An autism spectrum disorder (including Asperger syndrome) is a lifelong developmental disability that affects
the way a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the
world around them. It is a spectrum condition which means that, while all people with autism share certain
difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. More boys are diagnosed with an ASD than
girls: a ratio of 4:1. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have
accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. A small percentage – perhaps 2%
of people with an ASD , who are sometimes known as ‘savants’– may have a particularly special talent, for
example, with numbers, in music or in art.
The three main areas of difficulty (sometimes known as the ‘triad of impairments’) are:
• difficulty