Serious Developmental Problems Called Autism Spectrum Disorder

David is a beautiful 4 year old boy with full lips like a cherrib, and great big puppy eyes that match his dark hair.   Other than his extremely tall statue he looks just like many other kids his age.   However, while he looks perfectly normal, it’s apparent as you watch him that he does not behave or interact like a typical child.   David does not have play dates or kids on the block that ring his bell to play.   As a matter of fact, if taken to the park he runs not to the jungle gym set filled with laughing kids, but runs the other way.   He loves figurine toys (Super Y, handy Manny) but does not utilize them in a functional play manner like typical children; he analysis and scans them with his prorifial vision while rocking and making the same repetitive sounds that would not be characterized as babbling; they have no meaning.   Despite attempts to make him look like a hip 4 year old kid with jelled hair and cool vintage T-shirts, David still wears a diper and needs assistance getting dressed.   When called, David like most kids may so chose to respond but when he does not respond it’s as if he’s in a far off land that disconnects all of his sensors (hearing and vision) from the world surrounding him.   David can count in two languages, identify pictures of objects and people, and can read words that a second grader may not even know yet; he cannot verbally tell you what he is feeling, needs or wants.   If not engaged, David could sit for hours upon hours starring into a world so far away and unknown; a world that David does not share with anyone else.  
Like so many other children today, David has been diagnosed with Autism.   Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of a child’s life and is more prevalent in males than females.   In David’s case his mother noticed signs when he was less than a year old.   Autism results from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain.   As a result of the... [continues]

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