmental disorder that is characterized by deficits in communication, both verbal and nonverbal, deficits in social interaction, and deficits in educational performance. The peak age for diagnosing Autism is at 3years. Children with autism usually like repetitive behavior and resist change. A case in point is they may prefer playing with spinning toys.
Autism is also characterized by delays in developmental growth such as speech, going to the toilet, developing relationships, especially in adolescents. Interfering with their normal routine may make them go back to achievements they had made earlier on. Autism belongs to the group of pervasive developmental disorders that is prevalent among males than female children. The total incidence is slightly more than 1% in male than female children. The autistic medical condition is more common in Europeans and Americans as compared to Africans, African Americans, and Latinos. It has also been associated more with the upper socioeconomic classes as compared to the lower socioeconomic classes and it is associated with their lifestyle choices.
For a person to be able to identify autism in a student, they must be aware of the distinctive features of Autism. Some of the distinctive features of autism that were mentioned included: abnormal language development, abnormal social development, repetitive behavior, problematic behavior, sensory and movement disorders, and the difference in intellectual functioning. There is a clear explanation of each of these features and one can easily identify what the author means when he says abnormal language development.
The paper gives a clear definition of the word autism. It also gives characteristics that are associated with autism; from the write-up, one can identify the characteristics of autism in a child. Nonetheless, it does not specify the characteristics that one has to fulfill to be said to have autism (according to DSM IV). In identifying autism there is the triad of autism which consists of: autistic aloneness; speech and language disorder and obsessive desire for sameness. This is important in identifying a student with autism. The paper gives case studies of people with autism this is important and essential.
In reading the write-up, one gets a clear description of the risk factors of autism. This is necessary for narrowing down to deciding that a student has autism. Although some necessary risk factors such as the association with richer rather than the poor in society have been left out. The paper has also given some differentials for autism such as Asperger syndrome; this is associated with autism and belongs to the same group of disorders with autism. The paper should have talked about other disorders that may present with the same features and may be mistaken for autism and are not necessarily in the same group. A case in point is antisocial behavior.
The author should also have touched on the etiological factors of autism. When identifying a child with autism one may want to know what may cause autism. In the case that the student meets one of the etiological factors, like say genetics. It would be easy to say that they have autism. It would also have been necessary that the paper has concluding statements that give a brief description of the management of autism. The major reason why one is required to identify autism is to be able to manage the students appropriately.