Kamden Richardson
P6
Wold
Autism Discovery
What is Autism? Autism identified by the dictionary is a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment Autism is a serious mental illness. It can affect a child's physical, language, and social skills. Symptoms typically start appearing in children around age three. The Autism spectrum is very broad and there are many different ways each individual can be affected by the disorder. Some symptoms of autism aren't always visible, some people may have autism and you would never know. Where as, other individuals affected by the disease may have the inability to speak and/or communicate effectively. This is just one example of how differently autism can affect each individual. Some common symptoms of autism consist of: avoiding eye contact, struggling to make relationships, trouble learning, limited…show more content… Neuropathology is a way we can study the different parts of the brain and how they are affected by certain mental illnesses. For example, the hippocampus is a part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. When doctors can see and study the hippocampus they can gain specific insight as to how it is functioning. They can study the size of the hippocampus and look for indicators that allude to proper (or improper) functioning of the brain. If the hippocampus is smaller than a normal one it could indicate that the hippocampus isn't functioning right and that there may be a problem. Or if it's signals aren't getting through, doctors could then make the informed conclusion that the patient could have a mental illness affecting them. If we can identify any abnormalities in the functioning of different parts of the brain that are responsible for learning, memory, language, social, and behavioral skills are affected, it would help us diagnosis autism earlier or even be sure someone actually has
