Although newly recognized in federal legislation autism first began to appear in research literature in the first half of the twentieth century The word autism was taken from the Greek autos meaning self to indicate the extreme sense of isolation and detachment from the world around them that characterizes these individuals who are autistic The American Psychiatric Association has estimated that the prevalence is about 5 cases per 10 000 Gender differences are evident in autism with males outnumbering females substantially Estimates of these prevalence differences range from 2 to 1 to 4 to 1 Parents often report that their infants become rigid when they are picked up and are not cuddly They may also avoid eye contact averting their gaze rather than looking directly at another person Parents often report that their infants become rigid when they are picked up and are not cuddly They may also avoid eye contact averting their gaze rather than looking directly at another person Approximately half do not develop speech and those who do often engage in strange language and speaking behavior such as echolalia repeating back only what has been said to them Lowered intellectual functioning is found in most children with autism with about 75 percent having measured IQs below 70 There are two types of brain damage primary and secondary Primary damage relates specifically to the specific outcomes of the initial injury to the brain including the location of the damage the extent of injury and the overall severity Open and closed head injuries may cause impairments in cognition language and memory attention reasoning and abstract thinking and sensory perceptual and motor abilities Boys are two to four times more likely to sustain serious head injuries particularly during adolescence Expressive aphasia is an inability to express one s own thoughts and desires Research affirms that the most common cause of TBI in small children is falling As affirmed in the medical literature the first sign of brain injury is often a coma It is the body s way of saying Something is wrong with my central processing unit One clear indication of a concussion is a dilated pupil This is often the first thing that a sports trainer or physician looks for in an injured athlete or head injury victim As affirmed by medical research and clinical practice the first stage of intervention for traumatic brain injury involves treating swelling and bleeding minimizing complications and reducing the level of coma The external ear consist of a cartilage structure on the side of the head called the auricle or pinna and an external ear canal referred to as the meatus The meatus is the external ear canal The meatus protects the inner structures of the ear by trapping foreign materials and lubricating the canal and eardrum The decibel is the unit used to measure sound frequency Human hearing ranges from 0 to 130 dB Hertz Hz is the unit used to measure the frequency of sound A person who is born with a hearing loss has significantly more problems particularly in the areas of communication and social adaptation The overall effect of conductive hearing loss is a reduction or loss of loudness Losing sight is ranked right behind cancer and AIDS as our greatest fear This fear is often nurtured by the misconception that persons with vision loss are helpless and unable to lead satisfying or productive lives People who are sighted may believe that most adults who are blind are likely to live a deprived socioeconomic and cultural existence Children who have sight may believe that their peers who are blind are incapable of learning many basic skills such as telling time or using a computer or enjoying leisure time and recreational activities such as swimming or television Many people with vision loss do not allow the lack of sight to keep them from participating in the activities that they value The cornea is the external covering of the eye and in the presence of light bends or refracts visual stimuli The iris is the colored portion of the eye and consists of membranous tissue and muscles whose function is to adjust the size of the pupil The pupil dilates or constricts to control the amount of light entering the eye Legal blindness as defined by the Social Security Administration is visual acuity of 20 200 or worse in the best eye with best correction as measured on the Snellen test or a visual field of 20 percent or less A restricted field is referred to as tunnel vision pinhole vision or tubular vision The person with normal eyesight is defined as having 20 20 vision If Eric is able to read at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can read at 30 feet then his or her visual acuity would be described as 20 30 It is estimated that about 3 percent of the population 9 million people have a significant vision loss that will require some type of specialized services and supports On the average children who are blind are two years behind sighted children in grade level Thus any direct comparisons of students with vision loss to those with sight would indicate significantly delayed academic growth However this age phenomenon may have resulted from entering school at a later age absence from school due to medical problems and the lack of appropriate school resources and facilities The IDEA uses the term orthopedically impaired to describe children with physical disorders Cerebral palsy is a disability resulting from damage to the brain evidenced by motor problems physical weakness lack of coordination and speech disorders The greatest number of spinal cord injuries occurs between the ages of 16 30 Twenty five percent of the spinal cord injuries are alcohol related Baskin 1996 Seizures are clusters of abnormal neurochemical activity in the brain Dreifuss 1988 Many types of seizures can be successfully treated with drug management Approximately I in 400 African American infants has SCA Sickle Cell Information Center 1997 Approximately 1 in 400 African American infants has SCA Sickle Cell Information Center Historical terminology associated with severe disabilities communicated a sense of hopelessness and despair The TASH definition of severe disabilities focuses on adaptive fit the relationship of a person with the environment The TASH definition also includes people of all ages and emphasizes the need for extensive ongoing support in life activities Prevalence estimates for severe and multiple disabilities are generally no more than 1 of the