Autism is characterized by impaired social skills and restricted, repetitive behavior that occurs. The brain disorder is usually diagnosed in early childhood before the child is three. The number of children diagnosed with Autism has risen dramatically in the last twenty years. It is not clear whether the rise results from a change in diagnostic measures or from genetic and environmental factors. Some proposed causes are birth defects, mutations, childhood vaccines, television viewing in infancy. However, these are just theories and there is really no clear scientific evidence as to the cause. 

    I have worked with autistic students. The spectrum is really wide with some studnts being able to attend regular class while others need to stick to life skills training. Some children with autism are behavioral but not all are. While there really is no cure with training some can lead fairly normal lives. This is dependant on the student's cognitive ability. There are some famous people with Autism. You may be surprised to learn that Darryl Hannah, Steven Spielberg, and Dan Akroyd have claimed to have Autism!