When people try to imagine a person with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) they most
probably imagine a child and not an adult. In an empirically based essay, the authors tried to
argue that the combination of the way parent organizations, media, new agencies and money raising
organizations worked, almost denied the existence of adults with autism .
The authors, one of whom is a self-advocate who has autism, called it 'infantilizing of autism'. It
is also described as a daunting barrier to the status of people with autism across lifespan. This
doctoral research is an attempt by the researcher to break this barrier.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with heterogeneous
expression in each person and inheritance, with involvement of multiple genes. It was
previously known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and is characterized by gamut of life
long deficits in social communication and repetitive, restricted and stereotypical
interest and behaviour patterns . With the publishing of 5ᵗʰ edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, five different diagnosis viz, Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified were combined into
a single diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler coined the term 'Autism'. The Greek word 'autos' means
self and the word 'autistic' means auto-centric thinking and withdrawal from social
world . Bleuler used the term in association with schizophrenia. There have
been individual accounts and descriptions of people and children which are quite similar to today's
defining features of autism since as early as 1809 . Hans Asperger and
Leo Kanner have been considered pioneers in the area of autism. It is debated as to who defined
autism first. Asperger described these children as having special abilities and used the term
'Little Professor' to describe them .
The hallmark of autism is the fact that no two individuals diagnosed with it exhibit the same set
of symptoms. The presentation depends on the person's chronological age, severity of
condition, and developmental stage. People with autism may have superior I.Q. or intellectual
impairment, they might be highly structured or messy and disorganized, they could be a
chatterbox or completely mute, they could be loving or distant and aloof . Researcher's clinical experience indicated that the symptoms also varied based on
onset of therapeutic intervention and parental support. The presentation is also an effect of
environmental challenges, and other co- existing diagnosis .
