A Child Living with Autism
 Photo by Winston Chua
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What is autism? Autism can appear strange to those who aren’t familiar with autism. Children sometimes wail and are overanxious, they don’t respond to parental orders. The focus of this page is Sean Chen and those are things that have happened to him. In Sean’s case he would stop at nothing to watch a children’s video. When he would go to his aunt’s house he would make a beeline for the video, knowing exactly where it was in the house that wasn’t his. And he would run like a football lineman trying to make a tackle. There would be no hello, no goodbye, just straight for the video, at the expense of anyone who was in his way.
That's just part of how autism manifests itself. Sean certainly has unique experiences that other children don't. And other children may not be able to relate to his life. Being autistic can mean an intense difficulty communicating, both to an autistic child and for an autistic child. These kids can keep to themselves and many need help with mutual understanding.
Children with autism appear to struggle and often do struggle with making connections through friendships, even with their family. Emotional connections are also challenging as his or her interpretation may not be exact.
Children with autism can experience frustration, because they are not being understood. But it's important to know this isn't a character flaw or a defect, but a brain condition that as of now has no "cure," though it is treatable.
Deviations in the brain are characteristic of autistic patients. The disorder appears in infancy and affects language, social bonding and imagination, according to Scientific American. Many are often withdrawn from close relationships. Fewer people were diagnosed 30 years ago, according to a Californian doctor named Charles Imbus.
