What is autism?
Autism is an neuropsychiatric disability that you’re are born with belongs to the autism spectra. Though being a lifelong condition, some people manage to find strategies to compensate for their difficulties. The condition can become a handicap, if other people expect too much from the person, and the person is unable to fulfill these demands.
Individual
The condition varies significantly in character and severity among affected individuals. However, most people with autism have difficulties with social interaction and a hard time understanding the intentions and body language of other people. It’s also common for people with autism to be routine-bound and some have special interests that eat up almost all of our time.
An invisible disability
Autism is a so called hidden disability, which means that the condition is not necessarily apparent on the outside. As many people with autism do not have anything deviant in their appearances, many are then often mistakenly believed to be rude and lazy.
Uneven talent profile
Many people with autism have an uneven prefomance in abilities, which makes it difficult for other people to determine what the person can and cannot do. A person might for example have an extremely high intelligence and perform surprisingly well in some areas, while he or she may find it difficult to cope with other things that are easy for most people. Such as taking care of household duties. That is why it can be difficult for other people to put reasonable demands on people with autism. Sometimes the demands are too high or low.
Not only difficulties
Autism does not only mean difficulties and weaknesses. It is common for people with autism to have unordinary strengths and talents. Many people with autism have an incredibly high intellectual ability. They often possess a great amount of knowledge in areas of their special interests and this can be greatly benefitial in professional life.
It is also common for people with autism not to be affected by prevailing norms and values. Thus some people can have an ability to think outside the box, which means that they might uncover discoveries that nobody ever has tought of before. There are famous people, including Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton, who are believed to have had autism.