AUTISM: A neurodevelopmental disorder.

  AUTISM: A neurodevelopmental disorder.

Autism, disorder that affects the social, emotional, and behavioral development of children. Autism is marked by serious difficulties in interacting and communicating with other people. Other symptoms may include constantly repeating certain actions or behaviors, or having intense interests restricted to only particular things or topics. Symptoms of autism usually appear before the age of three and can last the rest of a person’s lifetime. Autism is at least four times more common in boys than in girls

SYMPTOMS;

A.

Social Difficulties

Symptoms of social difficulty are usually the first signs of autism. Normally an infant should respond to others with a social smile within the second or third month of life. Lack of such a smile during this period is often the earliest indication of autism. Infants who are later diagnosed with autism also make poor eye contact and do not imitate caregiver sounds or gestures.

Children with autism typically do not share their enjoyment with others. For example, toddlers with autism may smile or laugh in response to a noisy toy, but they will not bring this toy to the caregiver. Another early sign of problems in social communication is a lack of gestures, including pointing. As they get older, children with autism often fail to develop typical friendships or even typical relationships with siblings or parents. They may also seem unaware of the feelings of other people or fail to comfort a person who is upset

                 COMMUNICATION PROBLEM

Children with autism have difficulties with communication, including both gestures and speech. Often children with autism have a delay in speech and in severe cases sometimes do not speak at all. They also fail to use gestures to replace words. How well children with autism will be able to function as they grow older can often be predicted based on their early language skills.
When children with autism are able to speak, they may repeat back exactly what is said to them, a behavior that is called echolalia. Sometimes they will quote whole conversations or a dialog from a movie. Frequently, children with autism misuse pronouns. For example, they may say, “You want a cookie?” to indicate that they want a cookie. As they get older, children with autism will be unable to have conversations with others. They will also not play make-believe but instead will often simply line up objects or replay a TV show or movie using their toys.

             Sensory

 sensitivity is quite common, especially to some textures, sounds, or smells. For example, many children with autism cannot tolerate the feeling of tags or labels attached to their clothing. Some children may be alarmed by common sounds such as a flushing toilet or falling rain. They may react to ordinary smells such as perfume or discarded food as disgusting or overwhelming.

Savant character:

Some people with autism show preserved ability in one area or demonstrate a particular skill, such as memorizing phone numbers, computing calendar dates, or drawing landscapes. These preserved or enhanced abilities are described as savant skills and are responsible for the conception of the “autistic savant”

Causes

1:genetic causes

Studies of identical and fraternal twins have demonstrated that genetic factors are the largest cause of autism. Beginning with a pioneering study by Susan Folstein and Michael Rutter in 1977, these studies found that identical twins share an autism diagnosis much more frequently than fraternal twins—identical twins have exactly the same DNA while fraternal twins have only half the same DNA.
If one identical twin is diagnosed with autism, the other identical twin will also be diagnosed with autism 60 percent of the time, and with symptoms of an autism spectrum disorder more than 90 percent of the time. In comparison, if a fraternal twin is diagnosed with autism, the other twin will have symptoms of an autism spectrum disorder only 10 percent of the time.

Infections and drugs

In rare cases, children born to mothers who were infected with certain illnesses or took particular drugs during pregnancy may have autism as part of a larger set of difficulties. For example, infection with German measles (rubella) during pregnancy affects the heart, liver, spleen, eyes, and brain, and includes features of autism more commonly than other causes of mental retardation. In developed countries, however, the widespread use of vaccines has almost eliminated rubella infection during pregnancy.

Treatment

There are no known cures for autism or autism spectrum disorders. Until the 1960s and even into the early 1970s, children and adults with autism were routinely kept in institutions. Now children with autism are often raised at home by their parents. Many adults with forms of autism can live in the outside world with some type of assistance. Currently, treatment includes the use of individualized education, communication tools, behavioral management, and medication. The devastating impact the disorder can have on children and families has led some parents to try many unproven treatments in the hope of a breakthrough or major improvement.