Dental Management of An Autistic Child

Autism is a lifelong disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. Children with autism have difficulty relating to others in a meaningful way. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can be described by the federal definition in the United States legal code, “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” as follows: “A child is classified as having autism when the child has a developmental disability that significantly affects verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, that is generally evident before age three, and that adversely affects educational performance.” Autism has also been described as one type of clinical manifestation of childhood schizophrenia, rarely occurring in pure form without signs of other developmental disabilities and organic feature. According to Bender, autism in childhood schizophrenia can occur in the life course of the disorder. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disabilities with a core set of defining criteria that comprise impaired social interaction, communication, and restricted or repetitive behavioral stereotypes.