Autism and Other Disorders

Drew Ashby

Research Project On Autism

Autism is a developmental disorder. It appears in the first 3 years of a child’s development. It is not one disorder, but in fact Autism and Autism spectrum disorder are a series of complex brain development disorders.

Signs of Autism may include: Few or no Joyful expressions by 6 months, no attempts at talking, or “babbling” by the first year, no gestures such as pointing, showing, or reacting by 1 year, and any loss of speech at any age. Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, can also be characterized by restricted, repetitive behaviors and deficits in communication and other developments that take place early in life.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs

“Spectrum” refers to a wide range of symptoms and levels of disability. Asberger’s syndrome is now classified as a part of ASD. The causes of Autism Spectrum are not well known, but a combination of genes and a child’s environment may play a role in Autism. If twins are born and one child has Autism there is a nine out of ten chance that the other will also. A strange fact is that most diagnosed with Autism do not have a history of it in their family, suggesting that many rare, random gene mutations may cause Autism. With environmental causes, scientists are studying parental age as well as medical conditions within the family, exposure to toxins and complications with birth. With both environmental and genetic theoretical causes, often more than one is the cause for Autism. Some parents infer that vaccines may cause Autism, due to the large amount of shots in the first years of life, and don’t vaccinate their kids. Which is the same time autism develops. Dumbasses. There has been no link between vaccines and autism despite numerous studies.

There are many characteristics children with Autism develop. Autistic children will often have social impairments, communication problems, and repetitive behaviors. Children with autism will often make little eye contact, often fail to look and pay attention to people in their surroundings, do not often share enjoyment with others, and respond unusually to other’s emotions. They will show impairment in communication by repeating words or phrases they hear, develop language later in life, and people may find it hard to get an autistic child’s attention. They also, like someone with Down Syndrome, stimulate with repetitive behaviors.

Many children with autism have overly focused interests, and may move in certain ways, or have a fascination with moving objects. They may also develop interests in logical pursuits and numbers, such as science and symbols.

It is important to remember that no two children with autism are the same. Autism refers to a variety of disorders and a large amount of conditions and symptoms.

The risk factor of autism is actually high, especially among boys, who have 4 times the risk that girls have. It is estimated that 1 in 88 children will develop autism. The knowledge about autism has increased and ignorance has decreased about autism, and many more parents and doctors know about autism in these recent times. It is a matter of discussion in the field of science, but there is a large increase in autism in recent years. There is little on exactly why or how such an increase would happen. Diagnosis involves a 2 step process, a general developmental screening by a pediatrician, and evaluation by a team of doctors with many specialties. Often only at this stage is when children are diagnosed. The age of the child is important as a child will not be able to be diagnosed if it is not yet developed. Often a child is diagnosed at 2 years, although they can be diagnosed earlier, and preferably autism is diagnosed as early as possible, as early intervention may lessen the severity of many symptoms.

Some other problems that could help to diagnose are sensory problems, sleep problems, and intellectual problems as well as possibly seizures. Autistic children will overreact or underreact to their environment. they may also experience problems staying or falling asleep, or oversleeping. People with autism also have gaps in intelligence. They may focus very well and be very good at puzzles or other logical pursuits, but may struggle inspeech or language skills.

Children with autism may also have more physical problems, such as1 in 4 children may have seizures, gastrointestinal problems, and many have other mental or behavioral disorders such as Asberger’s syndrome, and ADHD. Rett syndrome is more rare than the other disorders listed, and mostly occurs in females. It is very uncommon and develops in young children, similar to autism.

As the awareness of autism grows, so does the acceptance of it by public schools, and the special education programs are in general much more supportive in recent years. This may make it much easier for the parent and child to accept this so far incurable disorder.

although an autistic child will always have autism, there are treatments and medications. Some antipsychotic medicines may help treating autism and may prevent self-injury, by changing the effects of brain chemicals. Although these medicines treat more severe problems such as schizophrenia and other serious disorders, they have showed to lessen symptoms of ASD as well. Other medications that help to treat ADHD, stimulants such as ridilin and antideppresants such as Concerta and Prozac have also been known to lessen the habitual nature and stimulating habits of a child with autism. Scientists are also working on studys of how one’s environment may affect certain genes, turning them on and off, and how this relates to autism. There are also many studies that suggest that autism may begin before birth.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-pervasive-developmental-disorders/index.shtml?utm_source=rss_readers&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_full

Scientists, as I have said before, have begun taking much more interest in autism and more and more studies have been conducted in recent years. There are also new fields of autism research, including environmental science, and genetics. There are many genetic mutations linked to autism. Autism has shown to have a prevelance of 1 to 88 by modern studies.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/top-ten-autism-research-advances-2012

There are 5 levels of autistic disorders spectrum, the most well known being autism. Asberger’s syndrome is considered “high functioning autism” and is mostly characterized by social awkwardness and lack of ability to understand social behavior. children with Asberger’s are often more successful in school and other pursuits and tend to be more intelligent than a child with autism. Rett’s disorder is categorized as autism and share many of the same symptoms, but is often more physical, having small appendages, and having seizures most of the time.

          
         This is a good short narrative about what it is like to meet someone with autism       
When Stacey went over to her new friend Chelsea's house, she met Chelsea's 4-year-old brother, Shawn. "Hi," said Stacey, smiling. Shawn looked at her but didn't say anything. Then he turned back to a toy he was holding. Later, in Chelsea's room, Stacey said, "I don't think your brother likes me."
"It's not your fault," said Chelsea. "It's not that he doesn't like you — Shawn has autism and it's hard for him to talk sometimes. But I can show you how to play with him, if you want."
         Autism and speech problems also go hand in hand. Many with autism have speech delays and don't like to talk, even if they can. Speech delays rise in severity with the severity of the autism. They range from simple social awkwardness in Asberger's syndrome, to being completely unable to form undertandable words.

If a child has autism, it is important to remember to not judge a person for their inability to control their child. many children with autism have behavioral problems and require behavioral therapy. Support is important for a disorder like this which is poorly understood and untreatable. There is also a lot of support groups for people with autsim and autistic children. Autism often goes hand- in hand with down syndrome and other developmental disorders.