Autism Info

• a developmental disorder - a condition in which there is a disturbance of some stage in a child’s typical physical and/or psychological development
• shows up in the first few years of a child’s life
• can affect childs ability to communicate, use his or her imagination, and connect with other people including parents and siblings. 
• ASD includes the following 5 diagnoses: Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD), Rett’s Disorder, and PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder- not otherwise specified)
• ranges from mild to severe 
• severe or low-functioning may be unable to speak and also have mental retardation
• mild end or high-functioning may be able to function in a regular classroom and even reach the point where he or she no longer meets the criteria for autism.
• Typical children perceive a face as a whole. Our brains are not wired to register features discretely_ eyes, nose, mouth, chin, and forehead- then piece them together as if they were objects. When tested, typical children perceive faces more quickly than objects, whereas children with ASDs see faces feature by feature without compiling them into a whole. 
• eye contact is difficult for children with ASD because faces are rarely static- looking at a face maybe overwhelming.