Autism (say: aw -tih-zum) causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. Kids who have autism usually keep to themselves and many can’t communicate without special help. Although treatment has improved greatly in the past few decades, autism cannot be cured. It’s estimated that three to six of every 1,000 children have autism. It persists throughout life. Some believe this increase is largely due to changed diagnostic criteria and/or societal factors, while others think the reason is environmental.
Although the specific causes of autism are unknown, there is a large database of links between autism and genetic loci that span every chromosome. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS). Some autistic children and adults are opposed to attempts to cure autism, because they see autism as part of who they are, and in some cases they perceive attempts of a cure to be intensive and unnatural.
