What is Autism?

What is autism?

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviors (Hodges et al., 2020). It typically emerges in early childhood, although the symptoms may change over time (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025). The specific expressions and severity of symptoms are not homogenous and vary in between individuals.

Autism as a spectrum

ASD is described as a “spectrum” due to its heterogeneity of symptoms, with a variety of types and severity. However, this is not settled science due to the lack of consensus on the biological pathology of ASD. The observed heterogeneity traits and characteristics does not always mean true biological diversity. As more scientific discoveries emerge, the spectrum model itself is being continuously refined (Gardener, 2019).

Symptoms of ASD range across a few different categories, typical ones include but are not limited to:

• Social communication and interaction: not responding to names or don’t seem to hear words, losing the ability to produce language, and having little awareness towards emotions (Mayo Clinic, n.d.-a).

• Restrictive and repetitive behaviors: repeating words or phrases, plays with the same toys every time, and must have a fixed routines (CDC, n.d.).

• Sensory processing: being hypersensitive (more sensitive) or hyposensitive (less sensitive) to external cues like light, sound, smell, taste, etc. (National Autistic Society, n.d.)

• Emotional stress and response: showing significantly higher levels of anxiety, having greater difficulties in developing emotional responses, and in expressing emotional insight (Peluso, 2002).

Diagnosis

Because we are still in the process of concluding the biological pathology of ASD, diagnosing it can be difficult and sometimes arbitrary. Instead of a blood test or a brain scan, doctors more often make a diagnosis through the child’s behavior. 

The typical procedure for the diagnosis of ASD involve (Mayo Clinic, n.d.-b):

• Testing involving sensory and social developmental characteristics

• Observation of the development of the child’s social interactions, communication and behaviors over time

• Genetic testing to examine if the child carries genetic disorders that are risk factors for ASD

Treatment and Intervention

Current treatments are aimed to reduce symptoms that interfere with the individual’s quality of life, treatments can happen in multiple settings. The main types of treatments involve:

Behavioral approaches: for changing behaviors by understanding what happens before and after the behavior, and can happen both in the clinic and natural settings.

Developmental approaches:  for improving specific developmental skills, such as language skills or physical skills, or a wider range of connected skills. 

CBT: for the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with the therapist helping the ASD patient to identify and change thoughts that lead to problems.

(CDC 2024, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], n.d.)

What Autism isn’t

It is an irresponsible yet harmful way of approaching ASD when it is summarized by umbrella terms like “lacking empathy”, “obsessive”, or “socially impaired”--in fact, they are in a sense, factually incorrect. ASD might be one of the best examples of what we would call a mismatch between the person and the environment. The reason individuals with ASD would act in deviation from the majority of neurotypical people is their difference in understanding and expressing emotions, social cues, and orders. When interacting with ASD individuals, it is important to take an approach through adaptation and accommodation rather than correction, and to give them the full respect and integrity.

Bibliography

Hodges, H., Fealko, C., & Soares, N. (2020). Autism spectrum disorder: Definition, epidemiology, causes, and clinical evaluation. Translational Pediatrics, 9(Suppl 1), S55–S65. https://doi.org/10.21037/tp.2019.09.09 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025, April 15). About autism spectrum disorder. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/autism/about/index.html 

Gardener, H. (2019). Autism spectrum heterogeneity: Fact or artifact? Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7714694/ 

Mayo Clinic Staff. (n.d.). Autism spectrum disorder: Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352928 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Signs and symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/autism/signs-symptoms/index.html 

National Autistic Society. (n.d.). Autism and sensory processing. https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/about-autism/sensory-processing 

Peluso, P. R. (2002). Emotion regulation difficulties and differences in autism including demand-avoidant presentations—A clinical review of research and models, and a proposed conceptual formulation: Neural-preferencing locus of control (NP-LOC). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12159322/ 

Mayo Clinic Staff. (n.d.). Autism spectrum disorder: Diagnosis and treatment. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352934 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (n.d.). Cognitive behavior therapy for autism. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/autism/conditioninfo/treatments/cognitive-behavior