Autism-Articles

Information related to autism in children reveals that one out of every one hundred and fifty children have this disease. Autism is a known neurological disorder which affects many vital abilities including attention, thoughts, interaction with others, and perception. Statistics show that children are at a far greater risk of having autism than adults. Early detection of autism symptoms in children is very important. Any further delay can mean crippling the child's future. A wide range of disabilities are covered under the term autism. These disabilities could range from mild to severe. Autism causes frustration in the patient as well as in the immediate spouses. There are no specific symptoms which can be directly linked to this condition and perfect clinical diagnosis or clinical tests that can identify the disease are non-existent as well. Doctors and physicians therefore rely on response of affected children to certain stimuli or random tests to lookout for sig...

I recently attended a lecture by Dr. Kate McFadden, M.D., of the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Pittsburgh regarding her thoughts on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This article was inspired by her talk. In her talk, she said that there was very little evidence of any "non-inherited factors" in people with autism. This is a bit challenging for me because so much has been made for so long on all kinds of environmental factors potentially playing significant roles in the number of children being diagnosed with autism. And yet I cannot cite one credible scientific study that substantially supports the hypothesis of environmental factors in the prevalence of autism or autistic children. Honestly, I don't know what to think. Based on the research that she shared at the lecture, I feel like I really don't know anything at all. So this article is my attempt to work out some of the connections that might make some more sense of the phenomenon of ...

We have discussed the way nerves communicate and how they decide when they are going to send impulses to other nerve cells. We know that groups of nerves collect information and fire together in pathways that stimulate distant parts of the brain. We also know that it is essential for different areas of the brain to communicate well with each other for us to be able to do the amazing complicated things we do with our brains. The brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres. In these hemispheres the vast array of jobs that must be done are divided up and organized. Each hemisphere is also separated into special sections or lobes. These are the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. The parietal lobe is mostly concerned with sensation of the body and locating where things happen. There is a map of the opposite side of the body inside each parietal lobe. So the left parietal lobe of the brain feels everything on the right side of the body and vice versa. ...

have Asperger's Syndrome. I have tremendous capacity for empathy for others. I have continued to increase my ability to express that empathy. Do Aspies really lack empathy or is it felt, experienced, and expressed differently? Perhaps in ways that neurotypicals (NT's) do not recognize as empathy or do not experience as being the way they expect to be given empathy. As I've written about in other contexts related to Asperger's Syndrome, it seems reasonable to say that there are many differences in those who have Asperger's Syndrome (AS). Men and women seem to have differing ability and context as well as understanding when it comes to something like empathy and compassion as well. (Attwood) There is still a difference not only in the way boys and girls are socialized, what those social norms contain, but also in what society expects from boys versus girls. Attwood, in his book, "The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome" talks about this an...

Ever since autism spectrum disorder has come to the public's attention, funding for research and education has increased dramatically. There was a time when ASD when misdiagnosed and extremely misunderstood, but as more and more cases were reported, the world realized that this was an epidemic of global proportions. Government funding increased, along with private donations for scientific research and education, has had an a huge impact on the development of children and families how deal with this malady on a day to day basic. A large increase has come at the state level, with school districts now seeing the immense growth in students diagnosed with ASD. Some schools have hired autism specialists and teachers whose primary duty is focusing on the sensory needs and educational variances of the individual students. Tax dollars are responsible for this these extra funds, and with improvement rates skyrocketing, this funding appears to be a permanent fixture in the st...

Autism is prevalent in the news since one in every 150 children is currently being diagnosed with some form of autism. Autism is found in boys 4 times more often than it is found in girls. Autistic children often do not talk or think like so-called normal children. They have difficulty managing emotions and do not play or form relationships well with other children. Most cases of autism will present before age three, and generally displays some type of repetitive or ritual behavior. Verbal and non-verbal communication can be impaired, and some children do not speak at all. Infants often reject cuddling with parents and remain aloof when reaching the toddler stage. Autism care can take on different aspects. Autism has no known cure, but people with milder cases of autism can live independently. When the autism is severe the individual will require livelong supportive and medical services. Important Aspects of Autism Effective autism care requires early recognition of th...

When looking at the language we use with our autistic children it is useful to break it down into categories. There are four things on which to focus when you want to use appropriate language with your child. 1. Stay Away from Negatives One thing to remember is that the subconscious mind does not "hear" negatives. When you tell a child "not" to do something, that child will actually do it because the negative word is filtered out by the subconscious. For instance, if you say to a child, "Don't run," the child will only hear the word "run." It is better to say, "Please walk," or "I would like you to walk," or simply, "Walk." Depending on how you generally speak to your child, you may have to work hard to change the way you phrase requests. Just try to focus on the positive and minimize the negative. This means that when you phrase requests for your child, you must use positive language and state wh...

