We may be familiar with autism, but we still know far too little about this common condition. However, plenty is known about it, and we are here to share with you a significant number of interesting factoids. Before diving into each of the following facts in more detail, let’s list some intriguing facts you may or may not have known about Autism.
Quick interesting facts about autism
- Autism is a neurodevelopmental ailment
- Impairments distinguish it in terms of verbal and nonverbal communication, as well as social interplay
- The affliction is generally evident within the first couple of years of a child’s life
- Roughly 1 in every 68 United States children is considered to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum
- In 2013, there were an estimated 21.7 autistic individuals worldwide
- Boys are 5 times as likely to have ASD than girls
- Autism is not directly correlated with intelligence, as 46% of children with ASD have common to above common mental acumen
- 10% of children with ASD have a fragile X syndrome (aka Down syndrome)
- There are many famous personalities throughout history afflicted with ASD including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Tim Burton, Susan Boyle, and Dan Aykroyd
- Popular films, including Mercury Rising, My Title Is Khan, and Rain Man featured autistic characters
- The causes of autism are still almost entirely unknown
- Many elements are regarded as threats to an individual potentially being autistic
- Autism changes can increase due to specific situations during pregnancy
- There has been no credible evidence to support that autism is hereditary
- Autism can go undetectable for years
- Autism is just placing someone on an autistic spectrum
- Over time, symptoms for many autistic people increase
- There is no defined cure for autism, but there are potential remedies
- Autism has been detected in people since as far back as the 1500s
- It is expensive to care for an autistic baby
- There is a vast spectrum of autism
- Autistic individuals do not exhibit or experience empathy in the same way as others
- Bodily contact is often a troublesome issue for autistic individuals
- Autistic individuals have a hard time with certain smells, lighting, and loud sounds
- In more extreme cases, autism can impair speech
- Redundant behaviors are exhibitive of autism
- Most of what people claim about autism is pure mythology
- Animals help autistic kids to stay calmer
- Autism has been linked with increased autistic issues
Now let’s dive deeper into many of these interesting facts about autism.
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25 Surprising facts about autism
1. One Of The Hallmark Attributes Of Autism Is Impaired Social Interaction
One of the primary symptoms of autism in youngsters is poor social interaction. By definition, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encompasses a multitude of challenges, all of which often manifest in infancy through a child’s (or baby’s) lack of social interaction.
There are some kids with ASD who first seem to be developing normally but later exhibit difficulties with appropriate social conduct. Sometimes, children with ASD don’t answer to their names being called, avoid eye contact, show a lack of empathy, don’t comprehend others’ emotions or facial expressions, are unable to interact with other kids, or frequently engage in a repetitive activity such as banging, rocking, or twirling.
2. The Root Cause Of Autism Remains Unknown
Although mankind has made great progress in recent years in our quest to explain autism and related illnesses, autism facts show that we are still uncertain of the exact etiology of autism spectrum disorder. The illness is likely caused by a mix of genetic and environmental factors, and recent research indicates that some anomalies can start to appear as early as during the prenatal stage. ASD was once thought to be caused by improper parenting techniques throughout early childhood, however, this hypothesis has since been thoroughly debunked.
3. Particular Conditions During Pregnancy Increase Autism Risk
According to information about autism, several common prenatal disorders can significantly raise the chance of developing autism. The probability that a child will be diagnosed with ASD by the age of 3 significantly increases if a pregnant woman contracts the flu or has a fever that lasts for more than a week. A prolonged fever (lasting one week or longer) and influenza during pregnancy both increase the risk of the child by three and two times, respectively, according to Danish experts.
The likelihood of a kid having ASD as a result of these factors remains relatively low, despite the doubled or tripled risk. 98% of the women who took part in the study and were sick throughout their pregnancies gave birth to perfectly healthy babies.
4. Early Onset Autism Has Several Known Risk Factors
One of the correlations to autism found to increase the risk factor is the parents’ age, though it seems like the age of the father is the more prevalent factor. This is because older men have an increased chance of passing new mutations to their offspring during conception. Additionally, premature babies who don’t weigh enough are at a greater risk of being diagnosed with ASD as well, as are children with chromosomal disorders like fragile X syndrome, tuberose sclerosis, and Down syndrome, as well as certain others.
