The word autism was first used in the year 1908 and doctors have definitely come a long way since then. Autism is said to be the most serious family of disorders known as ASD (autism spectrum disorder). The word autism comes from a Greek word “autos”, meaning “self”. Autism is a condition where the person is removed from social interaction, making them an isolated individual. A Swiss psychiatrist named Eugen Bleuler was the first person to use this new term to describe a group of symptoms of schizophrenia. In the 40’s, researchers began to use the term autism to refer to children with social and emotional problems. Until around the 1960’s, schizophrenia and autism had been related in researcher’s minds. It wasn’t until the 80’s that behavioral…show more content… “Most researchers agree that the causes are likely to be genetic, metabolic, or bio-chemical, and neurological. Others also believe that environmental factors may be involved.” (Brennan, 2015.) “Children with ASD grasp false belief slowly, and this performance leads some researchers to conclude that the absence of a theory of mind, sometimes called ‘mindblindness’ (Baron-Cohen, 1995), is the defining characteristic of ASD (Tager-Flusberg, 2007)” (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2014.) Others suggest that children with ASD focus on one aspect of someone’s behavior like gestures but disregard other verbal and nonverbal signs such as facial expressions and speech which promotes effortless interactions. Research to prove these claims is still in progress but it is expected that there are multiple causes that contribute to ASD. Studies also show that if ASD is diagnosed early enough and the children are brought up in supportive and responsive environments and receive appropriate treatment, they can lead very productive and happy lives. (Kail & Cavanaugh,…show more content… guilt stage. In this stage the child is challenged to develop the ability to try new things and to handle failure. An autistic child would struggle with this stage because the strength children need to learn in this stage is purpose. “Purpose is achieved with a balance between individual initiative and willingness to cooperate with others.” (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2014.) Autistic children have difficulties in communicating and interacting with other children their age to begin with. Having to be faced with a challenge that deals with interacting with peers properly and cooperate in a respectful manner definitely would overwhelm the autistic child and therefore would make this obstacle very difficult to overcome and would need significant help with this stage. These problems would also become difficult in the next stage of industry vs. inferiority which is the challenge to learn basic skills and to work with others. (Kail & Cavanaugh,