Advice on autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder originating from brain development. It impairs social interaction and communication. One of the main symptoms of Autism can be restricted and repetitive behavior among patients.
No on really knows the exact cause of autism as it’s a complex disease with a large range of symptoms. Many factors such as genetics, environment etc. can play a direct role in the development of this disorder.
A few recent studies show that after 1980s the number of autistic patients has increased all over the world. The reasons for this are not because of increased causes but mainly because awareness of the disease has increased. Physicians can now diagnose and catch the disease earlier on.
Common characteristics of Autism are-
- Parents notice the signs of this condition in the initial 1-2 years of the child’s life.
- Autistic infants show less social stimuli. They don’t maintain eye to eye contact or warm postures. Usually they won’t show emotions, or assertiveness.
- In autism disorders, because of their limitations in social interactions, forming close attachments or friends is relatively rare. But most of the time patients do show attachment to the one person who takes care of them.
- In very few cases autism is associated with aggression, destruction of property, severe tantrums etc.
- About half of the autistic patients develop communication skills for their day to day activities. Babblings, unusual gestures, consonants and words do accompany their speech pattern and are a part of their communication skills. So there is a need for special attention to understand them better.
- Children with autistic condition show gastrointestinal problems as well as sleep problems. Common sleeping patterns seen in autism patients are morning awake ness and nocturnal awakenings.
Early intervention and counseling helps the child to develop social interaction skills and basic, self management skills. Some children will become successful in living in the autism culture.