Short answers, pulled from the story.
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder, is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by impairment in social communication and interaction, a strong preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing differences, focused interests, and repetitive behaviors. Its features appear in early childhood and typically persist throughout life. Support needs range from minimal assistance to full-time, 24-hour care.
In 1911, Swiss psychiatrist Paul Eugen Bleuler coined the German term Autismus to describe the social withdrawal he observed in people with schizophrenia. The word derives from the Greek autos, meaning self. Bleuler used it for an adult schizophrenia symptom, a retreat from reality into one's own subjective world.
No. A 2014 meta-analysis of ten studies covering 1.25 million children concluded that neither the MMR vaccine nor the preservative thimerosal causes autism. The vaccine claim traced to a 1998 study led by Andrew Wakefield, a fraudulent, litigation-funded study whose co-authors recanted and after which Wakefield was struck off the British medical register.
The World Health Organization estimates about 1 in 100 children were diagnosed with autism between 2012 and 2021, with an increasing trend. The rise since the 1990s is largely attributed to broader diagnostic criteria, greater awareness, and wider access to assessment, with the CDC reporting roughly 1 in 31 children in the United States diagnosed based on 2022 data.
There is no cure for autism, and no medication addresses its core features. Therapies aim to improve self-care, social, and language skills and to reduce barriers, while medications like risperidone and aripiprazole, the only ones approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for autism, are used to manage irritability, aggression, and self-injurious behaviors.
The neurodiversity framework frames autistic traits as a healthy variation of the human condition rather than a disorder to be cured. Promoted by the autism rights movement, it advocates acceptance of autistic behaviors and coping-focused therapies, though it remains debated, partly because critics say its advocates often have relatively few support needs.
Males are about three times more likely than females to be diagnosed with autism. The difference is thought to stem largely from differences in how characteristics are expressed, with autistic women and girls showing less atypical behavior and being better at hiding autistic traits, making them less likely to be diagnosed.