The Developmental Perspective

It is a reality that most children are born normal and does not have any developmental delays or lags . On the other side of the observation is that some children are born with developmental diss that severely affect their ability to lead normal lives . Autism is a relatively well known , recognized and often misunderstood condition . Autism has even been associated with the behavior of being in one 's own world , of not being aware of other people and the external environment . Autism is a neurodevelopmental dis that has been diagnosed in terms of

a triad of conditions , which include language and communication difficulties rigidity and repetitive behavior and impaired social interaction . Autism has been studied and defined along this context and diagnosis can only be made if the three conditions are present . The definition of autism and its antecedent behavioral indicators was a product of an extensive study by Kanner (1943 ) and have not been improved or questioned sufficiently to establish its accuracy . Autism is a neurological dis in the sense that language impairment had been associated with cognitive development and language has been formed through neural networking and the like , meanwhile , autism is also a developmental dis , since language development , motor development and social skills are related to developmental stages and the normal progression of the child 's growth and maturity would entail the mastery of these skills . Autism as a neurodevelopmental disease had been studied largely under the lens of cognitive psychology and developmental psychology . The developmental perspective has been found to determine problems with the definition of autism based on the three behavioral manifestations

The developmental perspective states that human development proceeds in a series of stages and periods which is marked by developmental tasks and critical periods wherein the

development and mastery of cognitive , physical and social skills are necessary for the healthy and normal development of the child and of the person in later life (Moldin Rubenstein , 2006 . Autism is a dis that cannot be detected within the first three years of life since children at this stage normally have poor motor skills , have not fully developed their language and communication skills , and have minimal social interaction skills . Thus , it is very difficult to identify who will be autistic or not within this period , however , since after 3 years old , children are expected to be able to walk and run , speak in short sentences and play with other children , the behavioral manifestations of autism like isolation , rigidity and repetitive patterns of behavior are made evident . At four years old and above , children proceed normally in their cognitive development by being more talkative , expressing their feelings and desires , playing with other children albeit egocentric thought is prevalent and since their attention span is limited , thus they engage in as many as ten activities in a given hour . From these examples , one can see that the condition of which autism is diagnosed is contrary to the normal patterns of development , thus the abnormality However , there are instances...