Autism-Articles

As a parent with an autistic child, you want to do everything you can to protect your child. We don't want to place our children in circumstances that scare them, however, setting your child up in a program or providing them with social activities can help them to learn how to manage their social anxieties. First of all, when your child is diagnosed with autism, research the symptoms that are associated with this developmental disorder. The more information you have, the better you will be qualified to deal with certain situations. It will also help to join a support group for parents with autistic children. You'll find other parents will be willing to share their sources of information with you. When you find a program for your child, you'll want to make sure it is appropriately qualified to deal with your child's social anxiety. Every autistic child is different so you'll want to make sure you are honest and up-front about the symptoms your c...

Nowadays it is much more common to hear about autism than it has been in the past. Approximately one in every one hundred and fifty children in America is diagnosed with autism. It seems to be four times more prevalent in boys than girls. One in ninety four boys are affected according to the latest calculations of the Autism Society of America. Even with the increase in the occurrence of autism, it is still somewhat puzzling to know how to find the assistance and support needed to take care of an autistic child. There are, however, numerous organizations that can teach you the many important points you need to know about autism care. An understanding of what autism is might be the best place to start. Autism is a condition that affects how the brain works and how children diagnosed with it are able to convey their thoughts. Children with autism may find it difficult to play, think, feel, or talk like normal children. Every autistic child is affected differently by the ...

As moms and teachers everywhere know, kids have a lot of energy. They need to move and play to get that energy out. This is true of all kids but this necessity is taken to a whole different level when dealing with kids with special needs. Children with ADD, ADHD, Sensory Integration issues, and Autism all benefit from daily movement and stimulation. Although each kid is different, occupational therapists often use various kinds of swings and swinging techniques to help these kids regulate their bodies. Swinging therapy helps kids focus and increases a child's body awareness. Occupational therapy is a key component to a successful program for kids with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID). Swings of various kinds are used to help regulate the vestibular system and some can provide proprioception for calming kids down and increasing body awareness. Often times parents find carrying over occupational therapy techniques into the home a daunting task. Many parents turn...

Unfortunately in this day and age there are still people who do not see Sensory Integration as a treatment therapy for children with Autism. Unfortunately many people do not see it as a therapy in its own right. It is a therapy so intense that is can be puzzling and daunting to people. It is also a therapy so simple with gains that are so important and significant. Whether working with a child who is over sensitive or under sensitive there is help to be had. The first thing for a parent to think about when considering Sensory Integration is being able to suspend their thoughts and feelings. They have to be able to do that to acquire the empathy of thought and feeling needed to figure out what to do to help their child. If a child is screaming because they are over sensitive to their environment they will not be able to learn. If a child is so under stimulated that they can not work up the energy to engage they will not be able to learn. Parents can help a child with Au...

There's something up with a child you know. He's clumsy, picky, always on the move, or flopped in a chair like a wet noodle. He's impulsive, intense, and quirky. Maybe he has a learning disability, ADHD, or autism, or maybe not, but his behavior and responses to everyday sensations are puzzling. Why does he withdraw or act out? Why are transitions so difficult? Can he really hear the fluorescent lights that he claims are distracting him? It's very likely that this child you're concerned about has sensory processing disorder, also known as SPD or sensory integration dysfunction. An estimated 1 in 20 children and almost all children with autism have SPD. This child's nervous system is wired atypically, causing her body to process everyday sensations differently. Unable to rely on her senses to give her an accurate picture of what is going on in her body and her world, she is prone to anxiety, distractibility, impulsivity, and frustration. A child...

ne of the best solutions to some of the problems children with Autism experience is sensory integration techniques. Some children with Autism are so uncomfortable that occasional techniques are of little use. Many people think that the children are really in pain. I do not know about you but if I am in pain it is almost impossible for me to learn anything. One of the solutions is what is called a sensory diet. Basically a sensory diet is a plan to do a set variety of techniques. They are also done on a schedule. A good sensory diet needs to be developed with the help of an occupational therapist or physical therapist. The therapist needs to be one with experience working with sensory diets and children with Autism. There is no one set of techniques that will make up all people's diet. Just the same way typical children respond to many different techniques, the child with Autism will. Some people will need pressure point therapy. Some will need massage. Others might ne...

