pediatrics
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Introduction
Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, and uneven intellectual development often with intellectual disability. Symptoms begin in early childhood. The cause in most children is unknown, although evidence supports a genetic component; in some patients, the disorders may be associated with a medical condition. Diagnosis is based on developmental history and observation. Treatment consists of behavioral management and sometimes drug therapy. Autism spectrum disorders represent a range of neurodevelopmental differences that are considered neurodevelopmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are neurologically based conditions that appear early in childhood, typically before school entry, and affect development of personal, social, academic, and/or occupational functioning. They typically involve difficulties with the acquisition, retention, or application of specific skills or sets of information. Neurodevelopmental disorders may involve dysfunction in attention, memory, perception, language, problem-solving, or social interaction. Other common neurodevelopmental disorders include Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD, ADHD) , Current estimates of prevalence of autism spectrum disorders are in the range of 1/54 in the US, with similar ranges in other countries. Autism is about 4 times more common among boys. In recent years, there has been a rapid rise in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, partially because of changes in diagnostic criteria. 