More than 6 decades and a half have passed since the word autism was used by Leo Kanner to identify precise traits in a group of children which was hardly known to the public in general. Nowadays this term is being widely discussed by the media.
In fact these reports by the media along with a resolution passed by the United Nations which marks the 2nd of April as an annual World Autism Awareness Day will go a long way to highlight this variety of disorder before the general public. It is assumed that there were people suffering from autism even before 1943 when Leo Kanner identified it. They were considered to be either insane or mentally retarded.
Among them is the depiction of Victor, a boy from the 19th century whose details have been published in the book ‘The Wild Boy of Aveyron’. Since this brain development disorder which does not allow a child from living a normal social life had not been identified, it was assumed that he had grown up with wild animals and had inhibited their behaviors.
It is assumed that more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined, a grave scenario indeed. In fact this disease has already taken monstrous proportions and is considered to be the world’s fastest-growing serious development disability.
It is estimated that the autistic population of the UK itself is 1 per 100. Thanks due to the huge strides take in research, the understanding and knowledge about autism is moving on at a fast pace. There are ongoing discussions to make the people aware of this disease apart from therapeutic involvement along with the services required to uphold individuals along with their families whose lives are affected in confronting this life-long situation.
Established in 1999, Prior’s court, one of UK’s foremost autistic dedicated schools, situated near Newbury will be the venue of a major conference on the 12th of June. This conference will discuss about the practice and advances made in autism research.
