DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF KEY CONCEPTS OF AUTISM
The way Autism is defined determines, in part its causes, perceived prevalence, impact on social systems and appropriate interventions to enable those at risk from disadvantage because of Autism. Although there is no consensus among either the persons with Autism, their families, friends and supporters or the scientific (clinicians, researchers and other professionals) communities on how Autism should be defined (Kenny, Hattersley, Molins, Buckley, Povey & Pellicano, 2016) the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2013) is considered as the gold standard for defining Autism and widely endorsed by most countries in Sub Saharan. Africa.