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Inclusion
In 1943 Kanner, originally described childhood autism as one of the Pervasive Development Disorders. Autism is generalised with the terminology of "Autistic Spectrum Disorder".
Common Nuclear Features
Marked qualitative abnormalities within Social Interaction represented not so much or not only by the absence of interpersonal contact, such as by not sharing and exchanging belongings, lack of reciprocity, exaggerated and/or bizarre interactions, or attitudes that are not in line with the developmental age of the individual
A markedly restricted repertoire of Activities and Interests that manifests itself with stereotyped movements that show obsessive concern for a single activity or a single theme (example Aligning objects, dropping them, insistence on the streets or numbers) or extreme opposition to change a habit.
Marked anomalies in the sphere of Communication that occur either as the absence of language, or as an absence of a variety of communicative codes that govern our social interactions: smiles, facial expressions, attitudes, posture, abnormal prosody, pronominal reversal; in cases where language is used it reveals a serious disruption in the ability to initiate and sustain a conversation, despite the possession of adequate language skills.
Autism is "pervasive" enough to affect all developmental areas, including areas that initially seem unaffected, such as motor skills and cognitive activity. The use of the term "disorder" should indicate the chronicity, as it is not limited in its manifestations into childhood but, although in different forms, more nuanced, even in adulthood.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis can be made ​​with certainty only from 18 months but, of course, it is much more complex when the child is small, as the picture does not show up in the most strictly classical way, that is with the simultaneous presence of the above mentioned symptoms. The best defined and most paradigmatic form of symptoms are highlighted roughly between the ages of 3 and 5, then "naturally" evolves especially to obtain the symptom "autism" which in part regresses, in part changes its type: the child from "isolated" can become "passive" or "active but odd" and vice versa.
