Children can be taught to socialize.

• Position: Autism - Brief Article

Most of the symptoms of the baffling disability autism can be overcome with early intervention, professional treatment, parental involvement, and plenty of patience, declare Lynn Koegel and Claire LaZebnik, authors of Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies and Hope that Can Transform a Child's Life.

Usually appearing in the first three years of life, autism causes difficulties in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. If left untreated, most children with the disability "will never be able to communicate or live a normal life," explains Koegel, clinical director of the Autism Research Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "Autism was once considered a rare disability, but now affects as many as one in every 150 children. It is ... considered to be an epidemic."

Although the exact cause remains unknown, autism is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the function of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. "Fortunately...