The featured speaker was Dr. Amiel Klinn, a child psychiatrist specializing in Autism at the Yale University Child Guidance Center. This fall, Dr. Klinn will return to speak specifically on clinical interventions with these disorders. NJCD is proud to be able to bring such a well-known professional in this field to the Jewish community. Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism and its associated behaviors occur in approximately 15 of every 10,000 individuals.
Autism knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries.
Family income, lifestyle or educational levels do not affect the chance of occurrence. Autism interferes with the normal development of the brain in the areas which control verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and sensory development. Children or adults with autism may exhibit repeated body movements such as hand flapping and rocking, show unusual responses to people or attachments to objects, and resist change in routine. Although autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors, children and adults can exhibit any combination of the behaviors in any degree of severity. Two children, both with a diagnosis of autism, can act very differently from one another.