Alexi was a normal child until the day he stumbled and hit his face. The blowapparently did not cause any damage, but the childís behavior abruptly beganchanging. Alexi began creating a world of his own. The change took placelittle by little, until the boy completely ceased speaking and wouldnít lookat people anymore.
Autism, or autistic disorder, is an illness without a cure. It affectslanguage, behavior, and motor skills. It emerges during the first three yearsof a personís life, and nobody knows yet what causes it. Out of every tenthousand newborns, four or five will acquire the disorder. Itís four timesmore common in boys than in girls. To this date, autism cannot be detected in a blood analysis or in radiographs. Some autistic children also suffer from mental retardation.
However, this is not a common characteristic, but rather a random circumstance. One of the most encouraging treatments currently used, is a method called Lovaas, developed by a psychiatrist named Ivar Lovaas, who uses behaviorist techniques which reinforce wanted behavior and punish unwanted behavior.