【正文】 s disorder (a related condition in which the baby develops in an apparently normal manner through age five months, and then begins to lose municative and social interaction skills). There is also evidence of a higher proportion of perinatal plications (plications arising around the time of giving birth) among children with autistic symptoms. These plications include maternal bleeding after the first trimester and meconium in the amniotic fluid. (Meconium is a substance that accumulates in the bowel of the developing fetus and is discharged shortly after birth.) Some evidence suggests that the use of medications during pregnancy may be related to the development of autistic symptoms. As newborns, children with autistic behaviors show a higher rate of respiratory illness and anemia than healthy children. ALLERGIES, INFECTIONS, AND IMMUNIZATIONS. Some professionals believe that autistic disorders may be caused by allergies to particular fungi, viral infections, and vario。 antiboxing Bills proposed in parliament have failed to reach the statute books. Most schools, both state and public, however, have dropped boxing from their physical education curriculum. Yet it should be noted that amateur boxing is exceptionally well regulated: not more than four rounds are fought, headguards are worn, and the referee is allowed to stop a fight to prevent serious injury. However, headguards, whilst absorbing energy from punches, present an even larger target to be hit and thus the number of blows striking home may well increase. Indeed, studies have shown that nonboxing sportsmen outperform even amateur fighters in neurological tests and, notwithstanding the safety precautions, three amateur fighters have suffered serious brain injury in British rings since 1988. For centuries boxing has been the epitome of overt masculinity, a demonstration of manliness and its embodying characteristics of courage, toleration of pain, and selfdiscipline. Women were merely ornaments displaying the round cards. This continues, but women have successfully demanded equal rights in the ring. In Britain, girls from the age of 10 are now allowed to spar in amateur boxing gyms, and recently professionalism, too, has been recognized for women — significantly later than its acceptance in the US where fights for women have appeared on the undercard of world championship events. The moral dilemma of boxing is that it provides an honest opportunity to escape poverty, but it also means for some a legal beating and for all the threat of permanent damage. Hitting below the belt is outlawed to protect the genitals, but surely the brain deserves even more protection, by reducing the concussive power of the boxing glove, developing safer headgear, excluding the head as a target — or by banning the sport altogether. The issue is not how hazardous boxing is but whether the hazards are acceptable. The term autism refers to a cluster of conditions appearing early in childhood. All involve severe impairments in social interaction, munication, imaginative abilities, and rigid, repetitive behaviors. To be considered an autistic disorder, some of these impairments must be manifest before the age of three. The reference book used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , also known as the DSM. The 2000 edition of this reference book (the Fourth Edition Text Revision known as DSMIVTR ) places autism in a category called pervasive developmental disorders . All of these disorders are characterized by ongoing problems with mutual social interaction and munication, or the presence of strange, repetitive behaviors,interests, and activities. People diagnosed with these disorders are affected in many ways for their entire lives. Description Each child diagnosed with an autistic disorder differs from every other, and so general descriptions of autistic behavior and characteristics do not apply equally to every child. Still, the mon impairments in social interaction, munication and imagination, and rigid, repetitive behaviors make it possible to recognize children with these disorders, as they differ markedly from healthy children in many ways. Many parents of autistic children sense that something is not quite right even when their children are infants. The infants may have feeding problems, dislike being changed or bathed, or fuss over any change in routine. They may hold their bodies rigid, making it difficult for parents to cuddle them. Or, they may fail to anticipate being lifted, lying passively while the parent reaches for them, rather than holding their arms up in return. Most parents of autistic children bee aware of the strangeness of these and other behaviors only gradually. Impairments in social interaction are usually among the earliest symptoms to develop. The most mon social impairment is a kind of indifference to other people, or aloofness, even towards parents and close caregivers. The baby may fail to respond to his or her name being called and may show very little facial expression unless extremely angry, upset, or happy. Babies with autism may resist being touched, and appear to be lost in their own world, far from human interaction. Between seven and 10 months of age, most infants often resist being separated from a parent or wellknown caregiver, but these infants may show no disturbance when picked up by a stranger. Other children with autism may be very passive, although less resistant to efforts by others to interact. However, they do not initiate social interaction themselves. Still others may attempt to engage with adults and peers, but in ways that strike others as inappropriate, or odd. In adolescence and adulthood, some of the higherfunctioning individuals with autistic disorders may appear overly formal and polite. They may react with little spontaneity, as if social interaction doesn39。s co