Imagine a disease that affects more than half a million people in the United States , impairs their social interaction and communication skills, knows no racial, ethnic, or social boundaries, and has no known cure (Dorman 1999). Autism is a complex developmental disorder that most usually surfaces sometime during the first 3 years of life (Ackerman 1997). This rare multifactoral disorder affects three to five out of every 10, 000 school-aged children, with males outnumbering females five to one (Ackerman 1997). …
