The expression developmental disability stands for the kind of impairment that interferes with a person’s ability to perform one or more vital functions of life. Since such disabilities are of extremely serious nature, they might adversely affect the affected person’s ability to earn an independent living. Autism is one of such disabilities.
In an autistic child, the symptoms are quite a visible right from the time when he or she is three years old.
In most of the cases, these kids have difficulty speaking and cannot speak clearly. An autistic child is much of a loner and does not enjoy playing with other children. He prefers to stay alone and play all alone. They often confine themselves to a small corner and keep playing their very own games, which might look very strange to an outsider.
They do not light bright light or loud noise, and if subjected to such disturbances, they might react rather violently.
Many a time, when you are speaking to them, they wouldn’t even pay attention to what you are saying. You might take them for the deaf. But they are not essentially deaf. Chances are that they would not pay any attention to what you are saying for a very long time and then suddenly react to your talk with a smile or even a hearty laugh, or by simply saying something in reply to what you said. They may not even respond to the sound of their own names at times. But then, on other occasions, you might find them looking bang in your face if you called them by their names.
The basic reason for their not responding is not that they do not hear but that they are too self-immersed to take note of what you said. On such occasions, they cut the external inputs out and take no cognizance of what is being spoken.
Autistic children are difficult to manage because of their unpredictable behavior. They might be an impressive picture of tolerance on one occasion while on the other you might find them extremely irritable and short-tempered.
The best way to get along with them is to be patient, receptive, and willing. So, far there is no cure for autism. Therefore, all that we can do is wait. Wait, patiently.
