'''Autism''' is a neurological disorder, characterized by inability to interact socially; linguistic disability; intense, narrow interests; and repetitive behaviors. These are called stims or stimming. They include walking on tiptoes, flapping of hands, staring at objects for a prolonged period of time, oral fixation, spinning in circles, and other repetitive activities. Other signs include lack of eye contact, playing alone, lack of words, or in the case of [[Asperger's syndrome]], increased intelligence and big vocabulary but lack of social skills. It is usually detected by the time a child is four years old but some people's autism go unnoticed into adulthood. There are many intelligent and talented autistic individuals.<ref>Temple Grandin, "Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism" amazon link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307275655/ref=wl_it_dp/103-3432247-4184629?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1CWNFSEUCIXQL&colid=49VN3HJC5OQK</ref>
Diagnoses of autism has increased from 1:10,000 in 1988 to 1:166 people today. Some estimates are as high as 1 in 150 people <ref>http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/faq_prevalence.htm</ref>, and it has been rising. Among boys, 1 in 94 has the disorder. In New Jersey, which has the highest rate in the nation, 1 in every 60 boys has autism and 1 in every 94 children is affected. Some parents, politicians and a few fringe researchers cite a [[mercury]] preservative used in vaccines, thimerosal, as the cause of injury in many recipients, including a cause of increase in autism rates. Thimerosal is a inorganic form of mercury that has widely been used as a vaccine preservative, and still is despite widespread calls for its removal. Most of the influenza vaccines contain thimerosal equivalent to 25 micrograms of toxic [[mercury]], an amount that would be safe under [[EPA]] limits only if the recipient weighs 550 pounds.
Autism is a spectrum disorder which means there is a range in how it affects different people. There is the fragile x syndrome, [[Asperger's syndrome]], pdd nos, mild autism, moderate autism, severe autism, and some [[idiot savants]]. Autistic children will not all act like the character portrayed in the movie ''[[Rain Man]]''. Nor are all autistic children uncaring or unable to show emotion, in fact many are very caring.