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Posts Tagged ‘Verbal And Non Verbal Communication’

21
Nov

Discovering the Characteristics of Autism

The research and data compiled by leading institutions have shown that autism, or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1 in 165 children in America. Based on those numbers, that would indicate that an alarming 1.5 million Americans have autism to various degrees. It should be noted that many of these cases of autism have not been diagnosed. The annual growth rate of autism is greater than 14%, meaning it has become a major developmental disability for todays children.

The instance of autism is not relegated to just children, nor does it seem to afflict any particular person based on race or social structure. It also does not appear to be a result of any injury or accident that may have involved trauma. One thing that is known, however, is that males are about 4 times more likely to have autism than females.

So that you can understand how to work with a patient afflicted with autism, it is necessary to understand some background about what autism is and what signs an afflicted person shows. In a core sense, autism is just one of several things known as a cognitive disability or cognitive disorder. Such a disorder has a negative impact on the childs ability to learn and develop normally, particularly from the aspect of social interaction. Typically, autism can be diagnosed as early as age 3 in most children, and impairs how the brain reacts to certain stimuli. In that sense, autism is thought to be a neurological disorder. The most prominent signs of autism are difficulty in both verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Difficult with verbal communication is self-explanatory, but in the non-verbal sense, this deals with the difficulty in having social interactions with other people.

Since there are varying degrees of autism, it is critical that a child who is suspected of being afflicted with autism be diagnosed as early in life as possible. By doing this, the child can benefit from schools that specialize in children with special needs, which are becoming increasing prominent in almost all school districts. Professionals at these schools have been trained to understand autism and to take into account the specialized learning techniques that can reach these children.

One of the common myths about autism is that children afflicted with this disorder are lacking in intelligence. This is not necessarily the case, and in fact in terms of intelligence, the autistic child can rank right up there with their peers. The movie Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman illustrated this, where Dustin Hoffman played an autistic adult with many social interaction problems, but yet was a genius in the casino and with numbers in general.

There are several characteristics that autistic people will display that can be a clue to the potential presence of autism. Unfortunately, there are no conclusive laboratory tests that can definitively state whether or not a person has autism, simply because it really is a neurological disorder. Such characteristics include, as discussed above, difficulty in verbal and non-verbal communication, distinct resistance to change in schedule or routine, an abnormally low threshold for pain, difficulty or discomfort in making eye contact, and a tendency to fixate on a particular object for very long periods of time.

Understanding the characteristics of autistic spectrum disorder or ASD so that it can be accurately diagnosed is the first step towards creating an effective course of action to working with that child during their developmental years.

Jon is a computer engineer who maintains web sites on a variety of topics based on his knowledge and experience. You can read more about Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorder at his web site Autism Explained.
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5
Sep

Hypotheses on Autism Causes

Autism Spectrum Disorders are neurological conditions that affect the mental, physical development and the behaviors, communication skills and social interactions of people who suffer from such a disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorders range from milder forms of neurological disturbances to serious conditions, such as autism. Lots of children are diagnosed with forms of Autism Spectrum Disorders at birth, while others reveal the symptoms of such disorders in their first years of life.

The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders with children is so great, that it exceeds other conditions like diabetes, meningitis and Down syndrome. Due to the large numbers of children that develop forms of Autism Spectrum Disorders, it is very important to quickly spot the signs of such conditions. Children with neurological disorders need special attention and sometimes they require permanent monitoring, as in the case of children with severe autism. Also, speed is vital, as children with Autism Spectrum Disorders need specific medical treatment in order to minimize undesirable effects.

A disturbing fact is the lack of attention paid to Autism Spectrum Disorders. Poor information and lack of experience determine most parents, caretakers, teachers, physicians and even pediatricians to ignore the first symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders. They sometimes believe that children with such disorders only experience difficulties in growth and therefore fail to correctly diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorders at early ages. Despite the fact that prompt intervention greatly minimizes the symptoms and the malign effects of Autism Spectrum Disorders, increasing the child’s chances to grow normally, more than 50% of children aren’t properly diagnosed with a neurological disorder until they reach ages of three to five years.

Children diagnosed with a form of Autism Spectrum Disorders have poor social interaction skills, deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication and stereotype, routine oriented behaviors. Furthermore, children with such disorders experience difficulties in the way they perceive external stimuli. According to the gravity of the disorder, the child will tend to be more or less affected by certain symptoms. People that suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorders have several common traits. However, each individual experiences the disorder in a different way and it is a mistake to try to generalize the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders to all patients.

