Information about Autism*
WHAT IS AN AUTISTIC PERSON?
Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder that
manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability,
patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior.
Although the specific etiology of autism is unknown, many researchers suspect
that autism results from genetically mediated vulnerabilities to environmental
triggers. And while there is disagreement about the magnitude, nature, and
mechanisms for such environmental factors, researchers have found at least seven
major genes prevalent among individuals diagnosed as autistic. Some estimate
that autism occurs in as many as one United States child in 166, however the
National Institute of Mental Health gives a more conservative estimate of one in
1000. For families that already have one autistic child, the odds of a second
autistic child may be as high as one in twenty. Although autism is about 3 to 4
times more common in boys, girls with the disorder tend to have more severe
symptoms and greater cognitive impairment. Diagnosis is based on a list of
psychiatric criteria, and a series of standardized clinical tests may also be
used.
Autism may not be physiologically obvious. A complete physical and neurological
evaluation will typically be part of diagnosing autism. Some now speculate that
autism is not a single condition but a group of several distinct conditions that
manifest in similar ways.
By definition, autism must manifest delays in "social interaction, language as
used in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play," with "onset
prior to age 3 years", according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders. The ICD-10 also says that symptoms must "manifest before the
age of three years." There have been large increases in the reported incidence
of autism, for reasons that are heavily debated by researchers in psychology and
related fields within the scientific community.
Some children with autism have improved their social and other skills to the
point where they can fully participate in mainstream education and social
events, but there are lingering concerns that an absolute cure from autism is
impossible with current technology. However, many autistic children and adults
who are able to communicate (at least in writing) are opposed to attempts to
cure their conditions, and see such conditions as part of who they are.
Characteristics
Dr. Leo Kanner introduced the label early infantile autism in 1943.There is a
great diversity in the skills and behaviors of individuals diagnosed as
autistic, and physicians will often arrive at different conclusions about the
appropriate diagnosis. Much of this is due to the sensory system of autistics,
which is quite different from the sensory system of other people, since certain
stimulations can affect an autist differently than a non-autist, and the degree
to which the sensory system is affected varies wildly from one autistic person
to another.
Nevertheless, professionals within pediatric care and development often look for
early indicators of autism in order to initiate treatment as early as possible.
However, some people do not believe in treatment for autism, either because they
do not believe autism is a disorder or because they believe treatment can do
more harm than good.
Social development
Typically, developing infants are social beings—early in life they do such
things as gaze at people, turn toward voices, grasp a finger, and even smile. In
contrast, most autistic children prefer objects to faces and seem to have
tremendous difficulty learning to engage in the give-and-take of everyday human
interaction. Even in the first few months of life, many seem indifferent to
other people because they avoid eye contact and do not interact with them as
often as non-autistic children.
Children with autism often appear to prefer being alone to the company of others
and may passively accept such things as hugs and cuddling without reciprocating,
or resist attention altogether. Later, they seldom seek comfort from others or
respond to parents' displays of anger or affection in a typical way. Research
has suggested that although autistic children are attached to their parents,
their expression of this attachment is unusual and difficult to interpret.
Parents who looked forward to the joys of cuddling, teaching, and playing with
their child may feel crushed by this lack of expected attachment behavior.
Children with autism often also appear to lack "theory of mind", the ability to
see things from another person's perspective, a behavior cited as exclusive to
human beings above the age of five and, possibly, other higher primates such as
adult gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. Typical 5-year-olds can develop
insights into other people's different knowledge, feelings, and intentions,
interpretations based upon social cues (e.g., gestures, facial expressions). An
individual with autism seems to lack these interpretation skills, an inability
that leaves them unable to predict or understand other people's actions. The
social alienation of autistic and Asperger's people can be so intense from
childhood that many of them have imaginary friends as companionship. However,
having an imaginary friend is not necessarily a sign of autism and also occurs
in non-autistic children.
Although not universal, it is common for autistic people to not be able to
regulate their behavior. This can take the form of crying or verbal outbursts
that may seem out of proportion to the situation or self-injurious behaviours.
Individuals with autism generally prefer consistent routines and environments;
they may react negatively to changes in them. It is not uncommon for these
individuals to exhibit aggression, increased levels of self-stimulatory
behavior, self-injury or extensive withdrawal in overwhelming situations.
Sensory system
A key indicator to clinicians making a proper assessment for autism would
include looking for symptoms much like those found in sensory integration
dysfunction. Children will exhibit problems coping with the normal sensory
input. Indicators of this disorder include oversensitivity or underreactivity to
touch, movement, sights, or sounds; physical clumsiness or carelessness; poor
body awareness; a tendency to be easily distracted; impulsive physical or verbal
behavior; an activity level that is unusually high or low; not unwinding or
calming oneself; difficulty learning new movements; difficulty in making
transitions from one situation to another; social and/or emotional problems;
delays in speech, language or motor skills; specific learning
difficulties/delays in academic achievement.
One common example is an individual with autism hearing. A person with autism
may have trouble hearing certain people while other people are louder than
usual. Or the person with autism may be unable to filter out sounds in certain
situations, such as in a large crowd of people (see cocktail party effect).
However, this is perhaps the part of the autism that tends to vary the most from
person to person, so these examples may not apply to every autistic.
Communication difficulties
By age 3, typical children have passed predictable language learning milestones;
one of the earliest is babbling. By the first birthday, a typical toddler says
words, turns when he or she hears his or her name, points when he or she wants a
toy, and when offered something distasteful, makes it clear that the answer is
"no." Speech development in people with autism takes different paths. Some
remain mute throughout their lives with varying degrees of literacy;
communication in other ways—images, visual clues, sign language, and typing may
be far more natural to them. Some infants who later show signs of autism coo and
babble during the first few months of life, but stop soon afterwards. Others may
be delayed, developing language as late as the teenage years. Still, inability
to speak does not mean that people with autism are unintelligent or unaware.
