Attention to Autism

What is Autism (Always-Unique-Totally-Interesting-Sometimes-Mysterious)?

Autism is a complex developmental disability. It is a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. The term "autism" is generally used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). These disorders include Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. So, all of them together can be referred as Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism presents itself during the first three years of a child. The earlier the diagnosis the better is the outcome of treatment.

According to the National Autistic Society there are 535,000 people having autism in the UK with four times more boys than girls affected.

What Identifies the Autistic?

Autism is a complex biological disorder. Symptoms may include difficulties with speech; abnormalities of posture or gesture; problems with understanding the feelings of others; sensory and visual misperceptions, fears and anxieties; and behavioral abnormalities such as compulsive/obsessive behavior and ritualistic movements.

What to watch for in infants?

Though, no parent will be willing to believe that their “bundle of joy” is having a problem, early diagnosis of autism will go a long way in terms of normalizing the child.

Different children have different pace of development, so, no need to panic on things, but no watch-and-see approach or assumption that the child will grow over its abnormal symptoms is going to help with autism. Delayed milestones are a cause of concern,

Sometimes a child that was growing and developing normally in terms of milestones suddenly experiences loss of speech, babbling, gestures, social skills, etc., this should be taken very seriously as “regression” is a major red flag for autism.

When to go to the pediatrician?

If a toddler has;
• By 6 months: No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions.
• By 9 months: No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions.
• By 12 months: Lack of response to name.
• By 12 months: No babbling or “baby talk.”
• By 12 months: No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving.
• By 16 months: No spoken words.
• By 24 months: No meaningful two-word phrases or imitating or repeating words.

What is the treatment for the Autistic?

Autism was earlier misunderstood to have been caused by lack of love from the mother to the child. This only developed overwhelming guilt in the parents of autistic children.

Early diagnosis and treatment help young children with autism to develop to their full potential. However, autism can be treated at any stage even if the child is older. The primary goal of treatment is to improve the overall ability of the child to function. So, the child should undergo behavioral training and management, special therapies such as speech, occupational, and physical therapy. Medicines also play a part, but are useful only to treat related conditions and behaviors such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, or obsessive-compulsive disorders.

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 1 in 1,000 children are affected by autism. One of possible therapies advocated to help the autistic is to put them on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, called GFCF. Although, there are no definitive studies on the GFCF diet effects, many parents of autistic children claim it is successful in reducing the symptoms of autism.

Can Autism be prevented?

Expertise in this field of medicine has not found a means of prevention of autism. Autism is believed 90% only due to genetics. Some care by the mother during pregnancy will prevent the incidence of autism; like not getting exposed to chemicals, getting vaccinated for German measles, not drinking alcohol, not taking drugs unless approved by the doctor, and taking enough folic acid, vitamin C during pregnancy.

So, we ought to understand autism first, catch hold of the symptoms early, and treat it successfully,

Watch the informative video on How to help a child with autism.

Watch the Video: How to help with Autism.

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