The National Autistic Society describes autism in the following way:
“Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. Children and adults with autism have difficulties with everyday social interaction. Their ability to develop friendships is generally limited as is their capacity to understand other people’s emotional expression.
"People with autism can often have accompanying learning disabilities but everyone with the condition shares a difficulty in making sense of the world."
There is also a condition called Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism attributed to people who are usually at the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum.
"Reality to an autistic person is a confusing, interacting mass of events, people, places, sounds and sights. There seem to be no clear boundaries, order or meaning to anything. A large part of my life is spent just trying to work out the pattern behind everything."
For further information visit :
National Autistic Society
Hertfordshire Autism Support Group HARC