Autism and Asperger's Disorder: Neurology and Diagnosis

Autism is thought to affect one person in 500. Four out of five autistic individuals are male, three out of four are thought to be mentally retarded, a third suffer from epilepsy and most are in institutions by age 13. The number of children in California receiving state services for autistic disorders has nearly quadrupled since 1987. Nationally, such services rose by 556 per cent during the 90s. It is seen as either a growing epidemic or a new awareness of an existing problem. Only 10 per cent of the autistic children entering the celebrated Princeton Child Development Center after the age of five go on to enter mainstream schools; yet half of those recognised earlier make that transition (Cowley, 2000).  These reports indicate the importance of early diagnosis and intervention. Dr Marie Bristol Power, of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,  describes autism as 'not a rare disorder, but a pressing public-health problem' (Cowley, 2000).