These children do not present symptoms that most doctors would find abnormal. Up until the age of onset these children can appear normal. Suddenly they seem to cease to progress or even regress. With a wider definition of autism more cases have come to doctors attention and statistics now show up to 20 per 10,000 births. Autism has been linked to the immune system and is now considered an autoimmune disorder.
Autism affects three major dimensions of life.
The first is the area of social interaction. Autistic people often lack peer relationships due to lack of ability to communicate and the impairment of the use of non-verbal behaviors, such as looking someone in the eye. Often children with autism may be oblivious to other children and their emotions. There can also be a delay in, or lack of, communication skills. When speech does develop abnormalities may occur in the pitch, intonation, rate, or rhythm.