I was diagnosed with asd (autistic spectrum dissoder, i think) some years aog. At them time i didnt realy, for whatever reason, comprehend it.

Now i want to know what in the heck is it and what are the symptoms, what does it do, how do i act "different" because of it, etc..?

Did a forums search, didnt find what i wanted to know.

Here is a link to a good succinct description of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. It is on suite101.com.

URL removed by ADMIN

originally appeared on suite101.com

Author: Hope Winston
Published on: November 28, 2000.

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Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), also known as autism, is a life-long developmental disability that usually emerges within the first three years of life. Many people believe autism is a mental illness, but in fact it is a neurological disorder that affects the person's ability to communicate, comprehend language, and relate to others.
ASD occurs in 1 in 500 births. Even though many girls get the disorder, it is four times prevalent in boys. This disability has no boundaries, it is found in all racial, ethnic and social groups.
The term Autistic Spectrum Disorder is being used more and more by professionals in place of the word "Autism". There are a large number of people who have a negative misconception of the disorder and changing the name may change the outlook these people have about it. The term Autistic Spectrum Disorder is more appropriate for the disability because the characteristics and range of severity differs from person to person. The broad spectrum of the disability ranges from mild to very severe. Seventy percent of people with autism have some form of mental retardation, while ten percent are savants. A savant is a person who is extremely talented in a particular area, such as music, art, calculating numbers etc.

Some common behaviors of ASD are:

Impairment in verbal skills. Many severe autistics can not speak, while others who are on the higher end of the spectrum are verbal. They have difficulty expressing themselves and comprehending receptive language.

Participation in stereotypical, repetitive movements. Examples are: jumping, spinning in circles, hand and finger flapping, spinning objects, walking on tip toes etc. Many autistic people repeat phrases or words, this is known as echolalia.

Resisting change: such as a change in their routine or surroundings

Atypical responses to smells, noises, light, touch, textures, and tastes. For example: may only eat one particular type of food, may be sensitive or insensitive noise, light, and touch.

Unusual ways of relating to people. Many ASD children would rather play by themselves. Many are uncomfortable around other people. Depending on the severity of the disorder, many find it painful to interact with others.

High functioning children (and adults) may only have one or two of these traits. The more severe the disability the more characteristics are exhibited. Low functioning children (adults) usually display all the common traits.

There are many theories of what causes ASD, but no one is 100 percent sure. Contrary to belief, autism is not caused by poor parenting or psychological abuse. Genetic make up, environmental factors, and nutrition all play a part in autism. There is new research that shows the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccination is responsible for some cases of autism. Even though there has been much progress made in the research of autism, as of yet there’s still no cure.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder Checklist*

This 14-point checklist of behavioral signs and symptoms can help you determine the possibility of autism.

* Difficulty in mixing with other children
* Acts as deaf, visually impaired, or blind
* Resists learning
* No fear of real dangers
* Resists change in routine
* Lacks use of gesture
* Inappropriate laughing or giggling
* Not cuddly
* Marked physical overactivity
* No eye contact
* Inappropriate attachments to objects
* Spins objects
* Sustained odd play
* Standoffish manner

If you know a child who exhibits 7 or more of these traits on a consistent basis, please contact a professional for evaluation.

* Checklist obtained from Autism Society of America

I work at a school for kids with autism and related disorders. In my work experience, when a child is described with ASD, it usually means that the child is NOT "autistic" in the classic meaning, but has many autistic-like behaviors (people will often say "he's on the spectrum"). You might want to read up on Asperger's Syndrome, as this is also on the spectrum of ASDs. Asperger's is less severe/less debilitating (less something???) than autism. Since it sounds like you pretty much ignored your ASD diagnosis for a while, Asperger Syndrome seems more likely than autism.

wow, thanks big, that was real usfull. That, allong with all my other dissoders has taught me somthing. It seams that their all inter-related at some point. Im a complete head_case. I dont think that they have a proper medical term for that. Now im kind of annoyed though, the whole "why me" thing. Still im glad now to know what it is, mabey i can use this in some way to help enlighten my family so they stop treating my like some violently unstable killer.

Having just re-read it properly, im $hit scared, i guess there is now way of telling what symptoms are caused by ASD and what are caused by my other problems is ther. Im 18 but on that check list i scored 8 so im not overly freaked, but its one of those "everything falls into place" style moments that always raises more questions than answers. Thanks for your help, im going to have to go think on this for a bit now i think.

ginaga girl, thanks for your insight. Diff docs have told me diff things, some say ASD whilst others say aspeges, same with ADhD, some say ADD, others ADhD. When i was diagnosed i was in the "angry at world" thing. I had only recently been diagnosed with a load of other dissoders, combind with my situation and enviroment at the time, and my age (which for the life of me i cant remember, between 11 and 15 i would guess) i was just at a f__k it satge. I didnt want to know and as far as i was concerned i didnt need to know. I guess that shows how much ive changed in these recent years.

just to correct, i made a huage mistaque. Thank you fleas for the info, which big decided to re-post instead of allow the live link. My sicear appologies for the mistaque.

Shinobi,
The web site Neurodiversity (http://www.neurodiversity.com) has more links to things about Autism and the Autistic Spectrum than probably any other web site there is.