Autism

Few disorders seem more confusing than autism. Common stereotypes — of a severely withdrawn, mute child with ceaselessly repetitive activities and an averted gaze or a freakish-looking, inept, mathematical prodigy — do not accurately reflect the broad spectrum of autism. Far from being emotionally ill but otherwise normal, persons with autism are now considered to have one of a group of developmental disorders of brain function that have such a broad range of behavioral consequences and severity that they are referred to, collectively, as pervasive developmental disorder (often called PDD) in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual . . .