Experts define autism and related pervasive developmental disorders as severe neurodevelopmental conditions that seriously impair social, communicative and behavioral functioning.
 
Pediatricians and other providers of primary care experience autism as a complex, poorly understood and challenging spectrum of disability that has an enormous impact on these patients and their families.

Autism is a developmental disability that begins in early childhood and results in impaired social interaction, communication and behavioral functioning. While the degree of severity varies widely, people with autism have difficulty understanding relationships and emotions and sometimes display inappropriate behaviors, such as extreme reactions to minor changes, unusual sensitivities to particular sounds, sights or textures, compulsive routines and repetitive movements. As challenging as making a diagnosis of "autism" is, it is extremely important to later functioning that it is made as early as possible so that effective treatment can be delivered.

It must be emphasized that a conclusive diagnosis of autism can only be made after careful, professional evaluation.