Autism is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females.
*from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
About the Cleveland Clinic Pediatric Institute & Children's Hospital**
Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital is a hospital within the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Since 1921, Cleveland Clinic has provided compassionate medical, surgical, and rehabilitative care to children and families. Today, that superb care is accessible to families in a variety of settings across northeast Ohio, including the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation, Shaker Campus, a free-standing hospital for children with a variety of chronic or disabling conditions requiring longer-term care, just two miles from the main campus. Children recovering from trauma, surgery, or an acute hospital stay come to the Shaker Campus. Comprehensive outpatient therapy is offered here and at three locations in Greater Cleveland. Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital, Shaker Campus also features specialty programs including the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism, a Feeding Disorders Clinic, an innovative motor control program, and Northeast Ohio's only dedicated outpatient pediatric hemodialysis unit.
The hospital is as much "high-touch" as it is "high-tech." Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital professionals have a solid commitment to providing family-centered care, communicating with parents and referring physicians in ways that stands apart from other hospitals.
Highly regarded worldwide for taking a leading role in cardiology and cardiac surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, neonatology and gastroenterology, Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital is also distinguished for:
- having the only comprehensive pediatric transplant program in northern Ohio
- operating a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with 24-hour, on-site coverage by senior attending physicians
- providing leading-edge therapies for pediatric patients with cancer and complex blood disorders
- having the only dedicated pediatric dialysis unit in Northeast Ohio affiliated with a full-service transplant center
- having the only program in the region that provides educational services for children with autism using an exclusively science-based approach
**from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens_hospital/support.aspx