autism

[aw-tiz-uhm]

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a developmental disability of highly variable presentation, commonly characterized by social and communication differences, repetitive behaviors, intense specialized interests, and differences in sensory processing; autism spectrum disorder.

2. Sometimes classic autism (no longer in clinical use) a developmental disability that commonly manifests in early childhood, characterized by repetitive or restricted behaviors, differences in understanding social interactions, and delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: formerly contrasted with Asperger syndrome.

autism

/ ˈɔːtɪzəm /

noun

1. psychiatry a developmental disorder whose symptoms include difficulty in responding conventionally to people and actions and limited use of communication

Usage

Rather than talking about an autistic or autistics , it is better to use phrases such as a person with autism and people with autism

Other Word Forms

• autist noun
• autistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of autism¹

First recorded in 1910–15, for an earlier sense; coined in 1944 by Austrian-American psychiatrist Leo Kanner (1894–1981), for the current sense (in the phrase infantile autism ); from German Autismus (in the earlier sense), from New Latin; aut- + -ism

Word History and Origins

Origin of autism¹

C20: from Greek autos self + _-ism

Example Sentences

The suit claims that research shows a link between prenatal and early-childhood use of the active ingredient acetaminophen and autism.

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The company could benefit from U.S. government officials linking acetaminophen with autism since its main pain-relief brand, Advil, is ibuprofen-based, the analysts add.

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Both having autism, they felt "accepted and not judged" at the concert.

Read more on BBC

Her debut album, Early Twenties, was full of chatty self-interrogation and emotional candour, as Burns described falling in love, coming out to her family, and the social anxiety of her autism and ADHD.

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Over the last decade, clinics have popped up across Southern California and beyond advertising something called magnetic e-resonance therapy, or MERT, as a therapy for autism.

Read more on Los Angeles Times