A phenomena that is poorly understood, even general knowledge as to what it means or refers to.

One of the misconceptions is that autism is one thing or one disorder. It is not. Instead autism is a collection of neurodevelopmental disorders.

The effects vary greatly among individuals. As it is a disorder that gets more difficult to handle once a person gets older and thus early detection and support can greatly improve the quality of life.

It might be confusing to see people that have autism not behave any different than other people.

However the effects of autism can range from not speaking at all to some that live independent lives.

How I understand it for now is that the brain has more difficulty in creating new neuropathways. Networks of neurons that play a large part in the operating of the brain. Also connections made are more difficult to break down.

Causing social limitations, dependency on existing structures and difficulty creating new structure. That is not even close to the variation of effects on the functioning of the brain under autism.