What is autistic spectrum disorder?

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurobiological disorder of development. It is a lifelong condition; people do not get better from ASD. It is a ‘spectrum’, which means that while all people with autism share certain difficulties or characteristics, their condition will affect them in different ways and can vary hugely. It includes Asperger’s syndrome as well as autism with learning disabilities. It affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them. Many people with ASD experience over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells and light; this is called sensory hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity.

Autism

The three main areas of difficulty that all people with autism share are sometimes known as the ‘triad of impairments’:

• Difficulty with social communication
  
• Difficulty with social interaction
  
• Difficulty with social imagination.