Autism is the most classical condition from the group of autism spectrum diseases, including the Asperger syndrome, the Rett syndrome, the Childhood disintegrative disorder and the pervasive developmental disorder. The most important and frequent characteristics of autism are impaired social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication difficulties, repetitive actions, unusual interests and limited actions.

Male children have a four times more increased risk of developing autism than little girls. According to studies, a number of about 1-3 children in one thousand subjects are susceptible of developing autistic disorders.

The most important signs of autism can show different difficulty grades, from mild forms to severe cases. Autistic children have problems in interacting with other children or persons due to a disease triggered impaired social interaction ability. Verbal and nonverbal communications skills are very limited and they most often try to express themselves by signs and pictures. These children have most commonly repetitive interests and activities and their actions and thoughts are narrow and obsessive.

The impossibility of a regular social interaction with parents, children and family and first noticed by the caretakers around the age of three when the initial autistic obvious symptoms occur. Autistics are unable to make connections, play or talk to other persons around the. Parents start to notice a tendency of their child to exclude others and live alone in his interior world. They do not pay attention to other people and their capacity to maintain focus for a longer time is limited; other persons' interests and actions are uninteresting to them.

Many of the pediatric patients touched by autism have developed normally during the first life years and at 3-4 years have suddenly become to show symptoms of an autistic disorder. Many parents are alarmed by this sudden change in their child's behavior and cannot explain his sudden annoyance of others.

Most children with this disorder avoid eye contacts with any person and usually do not respond to their name. They have difficulties integrating voice, facial mimics, and expressions and are thus unable to understand what interlocutors feel, think or desire. They also avoid watching other people's faces to rely on certain clues about their behavior.

In periods of high nervous excitation, autistics succeed in hurting themselves by banging their heads against walls or by bites. Sometimes they show repetitive, senseless and obsessive movements like rocking or spinning. They start to speak later than expected from a child their age and when they do, they use the name instead of personal pronouns like "me" or "I". Their sensitivity to pain is minimal, but they can be very sensitive to normal stimuli like sound, light or touch; they avoid being hugged and cuddled.

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