Autism is a behavioral condition that impairs the social interaction, language development and communication skills pegged with rigid, repetitive behaviors. The condition is currently referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to the broad range of symptoms. The level of ASD depends on the severity, which ranges from a handicap to a devastating disability that may require institutional care. ASD symptoms mostly appear in the first three years of life, and it is four times common in boys than in girls ( Hofvander et al., 2014 ). The question of whether autistic people can live with autism is rather relative and does not have an exclusive answer as it depends on the level and the corrective interactions applied to an affected child.
Leading a normal life majorly depends on the amount of support an autistic individual requires as some need relatively more help and intervention than others. Autism impairs that part of the brain, which deals with planning, executing tasks, keeping track of things and maintaining them. Therefore, when offering support one should not only teach an autistic person how to do something but also train them on how to continue doing what is shown to them. However, this might not work, as some of them might be wholly impaired in maintaining what they have learned.
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Autism presents itself differently from one victim to another, and each faces different challenges and symptoms. Some may possess social skills, executive skills, some sensory and other involve the ability to communicate what they are thinking or more so think in different ways than expected. Therefore, rather than assuming concerning leading a normal life, we should strive with providing the most fulfilling life possible with the highest level of degree of independence and dignity for the affected individual. Some may hold jobs, marry and have families while others will not, and whichever life they will lead will be reasonable for them, and utmost care must be taken to ensure they can live to their fullest potential.
Early detection of autistic features in a child may be paramount in defining his or her future life. Autism has no real cure, as it is a lifelong condition. Early detection combined with proper therapy allows the parents of the child to accustom themselves with the positive traits of the child and thereby work on continuously improving them to enable the victim to attain his or her full potential. Further to this, it allows them time to train the child on those skills that a normal child might pick up naturally like speech and maintain them for the rest of their lives.
In some scenarios, some autistic patients often have the symptoms recurring and new ones surfacing because of the challenges of adulthood. Some of the symptoms dealt with in childhood reappear as some adults tend to struggle with difficulties of adulthood such as getting and keeping a job, forming friendships, dating or even romantic relationships. They may end up relapsing to dependency rather than living independently.
In conclusion, normalcy is broad and relative to the autistic disorder is. The symptoms and features vary from each affected. It is a lifelong disorder and therefore rather than expecting a victim to live like the average societal expectation of a person, we should concentrate on identifying what the individual is best in and work on perfecting it to ensure that they live their life to the fullest. ASD victims should be supported morally, no stigma on them and parents and the society should work on imparting social skills in them that would naturally occur for a non-autistic child. It is a condition, which depends on lifelong training and maintenance to ensure that one achieves their full potential.
Reference
Hofvander, B., Delorme, R., Chaste, P., Nydén, A., Wentz, E., Ståhlberg, O., ... & Råstam, M. (2014). Psychiatric and psychosocial problems in adults with normal-intelligence autism spectrum disorders. BMC psychiatry , 9 (1), 35.
