Autism Lecture Summary Autism Lecture Summary Autism is a mental disorder.
Psychiatrists have a checklist to determine whether a patient is autistic.
There are four broad categories of characteristics, and each has specific things to look for. An autistic person must have at least one of the specifics from each category. The child's social relationships and social development are abnormal. The child is failing to develop normal communication skills. The child's interests and activities are restrictive and repetitive rather than flexible and imaginative.