Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Autism is a developmental disability that affects more than 20,000 people in northern Ireland. Over 300 children are diagnosed with the condition every year. Autism affects not only how a person communicates with, and relates to other people, but also how they make sense of the world around them. There are 3 main areas which cause people with autism difficulty. They are known as the 'triad of impairments' and are: difficulty with social interaction, difficulty with social communication and difficulty with social imagination. To find out more about the condition please go to www.autism.org.uk