Autism

speaking/ gesturing/ listening; any mode of communication to get the message across to other person); socialization (how the individual fits into a group like the family, friends or community) and limited interests and/ or repetitive behavior. This has been dealt in detail in subsequent paragraphs.

The “spectrum” part of terminology denotes that each and every person with this condition is different and unique. While there may be many differences among children in different parts of spectrum, the key difference is when these children began to talk and learn. If they are talking by the age of 3 years and do not have difficulty in learning, the child may be labelled to have Asperger’s, while others with delayed language milestones and impaired learning would end up on the severe end of spectrum. The earlier DSM IV criteria suggested the following sub-classification of autism; however, the recent DSM-5 has merged these and assimilated them under the umbrella term of ASD