1. Get an early diagnosis. The earlier the better. As soon as you think your child might be on the spectrum take action. I was diagnosed on the spectrum at age 5, and I know for a fact that this made a difference in my life. If my parents had waited to take action, then I would not be as successful or as well off as I am today. 2. Be positive even when it's hard. Even children who are lower functioning can tell when mom or dad is depressed or upset about have a child with autism. 3. Get your child the right kind of therapy that they need to improve and become a functioning adult. Ask around and get multiple opinions about autism therapies. Pay attention to what your child needs as well, and change therapies when your gut instinct tells you to. 4. Encourage your child to do whatever they can do. Focus on can rather than can't. Nurture your child's talents. 5. As a mother do everything you can to stay at home and to avoid working outside the home. While every...

Autism covers such a wide spectrum of symptoms it can be can be difficult to pinpoint which school might be best for your child. ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) can range from Mild to Severe with symptoms ranging from the child not being responsive to high functioning. Unfortunately Autism isn't really understood in state schools, and therefore it can be a great help to your child to enroll them in a school funded by a private organization. Many privately run schools specialize in Autism and will only accept children who suffer from the condition. It is these schools that have invested time and money into the condition to get the best out of the children and give them a foundation from which to forge the path for the rest of their lives. Specialist Autism schools will often have both teachers and carers on the staffing roster and offer a flexible curriculum to suit the needs of the child. This is extremely important for a condition that can vary so much from child ...

Speech therapy is a long term procedure depending on the disorder. Speech therapy is a popular method of treatment that involves learning new speech techniques (such as speaking syllable-by-syllable) and modifying current ways of speaking (such as reducing the rate of speech). It may also include psychological counseling as a way of boosting self-esteem and reducing the tendency of avoiding fearful situations such as speaking in front of a group. Speech therapy is usually grouped with the other two but does not involve as much physical injury. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists help people who have speech and hearing defects. Speech therapy is offered to help inpatients and outpatients. Licensed speech therapists are available seven days per week to diagnose and treat speech disorders. Speech therapy is intended to not only improve social communication skills, but also teach the ability to use those communication skills as an alternative to unacceptable ...

Autism is a disorder and not a disease as is usually presumed. It affects the development of the neurons and is usually characterized by impaired interaction, communication and in other cases, there occurs a repetitive behavior. The characteristics are easy to identify and can precisely be pointed out in a three year old child. This is a worrying statistic that greatly emphasizes the need to have autism awareness raised so that parents are able to take the necessary steps should their child display such traits. This disorder affects how information is processed in the brain. The disorder changes the usual way of communication between nerve sells. A known fact about this disorder is that it can be obtained genetically. Parents with a child suffering from autism can easily find out from which side of their families the disorder came from. However, a genetic background is not the sole source of the autism disorder. It has been known to be caused by agents that cause birth...

Misbehavior is often interpreted as a child's way of seeking attention. But, in the state of affairs of autistic children, this is spontaneous, not deliberate. Almost us who is diagnosed of autism has a number of challenging behaviors that prevent them based on information from functioning normally. Autism Intervention These behaviors may range based on data from self-injurious this type of as hitting oneself or deciding on one's own skin, utterly odd like continuous hand flapping and spinning, and really precarious such as kicking. However astronomical these behaviors may seem, they can be, in fact, set for the duration of a therapy called behavior therapy. Behavior therapy is a technique that focuses on a wide variety of methods covered by Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA. Although it is a relatively new concept in Psychology and an experimental one at that, studies have shown that it is an effective treatment method for autism. Autism behavioral therapy focuse...

Autism spectrum disorders or pervasive developmental disorders involve impairments in reciprocal social interactions as well as restricted repetitive patterns of behavior in the absence of obvious intellectual dysfunction. Even while the individual pathophysiology of autism will be to be established, it has been widely accepted that the state strongly impact central nervous method function. Autism Spectrum Dsm IV Of the brain units too have kept on proposed to play a crucial role in the neurobiology of the clinical characteristics of autism, the contribution of the amygdala is truly convincing. It is the impairments of autistic individuals to process emotional and social hints who has left various well being service institutions to hypothesize an association of the amygdala and autism. Brain imaging studies show abnormalities in the amygdala in affected individuals. Conversely, most neuropathological results were non-specific and brain volumetric studies have been, for ...

Autism is brand of pervasive developmental disorder this makes children and even good to the adulthood the child among autism exhibits behaviors that may not be the predictions of the child his or her age. Causes For Autism This article looks as if it's at some of the equals of the condition. There are so many causes of autism and some of these are risk factors, but of course knowledge of them can help you to deal with condition. You will need to confirm from your doctor some of these risk factors as some are highlighted in this article. The cause of autism has been attributable to the exposures of or intake of certain diets. The possibility of a child being a victim is high if he or she takes diet that contains some levels of gluten. Also, autism has been said to be caused by the intake of certain vaccine in the earlier years of the child's life. Causes For Autism Also, it has been observed that the chance of a child being afflicted with autism is higher if on...

Good nutrition equals good health. People with autism or on the spectrum have a hard time with nutrition. Individuals who have autism have distinct likes and dislikes controlled by their dysfunctional senses. This makes good nutrition a struggle, having negative consequences for the person with autism or PPD's over all health. Most people on the autism spectrum have a normal IQ. With poor nutrition, many with autism spectrum can not function normally. Persons with autism and PPD love the crunchy McDonald Chicken Nuggets and French fires--or the Tyson chicken nuggets. For many with autism spectrum disorder, this is the only thing that they will eat, which offers very little nutritional value. Also, pop, and the fizz in their mouth, is something someone with autism loves, loving the sensation in their mouth. With the food they eat being so poor in nutritional value, and without a variety of food (nor all the groups of food), the person with autism's body can not ...

I owe my ability to laugh at almost any obstacle to my brothers. When your family has autism in it, you have to laugh. Sometimes that is the only option. My brother Lance was diagnosed with autism and bi-polar disorder at a very young age. This combination gives you an OCD, manic depressive, non sleeping, sensory deprived child. Sounds like fun right? Lance was an escape artist. He was never running away, he was always going to the park, looking for the "yellow dragons" (construction equipment), or looking for his Dad. We had alarms on his bedroom door and his window (on the second floor) was nailed shut and the handle was removed. This was done after he found a way to open the window and jumped out, twice! The first time he got out at night he was picked up by the police. When we discovered he was gone it was mass panic. Mom called the police while Dad and I searched the neighborhood. The police brought him home, he was fine. They would have brought him home ...

The fact is that all children are born not knowing how to talk. While this may sound like a ridiculous statement, it is made to underscore a very important fact and that is that your child must learn to speak a language in his or her first four or five years of life. Granted, they won't speak eloquently but the fact that they learn what they do is quite amazing in its self. So Much more is Now Known So if your child is saddled with a speech impediment, no matter how sever, it's making an already difficult task that much harder. So is there cause for alarm because after all, things like minor lisps and stutters are quite common and for the most part all do pass with time. Even so, is it fair to the child when so much is now known about therapies that can assist your child in overcoming a childhood speech impediment. Long Term Social and Psychological Implications Always bear in mind that also it can be very detrimental in the long run for any child to look, act ...

Speech and language therapy or any traditional treatments for stuttering is probably the first treatment alternative we choose to go with when it comes to eliminating our stuttering problem. Most of us (me included) start this "the journey of hope to get rid off stuttering" with speech and language therapy. It might be a private SLP(Speech Language Pathologist), a well known speech therapy program or a speech therapy clinic in our city or university. In my case, I tried ALL of them with either NO or TEMPORARY results. To be honest I never heard a PWS telling me "I went through speech therapy when I was on my twenties for the first time and I overcame my stuttering". Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. Does that mean speech and language therapy sucks and has no value? No, that isn't the case either. So, what is it? Why does that happen? After all, speech and language therapy has been around for years and the sessions are held by professi...

I was curious, so I went to a school to observe recess for autistic children. You may have a concern, and ask the question, what is your autistic child doing during recess? I observed and watched the children, and was amazed how some of them felt isolated, excluded because they did not know how to socialize or take part in activities that were offered. Recess was developed for children to have a special time to be with their peers, friends, socialize, release tension, recharge their emotions and feel good about the time away from their classroom. Your child who has autism, is probably not a child who wants to interact with other children during recess and does not always know what to do during that time. You as parent(s), caregiver(s), may want to make a visit to the school your child attends, that offers recess, make notes of how your child acts, reacts, responds and socialize with other peers. Taking this measure of evaluation and observing your child, you will under...

Hi parents, Learning to communicate with anyone can be challenging at times and yet it is a skill that is crucial to life. Communicating with children, who don't think in the same way that adults do, may be even harder. One of the primary distinguishing features of autism is that these children have severe trouble with communication and social interaction. This makes it even more important to learn good communication skills and to learn how to communicate in a way that will truly help the child. Treating autistic children with respect is a key factor in communicating with them, but there is much more to it than that. Good communication with your autistic child has two functions. 1. It helps to create a good and healthy relationship between you and your child. 2. It helps to reach your child when it may be otherwise difficult to get her attention or to have her change her behavior. Knowing how to communicate with your autistic child so that she really understands and ...

Do MMR vaccines cause autism? The answer based on current research is NO . The association between MMR vaccines and Autism can be traced to the late 1980s, when it was noticed that there has been an increase in the number of autism being diagnosed. Rates from that time were almost double previous years and individuals started looking at the possible causes of autism. Among the earliest link between MMR vaccines and autism stems from an article done in the UK in 1998. In it, it suggested that the the vaccine introduced a series of events (colon inflammation, release of proteins) that lead to changes in the brain causing autism. In February 2010, that study was retracted after investigation showed that the physician involved in the research was paid by lawyers planning to sue the vaccine manufacturers, and that he himself was applying for an alternate vaccine. The doctor was found to be falsifying results with the intentions of profiting of it. In 2010, the doctor was s...

Are there clues that indicate autistic children identify with having learning deficits? Do they seem to struggle to imitate others? When new skills are being introduced, do they avoid spending time with other individuals? Do autistic children have a difficult time making eye contact or understanding facial expressions in other people? Could these be clues for identifying learning deficits in autistic children? Children learn and grow by finding out how to interact socially and imitating others. It has been revealed that clues through research and testing, have indicated children with autism have a difficult time learning from others, even their siblings. I have experienced from my brother who is autistic, that his lack of attention to make eye contact, is a trait that is often present in the early stages of autistic children. They seem to look away from a person, as though the other person was not present. Some researchers claim to have clues to identify learning defic...

Since a child with Asperger Syndrome shows patterns of behaviors and problems that differ widely from others, any typical treatment regimen or medication cannot be prescribed. However, there are several treatments that are proven to help a lot with the child's condition and his development. These include the following: Parents Education And Training - The parents, aside from being the first teachers are the primary guardians who can reinforce help to a child with Aspergers. It is crucial that they're educated properly with the nature of the kid's condition. Therefore, as a child's parent, you should undergo this type of training so you can even teach your child with Asperger self help abilities. Learning these skills helps children achieve maximum independence. Social Skills Training - Since a child with Aspergers is having difficulty interacting with other individuals, even with kids of his age, the child must undergo social skills training. As a child...

These four steps are a powerful tool you can use to help get past challenging behavior and get your student back on track. Many of us tend to internalize reasons why challenging behavior occurs, "I shouldn't have tried that." On the other hand, it can also be tempting to use circumstances as an explanation, "He's always had a tough time with that." Focusing on these four steps when inappropriate or challenging behavior occurs can help you effect change and get on to teaching! 1) Stay calm! This is easier said than done but a reaction from you will most likely reinforce the previous inappropriate behavior of the student. One way to tell if getting your attention is the goal of the challenging behavior is to look for eye-contact. When your student is making eye-contact during or immediately after the challenging behavior this could indicate attention seeking behavior. 2) Identify what reinforcer your student wants. If your student is continuo...

As parents work to find effective treatments for autism, many of the usual symptoms their children display will continue. In the majority of cases, this often includes some form of 'stimming'. Stimming is an extremely common autism symptom that includes certain repeated behaviors or movements. These behaviors are self-stimulating and consist of repetitive behaviors that are performed to stimulate the senses. Examples of stimming include clapping, running in circles, humming, or manipulating objects (such as bending straws or ripping paper). Though stimming behaviors may appear to be unnecessary or even unsuitable to some situations, they're not done to draw attention or to disrupt. Instead, stimming behaviors are often used in order to decrease the stress levels of the child performing them. As autism causes children to react atypically to sensory stimuli, they often use stimming to help to deal with their sensory issues. Rocking is another kind of stimming...