US : The World Autism Awareness Day is being observed today. It aims to create awareness about autism, especially in children.

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders affect the way the brain processes information and prevents individuals from properly understanding what they see and hear, resulting in difficulties in communication and behaviour.

Our Correspondent reports, there are around ten million people in India suffering from Autism and 80 per cent of them are boys.

Autism is a developmental disability that remains with a person whole life. The first signs usually appear before a child is three . It is a kind of brain disorder that causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do.

People with autism often have problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and find social interaction difficult. It makes hard for them to communicate with others and react to things going on around them in the usual ways.

When someone smiles, for instance, a kid without autism knows that the smiling person is happy or being friendly. It’s difficult, too, for kids with autism to link words with their meanings.

Nobody knows for sure what causes autism. Scientists are still trying to understand how and why this happens. Parents should immediately consult the doctor for unusual behaviour rather than wait for the child to grow older.