AUTISMIN THE MODERN WORLD

SOME OF THE BIGGEST MYTHS

•ALL AUTISTICS ARE THE SAME•CAN BE CATEGORIZED AS HIGH

FUNTIONING OR LOW FUNCTIONING

WHAT IS AUTISM?

•A MENTAL CONDITION PRESENT FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD, CHARACTERIZED BY DIFFICULTY IN COMMUNICATING AND FORMING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE AND IN USING LANGUAGE AND ABSTRACT CONCEPTS.

AUTISM: A HISTORYSCHIZOPHRENIA - ASPERGERS

• FROM 1911 TO AROUND 1946 IT WAS THOUGHT TO BE A SYMPTOM OF SCHIZOPHRENIA.

• ASPERGER’S COMES FROM A GERMAN SCIENTIST BY THE NAME OF HANS ASPERGER WHO STUDIED CERTAIN ASPECTS OF AUTISM IN CHILDREN.

“TREATMENTS”

1960-1970 TREATMENTS INCLUDED • LSD • ELECTRIC SHOCK • BEHAVIORAL CHANGE

TECHNIQUES THROUGH PAIN AND TORTURE

• SOME USE(D) BLEACH

SYMPTOMS•POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

•SPECIALIZED INTERESTS•MORE EXTREME

REACTIONS TO SENSATIONS

•LESSENED PHYSICAL COORDINATION

CHALLENGES•TEMPERATURE•AMOUNT OF LIGHT•NOISES•SMELLS•CROWDS

• Inability to easily communicate and interact with people (some people, can sometimes experience a type of physical pain when confronted with the idea of talking to or in front of other people)

• Interest in objects or specialized information.

• Reactions to sensations• Physical coordination• Difficulty adapting to change

MYTHS RE-EVALUATED•ALL AUTISTICS ARE THE SAME•THEY CAN BE CATEGORIZED AS EITHER HIGH OR LOW FUNCTIONING

CONCLUSION• NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINE AS A WHOLE• HOPEFULLY THE INFORMATION HELPS GIVE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.