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the University of South California researchers additionally found a correlation between autism in young children and air pollution (such as that caused by city traffic), which was also prevalent. Frequent or heavy exposure to air pollutants by pregnant mothers increased the odds of their baby being born with a form of autism.
5. Inheritance Is An Important Factor In Onset Of Autism
Parental role in terms of human genetics offers a partial explanation as to how parents connect to their child’s chances of autism onset. Certain genes, including PIK3R2, PIK3CA, and AKT3, have been linked to the development of various diseases, with autism being among them. For instance, parents with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have an increased chance of having autism-affected children.
Parents of children with autism have a risk increased by about 5% that other children will also be autistic unless the kids involved are twins, in which case there is a 90% chance that both will be autistic.
6. Sometimes Autism Goes Unnoticed For Years
There are times when ASD is tough to diagnose, leading to many autistic children not being recognized as having the disorder for lengthy periods of time, sometimes spanning years. While medical professionals can be the only ones to diagnose a child as autistic, parents can look at early behavioral signs for clues. Some of these include no babbling by the time the child is 1, no words uttered by 18 months, no multi-worded phrases by age 2, a child not responding to their name, lack of smiles, and hesitation during eye contact.
While those signs could offer hints of autism at a young age, older children exhibit additional signs such as conversational troubles, repeating words or actions, making friends with other kids their own age, attachment or focused interest on only a limited number of subjects or objects, and a particular need for specific rituals, routines, or series of actions.
7. Autism Isn’t The Only Disorder On The Autism Spectrum
ASD is not just isolated to autism exclusively. Autism is just one (and most severe) point on the autistic spectrum, but there are many other disorders such as childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, and Asperger syndrome.
So what makes them different? PDD-NOS is often a diagnosis attributed to kids who exhibit a few symptoms but not enough for specialists to label them as autistic, while Asperger syndrome is diagnosed in children who exhibit typical autistic behavior, but with highly functional language abilities. The diagnosis of childhood disintegrative disorder, an extremely uncommon occurrence, generally occurs later in a child’s life (between the ages of 3 and 10), when the child’s otherwise regular development abruptly deteriorates and begins to exhibit classic autistic traits.
8. Autistic Symptoms Tend To Improve Over Time In Most Children
For a child to be diagnosed with ASD, the symptoms would need to be quite extreme, at least as perceived by the child’s parents. However, most of the symptoms become non-factors as a child grows into adulthood, allowing them to live generally normal lives. While most ASD-diagnosed people do tend to need particular services and support in their lives, they largely function independently during their day-to-day lives.
9. Autism Cannot Be Cured, But Particular Treatments Do Exist
While autism is incurable, that is not to say that the symptoms presented by the condition cannot be treated in any way. Specifically, many treatments involve behavioral interventions, therapies, and even particular medications. The treatments that work best are those that are tailored specifically the to needs of the autistic child, though the earlier the therapeutic or medicinal interventions occur, the more effective the results tend to be.
Expert professionals carry out therapies and behavioral treatments, all aimed at helping autistic youths develop better language and social skills. The diagnosed child is not the only one in need of assistance. Parents, siblings, and other members of the family also received support in helping their child develop successfully despite the autism. Certain disorders, including OCD, anxiety, or depression can be medically treated. Sever impulsivity, hyperactivity, ADD, ADHD, and other disorders can be treated with particular drugs, and anticonvulsants can help mitigate seizures.
There are also alternative treatment methods, including special diets for diagnosed children. However, in terms of these treatments, additional research is required to conclude the effects and efficacy conclusively.
10. Autism-Adjacent Conditions Were Documented As Far Back As The 1500s
Autism facts evidence that it is far from a new condition, having been detected for centuries. In fact, it was present much earlier than it was recognized, diagnosed, or named (which did not occur until the 20th century). Cases of it, however, have been documented from as far back as the 16th century.
