Ever seen a healthy child who doesn’t respond when talked to? One of the tell-tale signs of autism is the person’s isolation from other people. The word “autistic” comes from the word “autos” meaning “self.” Autistic people do not respond to others and they often appear to be deaf because they do not respond appropriately to sounds. Brain researchers have discovered that the autistic person’s lack of a response may be due to white noise.

Do you know of any autistic child? Parents who have a child diagnosed within the autism spectrum of disorders are hard pressed to find treatments for autism that actually work. There are a number of different approaches but only a few have proved to be effective in the successful treatments for autism and related pervasive developmental disorders. Two successful approaches are Applied Behavioral Analysis and sensory integration.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 166 children is diagnosed as being autistic. That is a surprisingly high rate for most of us who haven’t been exposed to the statistics or someone affected by the condition. Autism research is in trouble because of this. The lack of public information means that research funds are diverted to other more prominent causes such as heart disease and cancer. Although these are important as well, there are so many affected by autism that it is also a worthwhile cause.