Children with forms of Autism spectrum Disorders develop differently from normal children. Sometimes, the first signs of neurological disorders are revealed right after birth. In other cases, behavioral abnormalities are revealed later, at different stages in childhood. Sometimes, autistic children seem to grow normally and have good communication and social interaction skills until they reach a certain age. Then, they suddenly begin to show the signs of the disorder, as their behaviors tend to change and their skills considerably deteriorate. This disorder is called regressive autism and it is considered to be a very serious form of Autism Spectrum Disorders, determining dramatic changes at behavioral levels.

Although the actual causes of Autism Spectrum Disorders haven’t yet been clarified, many severe, malign effects of neurological disorders can be kept under control and if they are discovered in time.

If you are looking for a great autism symptoms checklist then visit this site. It’s one of the best autism related sites on the net where you can find useful information on autism symptoms, autism causes and learn how to spot the early signs of autism.
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26
Jul

Autism

AUTISM

Autism starts before a child turns to three years. It is a disorder in the brain development which weakens the social interaction and communication. Autism causes restricted and repetitive behavior. Autism is a hereditary disorder even though the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear which genes are responsible. Autism is associated with agents which cause birth defects in rare cases. Other possible causes of autism are childhood vaccines which are controversial and the vaccine hypotheses lack convincing scientific evidence. According to the experts out of 1000 children 3-6 children will have autism. Male are four times more to have autism than females.

Symptoms

The occurrence of autism is not known and it affects many parts of the brain. In the first two years of the child’s life, parents usually notice the signs of autism. Autism is characterized by three distinctive behaviors. The autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and non verbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. There is a reduced sensitivity of pain, but are more sensitive to sound, touch or other sensory stimulation. These reactions may contribute to the behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged. There is no cure for autism but treatment can help. The early behavioral and cognitive interference can help them to develop self-care, social and communication. An infant with autism may be non responsive to people or focus intently on one item by excluding others for a long period of time. With this disorder few children live independently after reaching adulthood and some of them become successful. Some people believe that autism is a condition than a disorder.

Autism children have speech problems, they might not look in to the eyes when talk to them. Before they can pay attention they may have to line up their pencils, these children will say the same sentence again and again. To tell that they are happy they flap their arms or they might hurt themselves if they are not. Some people never learn to talk. They lack empathy. The autistic children cannot interpret the thoughts and feelings of others and also cannot understand the tone of voice and facial expressions. The autistic people have different symptoms and because this it is known as spectrum disorder. The milder version of this disorder is Asperger syndrome. The disorder lasts throughout a person’s life time. Autism shares numerous signs with Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. Asperger’s syndrome does not have any delay in the language development. Autistic children are at a higher risk for some co-existing conditions such as fragile X syndrome which causes mental retardation, tuberous sclerosis in which the tumors grow on the brain, epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, disabilities in learning and attention deficit disorder. By the time autistic children reach adulthood about 20 to 30% of children develop epilepsy for the reasons unknown. Also schizophrenic people may show some autistic-like behavior but the symptoms do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. The Schizophrenic people also have hallucinations and delusions which are not found in autism.

Diagnose

Based on the IQ autism is sometimes divided in to the low, medium and high functioning autism. The child affected by autism will show less attention to social stimuli, smile and look at others less often and very rarely respond to their own name. The severity and symptoms of autism may go unrecognized mainly in mildly affected children or when it is covered by more weakening handicaps. Doctors depend on a group of behaviors for diagnosing autism. These behaviors are:

(1) Unable to make friends with peers

(2) Unable to initiate or to continue a conversation with others.

(3) Absence of imaginative and social play.

(4) Unusual, typecast, repetitive use of language.

(5) Preoccupation with certain subjects or objects.

(6) Rigid devotion to certain routines or rituals.

With help of a questionnaire or any other screening instrument doctors assemble information about the child’s development and behavior. Some screening depends on the parent observations and some others on a combination of parent and doctor observations. If there is an indication or possibility of autism, the doctors will ask for more comprehensive evaluation. As autism is a complex disorder a combined evaluation is needed with a multidisciplinary team including psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist and other expert in diagnosing the children with ASDs. Girls with autism may be suffering from Rett syndrome, a sex-linked genetic disorder described by social withdrawal, deteriorated language skills and hand wringing.

Treatment

Autism cannot be cured. But according to the experts the earlier intervention can make them to cope up with the day-to-day life. Structured and skill oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Counseling for parents and siblings of autistic children can help the families to cope with the challenges of living with an autistic child. To handle symptoms of anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder doctors often prescribe anti depressant medications. To treat severe behavioral problems anti-psychotic medicines are used. With one or more of the anti-convulsant drugs seizures can be treated. To reduce impulsiveness and hyperactivity stimulant drugs are some times used effectively. There are several therapies which are controversial and parents should be aware of that before taking in to consideration any of these treatments.