Autism is neither of the above. Autism is a life-long developmental disorder. It was only ‘officially’ described and named by Leo Kanner in the 1943, although there is evidence that the disorder existed long before that.

1. Autism is a neuro-biological disorder. Evidence strongly indicates that autistic behaviour is due to physiological dysfunction within the brain.
   
   
2. Autism is not caused by bad parenting or neglect.
   
   
3. Autism is not confined to children, i.e. autistic children do not ‘grow out of’ autism. Autism lasts throughout life. However, behavioural changes do occur with increasing age.
   
   
4. Autistic people do not necessarily have special or ‘savant’ skills. Some autistic people do have unusual drawing abilities, musical talents, exceptional rote-memory or even lightning-speed mathematical calculation. However, these cases are in the minority (about 10%) rather than being the norm.
   
   
5. Autism is found at all IQ levels, from below average intelligence to genius levels. However, general learning difficulties (or intellectual handicaps) commonly accompany autism - about 50% of the time.
   
   
6. Autism can be described as a severe disorder of communication, socialisation and imagination. These characteristics have been termed the Triad of Impairments.