Autism
Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by troubles with social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Parents usually notice signs in the first two or three years of their child's life. These signs often develop gradually, though some children with autism reach their developmental milestones at a normal pace and then worsen.
Autism Spectrum
Autism spectrum, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders. Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder present with two types of symptoms: problems in social communication and social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. Symptoms are typically recognized between one and two years of age. Long term issues may include difficulties in creating and keeping relationships, maintaining a job, and performing daily tasks.
People
A people is a plurality of persons considered as a whole, as is the case with an ethnic group or nation. Collectively, for example, the contemporary Frisians and Danes are two related Germanic peoples, while various Middle Eastern ethnic groups are often linguistically categorized as Semitic peoples.
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural spectra or spectrums) is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without steps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light after passing through a prism. As scientific understanding of light advanced, it came to apply to the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Autism
You didn't lose a child to autism. You lost a child because the child you waited for never came into existence. That isn't the fault of the autistic child who does exist, and it shouldn't be our burden. We need and deserve families who can see us and value us for ourselves, not families whose vision of us is obscured by the ghosts of children who never lived. Grieve if you must, for your own lost dreams. But don't mourn for us. We are alive. We are real. And we're here waiting for you.
Jim Sinclair, "Don't Mourn for Us," Autism Network International newsletter, Our Voice, Volume 1, Number 3, 1993
Autism
The effort to cure autism, [autism right advocates] say, is not like curing cancer, but like the efforts of a previous age to cure left-handedness.
Amy Harmon, "How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading," The New York Times, December 20, 2004
Autism
If by some magic, autism had been eradicated from the face of the earth, then men would still be socializing in front of a wood fire at the entrance to a cave.
Temple Grandin, Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism (2006).
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