Autism is very difficult to define. Some people consider it a disability, some people consider it simply a difference in the way a person thinks, and to others it is considered a “disorder.” I personally like to think of autism as a unique combination of strengths and weaknesses that an individual with “characteristics” of autism posses. In a more “official” or clinical sense, autism refers to a “spectrum of disorders” that vary in their level of severity of symptoms. Autism is considered a spectrum because, generally speaking, no two individuals with autism will show the exact same characteristics.