Famous German Protestant, Martin Luther had a collection of sayings, including a story of a potentially autistic 12-year-old. Luther described the young man as being flesh devoid of a soul, with a potential obsession with demonology. Another notable autism example in history is one of Hugh Blair of Borgue, whose marriage was annulled successfully by his brother to gain his inheritance due to Hugh’s feral, strange behavior. In fact, he would come to be known as the Wild Boy of Aveyron. He showed signs of autism as was documented by his captors when he was apprehended in 1789.
11. Taking Care Of An Autistic Child Can Be Very Expensive
Autistic children present their parents with vast emotional challenges. They also end up being very financially exhausting, as estimates show that it costs about 17,000 per year more to care for a child with ASD than a child without it. Those children with severe cases of ASD cost their parents even more money.
These costs include special education services, family-coordinated efforts, therapy, health care, and time. While general medical costs are about $10,000 per year more extensive than children without ASD (roughly 6 times that of a healthy child), while behavioral interventions (of varying intensity) can rake up as much as $50,000 in cost annually.
12. Autism Spans Across A Very Wide Spectrum
The wid-spectrum disorder ranges through a variety of conditions including autism and three others. Because all of them lie on a spectrum, no two individuals who experience the conditions along the spectrum will exhibit similar symptoms. Sometimes, these are complicated by the fact that several of the symptoms express themselves in various forms ranging from mild to severe. This also makes it tough to diagnose an ASD disorder, since autism never has a singular profile.
13. People With Autism Struggle To Acquire Empathy
Empathy is the ability to feel what others do. While this may seem like a normal human function, those with autism find it very hard to understand the feelings of others. Their empathetic skills vary by the severity of autism, being weaker for some and stronger for others. However, empathy and autism are not universally linked.
Caregivers work tirelessly to teach autistic people empathy, with the hope that empathy becomes a natural reaction rather than a formed one. However, to understand the feelings of others, conversations require both sides to have a tuned-in understanding, a difficult feat with those with autism, which feels more like a one-sided conversation where the affected hardly ever show interest in anything other than themselves, becoming the main subject of most of their discussions.
14. Autism Is Often Associated With Problems With Physical Contact
Most are used to some form of everyday physical contact, but this is challenging to the differently-behaved individuals affected by ASD. While some children with ASD do enjoy physical contact from their very close relatives, most very much dislike being touched or cuddled.
The primary issue for autistic people is that physical contact is often unanticipated, so they tend to either not react at all, which confuses those who do not fully understand their condition, or they react exaggeratedly.
15. Autistic Individuals Struggle With Certain Smells, Loud Noises, And Lights
Everyone, to one degree or another, doesn’t like to be confronted with particular smells, certain types of lights, and most certainly unexpectedly loud noises. But for those with autism, the dislike of such stimuli is significantly more severe. Much like physical contact, the stimuli itself isn’t the core problem for those with ADS, but rather the unanticipated nature of their occurrence. To ease a potential change in their environment, caregivers try their best to offer a fair warning about a change to the environment to reduce the alarm for autistic individuals.
16. Speech Impairment Effects Those With More Severe Cases Of Autism
While many autistic individuals display a lack of language development as children, most are able to speak with relative normalcy as adults, especially with therapeutic assistance. However, in very severe cases of autism, these individuals may experience a reluctance or inability to exhibit speech at all.
More typical speech impediments for those with autism include repeating words or phrases that they heard (echolalia), lack of or overdone intonation, and a struggle to form sentences.
17. One Of The Most Broadly Known Autism Signs Is Repetitive Behavior
To those not afflicted by ASD, repetitive behaviors, both verbal and physical in nature, seem strange. It is also one of the first things people noticed during their interactions with autistic individuals. The need for routine and predictability is appreciated by many, but autistic individuals need it far more than others, resulting in them repeating words and physical motions since their “known” nature gives them comfort.
