Autism

Basic Information

Autism is a severe developmental disability that directly impairs the functioning of the brain. It typically appears during the first three years of life. The primary problem in autism is the way the brain processes and integrates information, resulting in problems of social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication and behavior. The disability makes it difficult for the person to both interact with others and relate to the external world. While autism affects all racial, ethnic and social groups equally, it is four times more prevalent in males. It is the third most common developmental disability, with an incidence of approximately 1 per 1000 live births, and currently it affects a half million people in the United States alone.

Once thought to be an emotional problem caused by inattentive mothering, medical practitioners now have a much more accurate sense of its biological nature. Studies have shown that the presence of dyslexia and depression in a family can lead to higher incidences of autism, suggesting that autism has genetic origins. Other possible causes are exposure of the mother to rubella (also known as the 'german measles') during the first trimester of pregnancy, environmental pollution, excessive amounts of the yeast 'candida albicans' in the intestinal tract, and allergic reactions to various vaccinations, particularly the rubella vaccination and the DPT shot.

The majority of the public, including healthcare professionals, are still uncertain as to exactly how autism impairs people and how to best treat for individuals affected by it. One of the major obstacles is the diversity of symptoms, many of them contradictory from case to case, that an autistic person may exhibit. For instance, while one person with autism might avoid all kinds of physical touch, another might crave "deep pressure" contact. These conflicting characteristics generally lead to confusion among healthcare providers concerning both diagnostic issues and treatment methods. While autism is an extremely debilitating condition, in the last few years treatment and care for people affected by it have greatly improved. More effective intervention methods and more adequate community resources have meant that most autistic people can have normal life spans, some of them living semi-independently within their community.

Symptoms

Although autism can be present at birth, regressive autism is more common. In cases of regressive autism the child develops normally until around the age of 11/2-3, when the child begins exhibiting autistic behaviors. Oddly enough, children who acquire regressive autism often hit developmental milestones, such as crawling and walking, at a more accelerated rate than others. While it can be difficult to distinguish autism in an infant, early behaviors that suggest autism are:

• arching the back away from the care giver to avoid physical contact
• inability to anticipate being picked-up by the care giver (the body remains limp)
• passive or overly-agitated behavior
• self-stimulatory rocking or banging head against the crib

The three typical characteristics of autism include impaired social interactions, impaired communication, and restricted behavior. In most social situations, signs of autistic behavior include an inclination towards solitude in the company of others, inappropriate reactions to others, unusual attachments to objects, and an inability to understand basic social rules. At the same time about half of those people with autism do not develop meaningful language skills. Some doctors suggest it is this language disability that motivates the retreat from social interaction with others. Another primary trait of those with autism is their compulsive and restricted range of behaviors. Some autistic persons might display repeated and self-stimulatory body movements (hand-flapping, rocking), while others display more aggressive or self-injurious behaviors. Other examples of restricted behavior are a focus on topics that may seem trivial to others (bus schedules, numbers) and a refusal to accept change in routines. About 10% of all autistic people display savant skills, in that they can instantly figure complicated math problems or innately possess gifted musical talents.

Individuals with autism typically display about half of the symptoms listed below. These behaviors can vary in intensity and deviate from case to case:

• difficulty in mixing with other children; aloof manner
• insistence on sameness
• inappropriate laughing or giggling
• no real fear of dangers and apparent insensitivity to pain
• little or no eye contact
• echolalia (repeating words or phrases in place of normal language)
• spins objects
• not responsive to verbal cues; acts as though deaf
• difficulty in expressing needs; uses gestures or pointing instead of words
• noticeable physical overactivity or extreme underactivity
• tantrums-displays extreme distress for no apparent reason
• self-injurious behaviors
• mental retardation

Diagnosis/Treatment

As autism is not a single entity but rather a variety of behaviors with multiple causes unique from case to case there is a great deal of confusion concerning diagnostic issues. One part of the problem is that medical professionals have often mistaken autistic symptoms for other disabilities of behavior, learning and communication. Because autism is both a rare disorder and currently lacks a precise psychological test, doctors often find its symptoms indistinguishable from those of mental retardation, schizophrenia, emotional difficulties, hearing impairment, and developmental language problems. However recent advancements in testing have helped doctors identify important distinctions between autism and other disorders, which allows for more appropriate treatment. If a child exhibits half of the symptoms listed above, they should be taken into a health care provider for testing.

Along with testing, methods of treatment for people with autism have developed significantly in the last few years. No treatment exists to cure the disorder, but the symptoms can be reduced.

There are two major approaches to treatment: biological and behavioral. Biological methods employ specialized diets in addition to drug and vitamin therapies. Both ritalin and vitamin B6 are used to increase awareness and attention. Doctors usually recommend diets that avoid foods with high peptide counts (wheat, oats, milk) because peptides seem to be correlated with autism.

Perhaps even more effective methods of treatment have been those that concentrate on the behavioral aspects of autism. Traditional therapies such as positive reinforcement and "time-out" have been successful in teaching common social behaviors while eliminating inappropriate ones.

Other therapies have focused more on the sensory impairment that is a part of autism, thus helping autistic people to process incoming stimuli more properly. These therapies include various textures that the autistic person rubs on their skin to normalize the tactile sense, specially-designed swings that develop the person's vestibular sense, sound machines that can reduce hypersensitivity to sound, and hug boxes that integrate the autistic person's sense of physical pressure.

With these advancements in treatment, most autistic people no longer need to be institutionalized as was once the case. While most live with their parents, others can live semi-independently within the community, graduate from college, and marry.