Once given appropriate accommodations, many will happily converse for hours, and
can often be found in online chat rooms, discussion boards or websites and even
using communication devices at autism-community social events such as Autreat.
Those who do speak often use language in unusual ways, retaining features of
earlier stages of language development for long periods or throughout their
lives. Some speak only single words, while others repeat the same phrase over
and over. Some repeat what they hear, a condition called echolalia. Sing-song
repetitions in particular are a calming, joyous activity that many autistic
adults engage in. Many people with autism have a strong tonal sense, and can
often understand spoken language. Some children may exhibit only slight delays
in language, or even seem to have precocious language and unusually large
vocabularies, but have great difficulty in sustaining typical conversations. The
"give and take" of non-autistic conversation is hard for them, although they
often carry on a monologue on a favorite subject, giving no one else an
opportunity to comment. When given the chance to converse with other autistics,
they comfortably do so in "parallel monologue"—taking turns expressing views and
information. Just as "neurotypicals" (people without autism) have trouble
understanding autistic body languages, vocal tones, or phraseology, people with
autism similarly have trouble with such things in people without autism. In
particular, autistic language abilities tend to be highly literal; people
without autism often inappropriately attribute hidden meaning to what people
with autism say or expect the person with autism to sense such unstated meaning
in their own words.
The body language of people with autism can be difficult for other people to
understand. Facial expressions, movements, and gestures may be easily understood
by some other people with autism, but do not match those used by other people.
Also, their tone of voice has a much more subtle inflection in reflecting their
feelings, and the auditory system of a person without autism often cannot sense
the fluctuations. What seems to non-autistic people like a high-pitched,
sing-song, or flat, robot-like voice is common in autistic children. Some
autistic children with relatively good language skills speak like little adults,
rather than communicating at their current age level, which is one of the things
that can lead to problems.
Since non-autistic people are often unfamiliar with the autistic body language,
and since autistic natural language may not tend towards speech, autistic people
often struggle to let other people know what they need. As anybody might do in
such a situation, they may scream in frustration or resort to grabbing what they
want. While waiting for non-autistic people to learn to communicate with them,
people with autism do whatever they can to get through to them. Communication
difficulties may contribute to autistic people becoming socially anxious or
depressed.
Repetitive behaviors
Although people with autism usually appear physically normal and have good
muscle control, unusual repetitive motions, known as self-stimulation or "stimming,"
may set them apart. These behaviors might be extreme and highly apparent or more
subtle. Some children and older individuals spend a lot of time repeatedly
flapping their arms or wiggling their toes, others suddenly freeze in position.
As children, they might spend hours lining up their cars and trains in a certain
way, not using them for pretend play. If someone accidentally moves one of these
toys, the child may be tremendously upset. Autistic children often need, and
demand, absolute consistency in their environment. A slight change in any
routine—in mealtimes, dressing, taking a bath, or going to school at a certain
time and by the same route—can be extremely disturbing. People with autism
sometimes have a persistent, intense preoccupation. For example, the child might
be obsessed with learning all about vacuum cleaners, train schedules or
lighthouses. Often they show great interest in different languages, numbers,
symbols or science topics. Repetitive behaviors can also extend into the spoken
word as well. Perseveration of a single word or phrase, even for a specific
number of times can also become a part of the child's daily routine.
Effects in education
Children with autism are affected with these symptoms every day. These unusual
characteristics set them apart from the everyday normal student. Because they
have trouble understanding people’s thoughts and feelings, they have trouble
understanding what their teacher may be telling them. They do not understand
that facial expressions and vocal variations hold meanings and may misinterpret
what emotion their instructor is displaying. This inability to fully decipher
the world around them makes education stressful. Teachers need to be aware of a
student's disorder so that they are able to help the student get the best out of
the lessons being taught.
Some students learn better with visual aids as they are better able to
understand material presented this way. Because of this, many teachers create
“visual schedules” for their autistic students. This allows the student to know
what is going on throughout the day, so they know what to prepare for and what
activity they will be doing next. Some autistic children have trouble going from
one activity to the next, so this visual schedule can help to reduce stress.
Research has shown that working in pairs may be beneficial to autistic children.
Autistic students have problems in schools not only with language and
communication, but with socialization as well. They feel self-conscious about
themselves and many feel that they will always be outcasts. By allowing them to
work with peers they can make friends, which in turn can help them cope with the
problems that arise. By doing so they can become more integrated into the
mainstream environment of the classroom.
A teacher's aide can also be useful to the student. The aide is able to give
more elaborate directions that the teacher may not have time to explain to the
autistic child. The aide can also facilitate the autistic child in such a way as
to allow them to stay at a similar level to the rest of the class. This allows a
partially one-on-one lesson structure so that the child is still able to stay in
a normal classroom but be given the extra help that they need.
There are many different techniques that teachers can use to assist their
students. A teacher needs to become familiar with the child’s disorder to know
what will work best with that particular child. Every child is going to be
different and teachers have to be able to adjust with every one of them.
Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders typically have high levels of anxiety
and stress, particularly in social environments like school. If a student
exhibits aggressive or explosive behavior, it is important for educational teams
to recognize the impact of stress and anxiety. Preparing students for new
situations by writing Social Stories can lower anxiety. Teaching social and
emotional concepts using systematic teaching approaches such as The Incredible
5-Point Scale or other Cognitive Behavioral strategies can increase a student's
ability to control excessive behavioral reactions.
The source of this article is
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this
article is licensed under the
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