Autism

Autism is often described as the mystery condition. It has a huge spectrum from disabled children who are physically impaired by the disease and at the other end extreme ability in some areas, a classic example is photographic memory. Several side effects of autism are lack of attention and concentration, sudden outbursts of rage or anger, internalised 'fits' that cause muscle spasms and vomiting in severe cases. 

This is taken from the British Government Statement about the understanding of autism:

"People with autism have said that their world can often seem like a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety. In particular, understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in everyday family and social life may be harder for them. Other people appear to know, intuitively, how to communicate and interact with each other, and some people with autism may wonder why they are different."

The National Autistic Society suggests that individuals considering the autism scale should study the following facts: http://www.autism.org.uk

"Individuals who are considered to be on the autism spectrum are in many ways very different from each other. The range of intellectual ability extends from the severely learning disabled range right up to normal or even superior levels of intellect. Similarly, linguistic skills range from those who are mute to those who display complex, grammatically correct speech. All such individuals have difficulties in three main areas. Different authors have used slightly different terminology to describe this cluster of symptoms, but the concept of the 'triad of impairments' is widely used."

The autistic child in our film is at the Above average IQ of the spectrum, he has an incredible intellect and brain power but very limited vocabulary. He can solve a Rubik's cube in almost 10 seconds.

HH