SYMPTOMATIC AUTISM IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE.

While crippling autism may be present in a range of illnesses with psychological and organic etiology, this symptom occurs most frequently when a child has been forced, from infancy or an early age, to live and to grow in his own private world due to a severe perceptual or intellectual handicap. If this symptomatic autism is anticipated, diagnosed, and treated early, the child may develop in a relatively healthy and productive way. Without appropriate treatment the symptomatic autistic child is liable to be increasingly handicapped; eventually such a child is almost indistinguishable from children who are autistic due to other causes. This paper highlights some of the most common causes leading to symptomatic autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]