Autism: Understanding Conceptual Processing Deficits

Abstract

Autism is a behavioral diagnosis characterized by a triad of impairment, which includes impaired communication, impaired social skills, and impaired spontaneity. The outward behavior exhibited by people with autism represents a different cognitive processing style than that seen in typical development. Understanding the way people with autism process and store information is important for intervention. The majority of people diagnosed with autism do not have symptoms of mental retardation and need access to mainstream services to work on the problems presented by daily life.