Limited interests in activities or play. Symptoms may include:
- An unusual focus on pieces. Younger children with autism often focus on parts of toys, such as the wheels on a car, rather than playing with the entire toy.
- Preoccupation with certain topics. For example, older children and adults may be fascinated by video games, trading cards, or license plates.
- A need for sameness and routines. For example, a child with autism may always need to eat bread before salad and insist on driving the same route every day to school.
- Stereotyped behaviors. These may include body rocking and hand flapping.
My cousin Jayshawn has autism and as a child he has experienced many of these symptoms. As he got older he learned to control most of them. These symptoms affected him and our family because many people did not and still don’t understand this disorder. There were many times in which we had to defend him because he would just stare at people without realizing he was doing so. There were also instances in which he would rock back and forth and people would move away from him because they fear the unknown.
There is no known cause of autism but researchers believe that it is caused by abnormalities in the brain structure or function (autism-society.org). Lisa Jo Rudy wrote an article for about.autism.com “What Causes Autism?” She considers the question to be an argumentative subject. Over the years there have been many theories as to what cause autism. Two of these theories say that vaccines, such as, the Mumps-Measles-Rubella vaccine could be a cause of “intestinal problems” that lead to autism developing in a person. Another theory is that Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, could be a link to autism. Other studies have shown that parents who come from families with a history of autism are likely to have an autistic child, therefore making it genetic. Dr. Kanner, the doctor “who first identified autism as a unique condition” suggested that autism was caused by bad parenting. He was proven wrong. Lisa Jo Rudy’s article also provided that autistic individuals have bigger brains and process information differently, so this disorder may be caused by “Atypical Brain Development.” Three other causes that are also discussed in her article are, Immune Deficiency Problem, Food Allergies, and Poor nutrition (about.autsim.com). Being that there are so many ideas on how autism is caused researchers will continue to study this disorder until they can find an accurate cause.
The National Institute of Mental Health says “there is no single best treatment package for all children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).” Most professionals agree that early intervention is important because most people with ASD “respond well to highly structured, specialized programs.” Plenty of times medication is used to treat behavioral problems such as, aggression, self-injurious behavior and severe tantrums that may keep a person with ASD from functioning at home or school (nimh.nih.gov). Neurologychannel.com accounts attention difficulties and anxiety as symptoms that can be treated with medication. Some useful medications are antidepressants, benzodiazepines’, stimulants and antipsychotic medications. Occupational and physical therapy are also forms of treatment for autism. Occupational therapy helps the autistic person become more independent and teaches them basic skills such as bathing and buttoning their shirt. Physical therapy deals with exercise and other areas like massage and heat “to help patients control body movements (nimh.nih.gov).
Neurolologychannel.com lists the following as forms of autism treatment: behavioral modification, communication therapy and dietary modifications. Behavioral modification believes that if you reward a person for good behavior they will continue on that path rather than if it goes unrewarded. “This theory is called applied behavior analysis (ABA).” Behavioral modification had two sub-therapies according to neurologychannel.com. Sensory integration therapy targets helping autistic patients handle sensory stimulation. Patients are required to handle different textured materials and listen to different sounds. Play therapy helps improve emotional change, which betters social skills and learning. To help patients communicate more efficiently speech therapy is used. Picture exchange communication systems (PECS) uses pictures that represent ideas, activities or items to enable them to communicate. Dietary modifications are basically just used to improve digestion and eliminate food allergies and/or intolerances that may cause behavioral problems.
People with autism have normal life expectancies, but will more than likely require assistance throughout their life (neurologychannel.com). Unfortunately this help does not come cheap. Lisa Jo Rudy says in her blog “How Much Money Is Enough to Cover Costs of Autism Treatment” that the cost of proper treatment can go up to about $70,000 a year. That cost does not include the price of therapy and education (about.autism.com). The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development states that researchers do not know the exact number of people with ASD, but based on studies they figure the estimate is that one in every 1,000 children has some form of ASD. NICHD provides funding for research and training on topics related to this mission.
Researching this topic has taught me more than I knew from my personal experience of dealing with my autistic cousin. I didn’t know the full extent as to what this disorder causes and it makes me sympathize more with my cousin and others like him. There is still much more information to be discovered and when it is I will be glad to research it further.
Works Cited
The National Institute of Mental Health
Neurology Channel
Lisa Jo Rudy, (2010) What Causes Autism?
Lisa Jo Rudy, (2010) How Much Money Is Enough to Cover Costs of Autism Treatment
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
by
sejackmccrea (student)
