English

Noun

autism ‎(usually uncountable, plural autisms)

1. (clinical psychology) Pervasive neurological disorder that is observable in early childhood and persists throughout the lifespan, characterised by atypical communication, language development, eye contact, and sensory experiences.
   • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 72-3:

     Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

2. (clinical psychology) Synonym of autism spectrum (disorder); generalization of the specific to a range

Synonyms

• (autism spectrum): autistic spectrum

Hyponyms

(autism spectrum):

• Asperger syndrome / Asperger's syndrome / Asperger's / Asperger
• autism (the specific, instead of the generalized form)

Hypernyms

(the specific, instead of the generalized range):

• autism (the generalized range, instead of the specific)
• autism spectrum
• autistic spectrum
• autism spectrum disorder
• autistic spectrum disorder

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• on the spectrum

Translations

See also

• pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), PDD-NOS
• disability, handicap
• mutism, selective mutism
• special education