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Tajanique Williams
Mrs. DeBock
English IV Honors
18 February 2016
Essential Question: What are the effects of autism in autistics everyday life and the people
around them?
Working Thesis: Autism has many negative and positive effects on the autistic and their
caretakers.
Refined Thesis: Although autistic individuals have great minds in their own creative ways,
autism should be carefully treated according to the severity to secure their futures.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ballaro, Beverly, and Ann Griswold. "Autism: An Overview" Ebscohost.com. Great Neck
Publishing, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2016.
The article Autism: An Overview tells information about autism, a complex
neurodevelopmental syndrome that affects normal social interaction and communication skills.
Approximately within the last 10 years, about 1 in 150 children will be born with autism. Some
autistic individuals showcase a broad range of extraordinary abilities such as memorization,
mathematics or music. The article also tells of the history of autism. This syndrome was
identified by a child psychiatrist, Leo Kanner, in 1943. The word autism comes from the Greek
pronoun autos which means self thus defines that autistic people are absorbed in their own
worlds and are not connected to people and events that are around them. Lastly, the article
explains about autism today. Nowadays, autistic peoples families, the government and medical
researchers are raising awareness of autism to find the cure by making organizations and having

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Autism Speaks walks. I chose this article because it was very helpful of just summing up what
autism is and what is going on right now in the world for autism today.
Bonnice, Sherrie. "Choosing the Right Route." Autism Living with a Special Need. Broomall:
Mason Crest, 2015. 57-74. Print.
In this book Autism Living with a Special Need, chapter 4 Choosing the Right Route tells
about how an autistic child, Tuckers parents helps him with his autism. They signed him up in a
special preschool with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) to help him get all the education
he needs that other students will have but suited to his capabilities. The book reads that early
intervention makes a great difference in autistic childrens lives in the long run. This chapter also
says that speech therapy to help them learn everyday words and how to form sentences to
communicate to others effectively. I chose this book because it shows that with parents, teachers
or other caretakers actions and jobs all help people with autism greatly.
"Characteristics of Autism" Autism, PDD-NOS & Asperger's Fact Sheets. Synapse, n.d. Web. 17
Feb. 2016.
This article, Characteristics of Autism basically tells what most characteristics of autistic
individuals include. First, this article reads that people with autism lack social skills that we take
for granted like keeping eye contact, knowing how another person is feeling and responding to
their own name. Next, the article says that individuals with autism do not develop enough natural
speech to meet daily communication needs. Autistic children will usually repeat what you say to
them (echolalia) or reverse pronouns. The article also reads that autistic people display many
forms of repetitive behavior like hand-flapping, arranging objects, doing certain rituals and
preoccupation with a single television program. Lastly, the article states that autistics have
sensory issues so they do things like covering their ears when they hear certain sounds. They also

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have sleeping problems, high stress levels and atypical eating behaviors. I chose this article
because it goes way into depth of what autistic people do things they do and why.
Chittom, Lynn-nore, and Nancy Sprague. "Point: The Increase in Autism Cases in the US Comes
from a Widened Definition of Autism" Ebscohost.com. N.p., 17 May 2012. Web. 11 Feb.
2016.
The article, Point: The Increase in Autism Cases in the U.S. Comes from a Widened Definition
of Autism analyzes that the widened spectrum of autism has increased the number of diagnosis.
The article says that research on autism in children accelerated from the 1960s to the 1980s. The
research showed that there was a broad spectrum of autism since some children were
handicapped while others were behaving normally and might even be described as gifted. The
article also states that it is likely for the statistics of ASDs (Autism Spectrum Disorders) will
increase since the information becomes accessible to the medical community and general public.
Specifically, some parents could recognize social and educational problems they experienced in
their own lives reflected in their own autistic children. Lastly, the article reads that whatever
scientists find out about ASDs in the future, doctors should properly understand the needs of
each of their individual patients to be able to treat them appropriately, particularly children so
they will not suffer the stigmas associated with previous mental disorders. I chose this article
because it states what parents can find out about themselves if their child gets diagnosed with
autism.
Landau, Elaine. "Kevin Wasn't Like his Brothers." Autism. New York: Franklin Watts, 2001.
7-13. Print.
In the book Autism, in chapter one - Kevin Wasnt Like his Brothers, the author describes a
young boy named Kevin that has been diagnosed with autism. It says that Kevin did not make

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eye contact when spoke to by his family, he had a plethora of temper tantrums, and he did not
speak. Kevins parent knew they were going to face serious challenges in the years ahead of
them because they have to adapt to taking care of and loving an autistic child. This chapter also
explains that Kevins parents felt like they were not connecting emotionally with him because he
did not like to be held, cuddled or to play fun games like peekaboo. The book also says that
that both boys and girls can be autistic but boys are four times as likely to be diagnosed and the
general signs of autism usually appear in early childhood and continues throughout the persons
life. Lastly, this chapter states that those affected with autism need health and educational
services that amounts to about $3 billion annually. I chose this book because it explains what it is
like for families living with an autistic individual and what they do in everyday life.
Loomis, Catherine. "A Different Look at Challenging Behavior" YC Young Children 60.2
(2012): 7-11. www.autismspeaks.org. Autism Speaks, 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.
This article, A Different Look at Challenging Behavior explains the different behaviors of
autistic children that are challenging to their caretakers or teachers. It also explains that
challenging behaviors might be a result of the autistic individuals only way to cope with
difficulty in everyday life activities and without proper treatment and intervention, the behaviors
might continue or even get worse. A couple examples of some challenging behaviors commonly
displayed by autistic individuals are that they disrupt in inappropriate times, running away or
non-compliance. The article mentions some less common challenging behavior that could be
really difficult to handle for caretakers or teachers. For example, fecal digging, food refusal, pica
(eating disorder of non-foods) and purposeful vomiting. The parents ability to learn the tactics to
address and reshape the challenging behaviors as early as possible is very important for the
quality of life for that person, as well as your family. The article states that many parents make
small adjustments to adapt to their childs behavior so they might not get to do the things they

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normally do like taking the autistic child shopping or to family visits because of disruptive
behavior. This article is relevant because it has many examples of how hard or easy it can be to
cope with their childs autism because of these challenging behaviors.