What is autism? Is it a neurological disorder?

Question

I have an extended relative with this disorder and am interested in learning more.

Answer 1

Yes, its considered a neurological disorder..a neuropsychiatric disorder.

The bottom line appears to be brain development in utero. It maybe what they call an epigenetic disorder where certain genes don't get turned on due to some environmental exposure eg food/virus/vitamin ?

Also, there was a theory that certain types of autism provide desirable traits in society like scientists/engineers personality focuses. This is termed Asperger's syndrome

Answer 2

Yes, autism is a neurological disorder. It's also a developmental disorder.

Autism is a spectrum and there are a few types of autism spectrum disorders. The most common is classical autism, but other types are Asperger's syndrome, Rett's syndrome and PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified).

Classical autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. The symptoms are many and vary in severity.

You can find more information about autism on this website: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autis...

It is nice that you take out time to learn about autism so that you can understand this relative better and know better what kind of problems they may have.

Answer 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism