Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a spectrum disorder, which means there are no particular symptoms for this condition. People suffering from ASD can exhibit a number of symptoms, and each person with the condition will behave differently from the other. Just as the causes of ASD are debatable, there's no definite explanation of the symptoms either. That is the reason it becomes important to 'classify' people with ASD on the basis of a spectrum, which is nothing but a measure of the symptoms that they suffer.

This spectrum runs from a low end to a high end. Sufferers of ASD who exhibit numerous symptoms, which take them quite far away in behavior from a normal person, are placed on the lower end of the autism spectrum. The people who are placed on the higher end are the people who show fewer symptoms of ASD. They are almost like other children as far as their behavior is concerned.

Thus, this spectrum is a way to understand how mild or serious the patient's condition is. ASD is generally identified in childhood, at around 3 years of age. When identified, some analytical tests are carried out by the medical personnel attending to the child. The first tests are an indication of whether the child is suffering from ASD or not. These results are not conclusive. If there's an indication, further tests are carried out, with a view to finding out exactly what symptoms of autism the child displays. This is when the child is placed on the spectrum, based on the kinds of symptoms he or she displays.

There are a host of symptoms that children with autism might display. There are some early warning signs as well. These will differ from one child to another, and need to be confirmed medically before the child can be called as an autistic child. Most of the children with autism will be slow in understanding and reciprocating language (won't be able to master one word by 16 months of age and two words by 24 months of age). The child will not like to be cuddled or held and will not cry or ask to be lifted. The child will not play 'normally' with toys, or might be obsessed in arranging them in a particular manner. The child will not recognize people and will not understand what they are telling him or her. There may be times when it will appear that the child has a hearing disability.

It is based on the presence of these symptoms that children are placed on the autism spectrum, which decides their further course of treatment. However, children who display one or more symptoms on this spectrum might become quite keen in other areas, which might actually make them prodigies. For instance, a child who cannot understand language might develop a keen understanding of music and become a child genius.

What needs to be understood is that autism isn't the end of the road. The spectrum is just a measure of how different the child's behavior is from that of other children around him. However, the child may be above normal in other areas, which need to be identified.

Kelly Hunter owns and operates http://www.accelerated-nursing-programs.com and also writes about Accelerated Nursing Programs.

Understanding The Characteristics And Symptoms Of Autism

The research collected by professional health organizations indicate that autism, or autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1 out of every 166 children in America. Those numbers would then further indicate that an amazing 1.5 million American children have autism to a certain degree. It is noteworthy that many of these cases of autism have not been diagnosed. The annual growth rate of autism is greater than 14%, meaning it has become a major developmental disability for today's children.

The occurance of autism is not limited to children, nor does it seem to afflict any particular person based on race or social structure/class. Autism also does not appear to be a result of any injury or accident that may have involved trauma. One thing that is known, however, is that boys are about 4 times more likely to have autism than girls.

So that you can understand how to work with a patient afflicted with autism, it is necessary to understand some background about what autism is and what signs an afflicted person shows. In a core sense, autism is just one of several things known as a cognitive disability or cognitive disorder.

Such a disorder has a negative impact on the child's ability to learn and develop normally, particularly from the aspect of social interaction. Typically, autism can be diagnosed as early as age 3 in most children, and impairs how the brain reacts to certain stimuli. In that sense, autism is thought to be a neurological disorder. The most prominent signs of autism are difficulty in both verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Difficult with verbal communication is self-explanatory, but in the non-verbal sense, this deals with the difficulty in having social interactions with other people.

Autistic Spectrum Disorder or ASD is crucial to be diagnosed as early as possible in the child's life, especially when you consider that there are varying degrees of autism, ranging from very mild to severe. If the presence of autism is diagnosed early, the parents of the child can make arrangements to allow the child to benefit from professionals at school, perhaps even a specialized school, where the teachers have received training in autism and understanding how to teach the autistic child.

There are many thoughts about autism and there are also many myths about it. One of those myths is that children who are autistic are "dumb" or have a low IQ. This is not true at all. In terms of academic intelligence, an autistic child can score at the same level as his classmates. Do you remember the movie titled "Rain Man" with Dustin Hoffman, where he was autistic? Although Dustin Hoffman did an excellent job in showing the lack of social interaction and many of the other signs of an autism patient, he was also absolutely brilliant with numbers and in the casino.

There are several characteristics that autistic people will display that can be a clue to the potential presence of autism. Unfortunately, there are no conclusive laboratory tests that can definitively state whether or not a person has autism, simply because it really is a neurological disorder. Such characteristics include, as discussed above, difficulty in verbal and non-verbal communication, distinct resistance to change in schedule or routine, an abnormally low threshold for pain, difficulty or discomfort in making eye contact, and a tendency to fixate on a particular object for very long periods of time.

It is critical to get a child suspected of being autistic diagnosed as early as possible so that an effective course of treatment can be started.

Jon is a computer engineer that maintains many web sites based on his knowledge and experience in various areas. For more information about Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorder, please visit his web site at Autism Explained.

Understanding Autism - Autistic Spectrum Disorder

According to statistics, there are about 400,000 autistic children in the united states!

Early diagnosis of autistic children can aide in the increased development of their social skills and the ability to better take care of themselves on a daily basis. Though autistic children are generally highly intelligent, autism impairs them by affective their communication and interaction with others, and the way they respond to external stimuli. Autistic children can often be identified by their difficulty in expressing themselves, or understanding others

Autism is more commonly known in the medical community as "autism spectrum disorder". It was not until the middle of the 1900's that science able to put a lable on something that was affecting so many people, especially children. Although autism is present at birth, signs of this disorder can be difficult to identify during infancy.

Because there is no medical cure for autism, parents of autism children rely on therapies like behavioral modification to help their children. Some children are looking to be reached while others are not. However, most of these children have to be dependent on someone, for their whole life. As if raising an child with autism is not challenging enough in and of itself, many parents of find themselves being made targets for doing everything they can to include their children in as normal a family life as possible.

Autistic children are visual learners and need a structured environment. In recent times a growing interest has been directed to teaching sign language to autistic kids who have failed to develop speech. Another more crucial advantage in teaching sign language is that it would lessen some of the learning problems that these kids face. Some severely autistic children have serious developmental delays, and may never speak.

Just looking at children with autism they seem healthy but in social situations when they "melt down", outsiders believe they are just badly behaved and blame the parents. Caring for these children can be difficult, yet there are steps and actions that can be taken by parents to help them deal with the situations that will arise.

Most parents of autistic children grow to recognize what situations may cause an outburst. Many children rock back and forth, do the same motion with their hands continually. Autistic children that display outbursts of temper tantrums and anger, may create a challenge to manage them emotionally and physically. Because they cannot communicate, child feels he or she is not getting adequate attention they may act out by behaviors such as head-banging, biting themselves or scratching at body parts, to try getting some of the focus on themselves. Anxiety becomes even worse when there is a change in the autistic childs routine. Even positive and "fun" changes, like a school field trip or a visit to the zoo, can increase anxiety and aggressive behaviors.

Choose toys based on developmental level before choosing toys for autistic children, it is important to know what types of toys the child would benefit from. These experts agree that one important way to reach autistic children and help them in their development is through play.

Activities should be fun, challenging and should aim at their overall progress. Setting up activities for autistic children can help a great deal in their development. Bright colors for pictures can stimulate brain activity in the thinking process. Since children with autism develop at different rates and there are varying levels of autism, toys should be chosen based on developmental level.

Choose balance and movement toys along with playing with toys that require repetitive motion. Autistic children like to move things themselves in a repetitive way. Many look at these motions as strange, however many researchers tell you that repetitive movements help them to regulate their bodies.

Taking them for a visit to the park, a museum or to another child's house for a party, is an ideal outdoor autistic kid's activity. Outdoor activities should be conducted with all the necessary preparations and make sure that all precautions are implemented before hand.

Parents of autistic children often struggle to get them to sleep, and therefore struggle with their own sleep as well. The following tips are for parents to help their autistic child get to sleep and stay that way until morning:- set a bedtime and stick to it, including the routines that occur before bedtime. While some children respond well to having a nightlight, others require total darkness with a black out blind over the window for blocking the exterior light as well. Many autistic children sleep better when their bed is pushed up against the wall, as they feel more secure; a corner is even better.

Trying to figure out a puzzling condition like autism can be a lifelong challenge. For many parents, the affection issue may be the biggest. Learn to have fun together, sometimes it is not very easy to have fun with children with autism, but you can love your autistic child unconditionally. With patience and learning to go by the child's cues and not your own, you will be able to connect with your child in a deep and meaningful way.

I know the heartache of having a child with Autism. My best friends step brother has Autism, and although he is not severe, there are alot of emotional and physical challenges every day. There is alot of information and resources out there to help people further understand and cope with an autistic child along with autistic teens and adults.

Additional information as well as finding many resources to help you further understand and cope with the autistic child, visit http://essential-guide-to-autism.weebly.com

Cydnie Graff lives in Northern California. She owned a small computerized embroidery shop for 16 years, but due to the growth of her town and the surrounding communities she could no longer compete. She is now spending time with her 12 year old grand son, her 18 lb cat named Cubby and her computer. She is into searching the web for information mostly for affiliate marketing, finding the best soft wear products and developers on the net.