1. AUTIM Spectrum Disorders By Irina Larossa

2. Who is Irina Larossa??? Irina is a 24 year old girl who lives in Canada and has Asperger’s Syndrome, or high-functioning autism. She has read many books on autism and works with low-functioning children who have autism. She has great faith that people will see the light and become accepting of these wonderful children some day and she hopes to make it as soon as possible. Her main message is as follows: Autism cannot and should not be cured. People should love and accept autistic people and cherish their differences. Knowledge and understanding of this condition is key. So, research it and promote awareness so others can learn too.

3. What is an Autism Spectrum Disorder??? An Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition that is ranked on the Autism Spectrum. This spectrum ranges from very high functioning, low functioning people with AUTISM and those who have one or two of the criteria, but not full blown autism.

4. My View on the autism spectrum Green: highly sociable Not autistic Red: less sociable, but Still sociable Not autistic Blue: may scrape by as an NT, But also may have a PDD-NOS, or Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis Purple: Atypical autism, higher functioning In autism criteria. Pink: ‘severe autism’ diagnosis. Meets all autism criteria easily.

5. The Criteria In order for someone to get an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, they must meet at least one of the three criteria. This criteria is: social impairment, communication impairment and behavioral/play skills impairment. A person with AUTISM must meet all three, to get an Autism Spectrum Disorder, they must meet one to two and usually for PDD-NOS, two.

6. PDD-NOS PDD-NOS stands for Pervasive Developmental Disorder. This is usually a temporary diagnosis when a practitioner is unsure of the exact diagnosis because the child seems autistic but they do not meet all three criteria. Most often, this is given to a young child who will likely progress or regress quickly so the practitioner wants to wait to make sure he/she gets the diagnoses correct.

7. Autism Spectrum Disorders There are many ASD diagnosis’. A few common ones are: Sensory Overload Disorder (SOD) Nonverbal Language Disorder (NLD) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Retts Disorder Anxiety Disorder People with an ASD do not have autism, but they are on the spectrum.

8. Autism The brains of people with autism work differently than those of people without autism. Therefore, they react differently to the world. Unfortunately for them, this world was created by non-autistic people so it is more difficult for them to be successful in it. BUT IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

9. BRAINS There are 4 types of brain wirings. 1. MALE 2. FEMALE 3. NON-AUTISTIC/NEUROYPICAL (NT) 4. AUTISTIC Every person has a combination of two of these. EXAMPLE: Male, NT.

10. What causes an ASD? Nobody knows for sure, but there are theories. These include:  The MMR vaccine  Lack of vitamin D  Genetics  Toxins in the environment  Weak immune system  And others…

11. Think about this… Do you wonder what made you a male or female? Does it matter? Why/why not? Apply those answers to the unknown answers for autism too. The difference between males and females is similar to that of NTs and autistics.

12. Can ASD be cured??? Not definitely, but not definitely not either. NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE. There are theories:  Gluten/casein/carbohydrate free, and vitamin supplements cure autism because they cure leaky-gut which was caused by MMR.  ABA uses a ‘dog-training’ effect to train children to respond to command, and look normal.

13. What are my rights??? Every person on Earth is supposed to have the same rights. But not everyone does. By curing autism, you are deciding that your state of being is better than theirs… and that is not okay. All over the world, rights are disputed. Males used to have more rights than females, but now they don’t. At the moment NTs have more rights than autists, but hopefully that will change some day.

14. THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING YOU DESERVE. THEY HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS YOU. THEY ARE NOT WRONG. THEY SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED. AUTISM ISN’T THE PROBLEM, IGNORANCE IS.

15. Acceptance is key The only way a social change ever happens is when people get together and say THIS IS WRONG! Females got together and fought for their rights and they got acceptance by males. Many autists are unable to fight for themselves, so we must fight for them to get acceptance.

16. How??? Raise awareness. Inform others. Let them become accepting.

17. Thank you for watching and have a good day!!!

18. Written by Irina Larossa Formatted and designed by Irina Larossa Created on Microsoft PowerPoint Diagrams made on Paint Pictures found on Google Images