Within the much larger grouping of learners with cognitive difficulties are autistic learners . Lilttle is known about the causes of autism , which may have a physical , organic foundation , but result in cognitive and emotional difficulties .Autistic children usually have problems of speech ,language and communication . They may be mute much or all of the time , or say over and over again what they have heard (echolalia) . They may engage repeatedly in stereotyped actions ,appear to be especially interested in sameness or order , and be totally unresponsive or respond unexpectedly , sometimes violent or otherwise socially unacceptable ways . They avoid direct eye-contact .This is a broad description , and children may show one or more of these traits at any one time . They may refuse to communicate at all , or in particular situations , or with certain people . They are reputed to have poor short-term memory , which makes sequential tasks difficult for them . until recently , most autistic children were regarded as virtually ineducable . Kanner (1943) , who provided the first definitions of autism .There is some evidence that most autistic children become autistic adults although improvement comes with maturity , the greatest improvements being made by those of greatest ability .
At times , violence may be an attempt to communicate Autistc children seem to depend less than others on non verbal communication through gestures and facial expressions . Computers should be able to help autistic learners , those interested in machines and repetitive procedures . Some of these children do seem to be motivated by computers .