An autistic child

The other day a mother brought her five year old daughter to the clinic.

"Doctor, my daughter has a sore throat, I'd like you to check her out please"

As I was about to get up to examine the girl...

"Please note that she's autistic...examination might be tricky."

As two nurses and the mother struggled to hold the child down I glanced at the the mother. Her expression spoke of the endless sleepless nights, of the worry for the child's health.

Autism is a huge challenge for the child, and more so for the parents and carers. Though the cause is as yet not precisely identified, research is ongoing as this article in National Geographic shows.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/21/the-roots-of-autism-are-in-the-skin/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20140526ph-autism&utm_campaign=Content&sf3050086=1

Edit (September 2019): A reader of this blog recently brought to my attention the relation between people with ASD and the internet. In today's world the web is ubiquitous and naturally everyone has some form of interaction with it...including persons diagnosed with ASD. The following are some guidelines to help those with this condition navigate safely this sea of information. Thank you Mariya Klorova.

Internet safety for people with ASD