Certain autistic individuals, for instance, like to cross the room continuously, repeating similar actions or phrases. They may prefer to do this at a certain time of day. They also like performing actions in a familiar sequence and sticking to a routine of behaviors including the order in which they, for example, use the toilet, then brush their teeth, then their hair, and only then get dressed. If asked to draw a picture, they may end up drawing the same one over and over.
18. There Are A Lot Of False Myths About Autism
There are a lot of factually based aspects of autism that are known, but many things people claim to “know” about ASD are rooted solely in myth. For instance, many who do not understand autism, believe that autistic people’s lack of social and empathy skills means that they have no feelings. This isn’t true, as autistic individuals feel love, hate, happiness, and sorrow just like anyone else, it is just that their expression of it is different.
Another common myth is that autistic individuals are of high intelligence, specifically in certain areas like music, art, or math. This attributes a label of “genius” or “savant” to autistic people, but this is also not true. While some autistic people do, in fact, possess a highly specialized skill in a particular area, and some have high levels of intellect, this is true for only some autistic individuals, not all.
19. Proximity And Interaction With Animals Has Helped To Reduce Anxiety In Autistic Children
One of the hardest bastions for autistic children to overcome is social anxiety. A provenly efficient therapy for this has been the interaction and proximity to animals. Autistic children commonly feel confused or unhappy in the company of other humans, but that seems to anxiety does not seem to involve animals.
When autistic people spend time with animals such as cats, dogs, and guinea pigs, their usual anxiety is lessened. It is believed that this is due to animals offering unconditional acceptance and love, something that society, sadly, cannot expect from humans.
20. Most Autistic Children Suffer From Digestive Problems
Many kids with autism suffer digestive disorders including the kind that most people combat every now and again, but also a tendency to consume dirt, paper, or other non-eatable items. These eating habits are extremely common, with a reported 3 out of 10 autistic children affected by them. Due to their frequent digestive troubles, caregivers work on making the autistic child’s diet high in magnesium and rich in B6 supplements, though the positive effects of these have not yet been corroborated scientifically.
Surprising facts about autism: Summary
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that often manifests itself during a child’s early years. Typical symptoms include poor connection with people, lack of empathy, linguistic struggles, aversion to physical and visual contact, and a proclivity for repetitive activity. Despite a number of restrictions, persons with autism frequently learn how to function as regular (or virtually normal) members of society, often able to live nearly autonomous lives.
Some autistic individuals have remarkable intellectual abilities or highly specialized skills even without effort. We don’t know what causes autism or autism spectrum disorders (ASD), nor do we know if it will ever be possible to cure it, but the disorder is treated by lowering a variety of unpleasant symptoms with medication, specific therapy, and behavioral interventions.
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Frequently asked questions:
can enlarged adenoids cause autism?
There is no evidence to support the claim that enlarged adenoids cause autism. While some studies have found a correlation between children with autism and enlarged adenoids, there is no established causal relationship between the two.
does mike Tyson have autism?
There is no confirmed information or evidence that Mike Tyson has autism. While he has spoken about his struggles with mental health, including depression and anxiety, he has not disclosed a diagnosis of autism.
is blinking a lot a sign of autism?
While excessive blinking can be a sign of various health conditions, it is not typically a direct symptom of autism. However, some individuals on the autism spectrum may display repetitive behaviors, including eye blinking, as a way to self-soothe or regulate sensory input.
Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Idammah, and I am the founder of this site dedicated to exploring the world's mysteries, uncovering fascinating facts, and delving into science's weird and beautiful aspects. I have always been fascinated by the unknown and the unexplained, and I love nothing more than digging deep to find the answers to some of life's greatest mysteries. Whether it's exploring the depths of the ocean, investigating ancient civilizations, or unraveling the mysteries of the universe, I am always on the hunt for new knowledge and insights. As a self-proclaimed weirdo and science enthusiast, I believe that there is always more to learn and discover, and I am constantly seeking out new and exciting ways to expand my understanding of the world around me. Through FoxPeek blog, I hope to share my love of all things strange and wonderful with like-minded readers and inspire others to embrace their inner curiosity and seek out the world's mysteries for themselves.
