It takes all kinds of minds – Autism

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, which means that it is part of the make-up of the brain. People refer to autism in different ways. You might hear it called Autism Spectrum Disorder or Condition (ASD or ASC). Asperger syndrome is a diagnosis that has been given in the past to autistic people who do not have a learning disability, though this term is no longer often used.

Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that the variation between individuals is huge, though there are key similarities – mainly the challenge is making sense of the world. The main areas of difficulty are social interaction, communication, flexibility of thought and behaviour and sensory processing. How these difficulties impact on day-to-day life can range enormously from person to person, in different settings and across their life span.

Autism can co-exist with any of the other neurodevelopmental conditions.