Autism Awareness Month

This month is Autism Awareness Month. I know many of you are probably already familiar with Autism, but there are thousands more who are not. So I thought I would take today to help explain a little bit about what Autism is.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. With the May 2013 publication of the new DSM-5 diagnostic manual, these autism subtypes will be merged into one umbrella diagnosis of ASD. (Autismspeaks.org, 2013)

The misconception is that those with Autism  are un-intelligent, This is not true. In fact they opposite is often true. Autism is a disorder that effects communication and social interaction.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.[3] It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met(Wikipedia, 2013)

Those who are diagnosed with Autism require structure and routine in their daily lives.

A person with ASD will typically also prefer to stick to a set of behaviors and will resist any major (and many minor) changes to daily activities. Several relatives and friends of people with ASDs have commented that if the person knows a change is coming in advance, and has time to prepare for it; the resistance to the change is either gone completely or is much lower. (Medical News Today, 2013)

A person with Autism has difficulty relating to others and often appear to live in their own world.

A person with autism will find it much harder to understand the feelings of other people. His/her ability to instinctively empathize with others is much weaker than other people's. However, if they are frequently reminded of this, the ability to take other people's feelings into account improves tremendously. In some cases - as a result of frequent practice - empathy does improve, and some of it becomes natural rather than intellectual. Even so, empathy never comes as naturally for a person with autism as it does to others.(Medical News Today, 2013)

What are some of the symptoms of Autism?

If your child is two months old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t respond to loud sounds
• Doesn’t watch things as they move
• Doesn’t smile at people
• Doesn’t bring his/her hands to mouth
• Can’t hold his/her head up when pushing up on tummy

If your child is four months old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t watch things as they move
• Doesn’t smile at people
• Can’t hold his/her head steady
• Doesn’t make sounds or coo
• Doesn’t bring things to his/her mouth

If your child is six months old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t reach for things
• Show no affection for caregivers
• Doesn’t respond to sounds around her/him
• Doesn’t make vowel sounds (eh, ah, oh)
• Doesn’t laugh or squeal
• Seems unusually stiff or unusually floppy

If your child is nine months old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t look where you point
• Doesn’t respond to his/her own name
• Doesn’t babble (mama, dada)
• Doesn’t play back and forth type games
• Doesn’t seem to recognize familiar people

If your child is one year old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t point to things
• Doesn’t learn gestures like waving bye bye, or shaking head yes or no
• Doesn’t search for things that she sees you hide
• Doesn’t say single words like mama, dada, up, bye, this, that, juice
• Doesn’t crawl
• Loses skills he/she once had

If your child is 18 months old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t point to show things to others
• Doesn’t know what familiar things (cup, spoon, phone) are used for
• Doesn’t imitate or copy others
• Doesn’t have at least six words
• Doesn’t gain new words
• Doesn’t notice or react when a caregiver leaves or returns
• Doesn’t walk
• Loses skills he/she once had

If your child is 2 years, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t use 2-word phrases (mama up, want milk)
• Doesn’t know what familiar things (cup, spoon, phone) are used for
• Doesn’t imitate actions and words
• Doesn’t follow simple instructions
• Doesn’t walk steadily
• Loses skills he/she once had

If your child is 3 years old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Has unclear speech or drools a lot
• Doesn’t speak in sentences
• Doesn’t follow simple instructions
• Can’t work simple toys (simple puzzles, turning knobs/handles, peg board)
• Shows little interest in toys
• Doesn’t want to play with other children
• Doesn’t play make believe or pretend
• Doesn’t make eye contact
• Falls down often or has trouble on stairs
• Loses skills he/she once had

If your child is 4 years old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Ignores other children
• Doesn’t respond to people outside the family
• Shows no interest in make believe or pretending games
• Can’t retell a favorite story
• Doesn’t follow 3-step directions
• Doesn’t use “you” and “me” correctly
• Doesn’t understand “same” and “different”
• Speaks unclearly
• Doesn’t scribble or has trouble scribbling with a crayon
• Loses skills he/she once had

If your child is 5 years old, you should consider talking to your doctor if your child exhibits the following behavior:

• Doesn’t show a wide range of emotions
• Shows behavioral extremes (unusually aggressive, fearful, sad, shy)
• Is unusually withdrawn and not active in social situations
• Is easily distracted and has trouble focusing on an activity for more than five minutes
• Doesn’t respond to people or responds only superficially
• Can’t tell the difference between real and make believe
• Doesn’t participate in a wide variety of games and activities
• Can’t give his/her first and last name
• Doesn’t use plurals, pronouns or past tense properly
• Doesn’t talk about daily activities
• Doesn’t draw pictures
• Loses skills he/she once had

Signs of autism in older children, teens and adults:

• Impared social skills
• Avoiding eye contact
• Rigid adherence to daily activities
• Unusual interests or obsessive/repetitive behaviors
• Being highly sensitive or underresponsive to sound, light or touch (Autism Science Foundation, 2013)

I will continue with more information on Autism tomorrow, until then, love to all.

Burly Bear Chris