Autism is the term given to the gathering of behaviors arising from uncommon neurological (brain) development. There is proof that in some cases this neurological difference is gift from birth. However the observed behaviors, from that autism is diagnosed, tend not to be detectable till round the age of 18 months.
Autism is usually regarded as a behavioral disorder, some early theorists have gone so far on suppose it to be caused by "refrigerator mothers". Research has since thoroughly discredited this notion. For the majority of the last sixty years (since autism was 1st described scientifically by Kanner in 1943) the syndrome has still been thought of in terms of behavior rather than underlying brain development. As such all current diagnoses are created on the idea of observable behavior which considerably delays diagnosis in most cases. Currently steps are being made towards identifying neurological markers of autism to assist in earlier diagnosis and so earlier intervention.
What about genetics? There is much evidence showing a sturdy genetic component in autism (Rutter, 2005). There are also suggestions that autism is caused by poor sensory integration (Smith-Myles & Simpson, 1998), maturational delays in primary reflexes (Teitelbaum, Benton & Shah, 2004), immune system dysfunction (Pardo, Vargas & Zimmerman, 2006), or gastro-intestinal issues (Gurney, McPheeters & Davis, 2006). At this point there's no clear consensus.
Autism is now a lot of frequently referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) indicating the wide variation in symptomology. Youngsters diagnosed with PDD or PDD-NOS or Asperger's Syndrome tend to exhibit similar behaviors to a milder degree.
The behaviors that tend to steer to a diagnoses of Autism or ASD are sometimes classified into 3 clusters - called the "triad of impairments". These describe challenges in:
Social Interaction
Communication and Language and
Imagination (together with use of repetitive, self-stimulatory behaviors)
What the diagnostic criteria fail to acknowledge is the strengths exhibited by people diagnosed with autism. There are a number of, many reports - scientific and otherwise - regarding the incredible skills several people with autism posses. At the intense end of this spectrum are individuals referred to as savants who show mind-boggling skills often in arithmetic, music or art (Happe, 1999). The thousands of people with autism who don't gain fame for his or her savant abilities also posses several wonderful skills. People with autism are shown to often posses greatly enhanced visuo-spatial skills (Happe, 1999). We have worked with 5 year old youngsters who can place along a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle in an exceedingly matter of minutes with the picture side facing down. Different people with autism can memorize a scene they see once and go home and draw the scene right down to the tiniest detail (e.g. Steven Wiltshire).
Many individuals with autism, really a better proportion than within the non-autistic population have perfect pitch-the power to produce a note heard (Happe, 1999). Still others, as popularized by the movie "Rainman", are able to try and do unbelievable mathematical calculations. We have worked with kids as young as four capable of performing multiplication of two three-digit numbers in their head. These children have had no coaching in arithmetic however showed this ability from an early age. The mother of 1 kid we tend to worked with as a teenager told us her son began teaching himself math from age 2 and by 5 was performing calculus issues for fun.
It's important to look at any child as a full instead of focusing solely on what's challenging for that child. By embracing a child's strengths and motivations you can facilitate that kid to grow in his or her areas of challenge. This can be widely accepted knowledge in the education of usually developing children. But in approaches to autism this knowledge has been regrettably ignored. The trend has been to strive and steer kids with autism faraway from their interests and practiced skills as these are seen as "obsessions". These skills have been believed to be harmful to the child in some means to the extend that extreme measures have been taken (and still are in some therapies) to keep kids away from their interests including electrical shock and being sprayed with water. This approach has return from a core belief about autism that fortunately is beginning to change.
The old belief is that autism may be a behavioral disorder. The consequence of this belief has been to concentrate on changing the behavior and attempting to stamp out those deemed "atypical". The new belief is that autism is that the developmental consequence of a brain programmed to operate differently. The consequence of this belief is that therapy focuses on providing a physical and social environment that accounts for this difference and facilitates the optimal enjoyment and learning of the individual child.
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Madi has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Autism, you can also check out his latest website about:
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