autismnoun [ U ]
uk/ˈɔː.tɪ.zəm/us/ˈɑː.t̬ɪ.zəm/a condition that starts in young children and typically causes behaviour that is unusually centred on the self while limiting the development of social and communication skills:
Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Mental & psychiatric disorders
- ad
- adjustment disorder
- age-associated memory impairment
- anhedonia
- anorexia nervosa
- eating disorder
- learning difficulties
- male menopause
- melancholia
- obsessive
- paranoia
- persecution complex
- PTSD
- sad
- schizophrenia
- schizophrenic
- seasonal affective disorder
- Sen
- Stockholm syndrome
- visual variant of Alzheimer's disease
See more results »
autistic
adjective uk/ɔːˈtɪs.tɪk/us/ɑːˈtɪs.tɪk/
One child in 5,000 is autistic.