Autism: False Words And False Hope

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Autism: False Words and False Hope

Autism: False Words and False Hope

Steven Hajducko
Prof. Sims
MWF 10:00-11:00 29
November 1995

    Autism is a childhood disease where the child is in a private world of
their own. A description of an autistic child by her mother is:

We start with an image---a tiny, golden child on hands and knees,
circling round and round a spot on the floor in mysterious self-
absorbed delight. She does not look up, though she is smiling and
laughing; she does not call our attention to the mysterious
object of her pleasure. She does not see us at all. She and the spot
are all there is, and though she is eighteen months old, an age
for touching, tasting, pointing, pushing, exploring, she is doing
none of these. (Groden 2)

This is the most important trait in an autistic child: They don't interact or
socialize with other people. Other characteristics in autistic children are
language retardation and ritualistic or compulsive behaviors. It used to be
thought that children became autistic because of "poor parenting" and that the
only solution was that the parents should be removed from the child (Baron-Cohen
26). Now it is known that autism is caused by biological factors due to:
neurological symptoms, mental handicap, genetic causes, infections, and even
difficulties in pregnancy.
    Even though autism is thought of as a disease or disorder, autistic
children can demonstrate special skills. These skills are referred to as
"isolated islets of intelligence" (Baron-Cohen 53). Some examples of these are
found in an autistic child's ability to draw, play music, or recall a certain
date. Nadia, an autistic child, has the ability to draw in an "almost
photographic way" (Baron-Cohen 54). Autistic children can also play instruments,
accurately sing songs, recognize structures of music, etc. A problem that
arises when autistic children are going through therapy is that they start to
lose their remarkable skills.
For parents to find out that their child is autistic can be very shocking.
They go from having a bouncy, livey baby to a having a total stranger as their
child. Many therapies have been devised to help autistic children. Some of
these therapies are: behavior therapy, speech and language therapy, holding
therapy, music therapy, and the newest one, facilitation therapy. Since most
autistic children are different and their behaviors are diff

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