Schedule and Day strips are a great way to get an Autistic child to understand what is going on on a day to day basis. It teaches them language and can modify their behavior by understanding what is going on. We found with our daughter and other Autistic children that one of the major causes of a meltdown is when they are confused about what is happening. This is often happens when a routine is changed and they don't know about it, or understand why. By communicating with the Autistic child, by some means, well in advance, perhaps the day before, of what to expect for that day they will be exceptionally calmer even if it is a big change from their routine. One way we found of communicating to the child is through pictures. Most Autistic children are highly visual communicators. They see the world in pictures, mainly because they can not process sounds and written words. Compics, PECS and Boardmaker were developed for communicating with persons that have impaired or...

We all know that adults with Asperger's syndrome often are not very social...and this may be true in spite of years of therapy and treatment to improve social skills. But is your child at risk of becoming a recluse? There are many teenagers and adults with Asperger's who almost never leave the house for any reason. They may be on the computer a lot, play video games, or just watch TV. This is often a result of an intense amount of social anxiety . Social Anxiety Several members of an Asperger's syndrome message board said that they were afraid of running into people they knew, or people from high school. And the fear of unexpected social situations creates so much panic and anxiety, that these young adults would rather avoid people all together. They are not confident about their social skills at all, and have such high anxiety about meeting other people and having to talk to them, that they can't even bear the idea of leaving their house, where they fe...

Did you know that there are actually a lot of famous people...well known, successful people...who either have Asperger's syndrome or have been rumored to have Asperger's? It is helpful to take a look at some of these people to show us that having Asperger's syndrome does not have to get in your way of being successful. In fact, sometimes it is the very traits in Asperger's that can make you successful. 1. Bill Gates Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world today, is the founder of Microsoft. Gates shows many traits of Asperger's, although he has never been formally diagnosed. Gates was always more interested in machines than people as a kid, and had a single minded focus on figuring out how the computer worked. The first computers were just being developed when Gates was growing up, and he spent hours at his school's computer trying to figure out how to build software for it and learn how it worked. His tenacity would serve him well la...

In this day and age with the rise in disorders that were not quite as common twenty years ago, such as Alzheimer's and Autism - both neurological disorders - it is easy to worry and fret. The fear that either of these will arrive at your doorstep can fill anyone with concerns and anxiety if they let it. Confronting the fact that your loved one may have a neurological disturbance that challenges their ability to communicate, interact and socialize with you is difficult to face. The possibility that your precious child may receive a diagnosis of autism is news that can drastically alter the course of the life you envisioned for you and your family. As devastating as this can be it unfortunately is a fact of life for too many parents in this day and age! With the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reporting a prevalence of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as 1 in 110 children this is a situation that can potentially present itself to a large percentage of families acro...

When looking at the language we use with our autistic children it is useful to break it down into categories. There are four things on which to focus when you want to use appropriate language with your child. 1. Stay Away from Negatives One thing to remember is that the subconscious mind does not "hear" negatives. When you tell a child "not" to do something, that child will actually do it because the negative word is filtered out by the subconscious. For instance, if you say to a child, "Don't run," the child will only hear the word "run." It is better to say, "Please walk," or "I would like you to walk," or simply, "Walk." Depending on how you generally speak to your child, you may have to work hard to change the way you phrase requests. Just try to focus on the positive and minimize the negative. This means that when you phrase requests for your child, you must use positive lang...

I recently did some research about bright lights, fluorescent lights and sunlight, that can create problems for some autistic children. I started to read about these colored lens glasses. I had to find out more information and know what they were and what the effect is, by helping autistic children. I discovered they were lenses that are a form of prism lenses. These type of lenses are useful for individuals who have autism spectrum and are hypersensitive to various kinds of lighting. I remember when my brother had his disorder, he had a difficult time reading. He told my parents the words were like ants crawling on the page. Printed text with its many colors and color contrasts can be a challenge for people who have autism. Sometimes this will give a hypersensitive reaction. I learned with my research that these lenses will improve the attention span and reading skills. In addition, they can help reduce the color sensitivities that your child might experience. Some of...

The intricate labyrinth of this paradox exists within the assumption that a social impairment in and of itself, however that is defined and experienced in each individual (AS) life is tantamount to social disconnectedness Gregory B. Yates, in his writing, "A Topological Theory of Autism," explains that the three founders of "autism", Eugen Bleuler, Leo Kanner, and Hans Asperger, "clearly saw other features of autism as secondary to social disconnectedness." and emphasizes that this disconnectedness "...is the central, eponymous feature of autism it is the primary feature..."- "it is social disconnectedness that most defines autism..." The degree to which there are differences, generally, between autism and Asperger's Syndrome (AS), more specifically, in terms of this social disconnectedness varies greatly with each individual. It has been my experience that the manifestation of this social impairment and social disconne...

Pervasive developmental disorder is a number of neurodevelopmental disorders classified under one umbrella. They are called either pervasive developmental disorder or, as they are more commonly known, autism spectrum disorders. There are five disorders included in this group. The most common one is known as autistic disorder, or Kanner's autism, and is considered the most severe. Asperger's syndrome is the milder form. They both share the same symptoms, verbal and non-verbal communication difficulties, lacking the ability for imaginative play with repetitive play instead and poor social interaction skills. A third is Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise specified. This one is for all the people who have many of the symptoms of these neurodevelopmental disorders but not enough symptoms to be definitely placed in one category or another. So, as they are not specifically sufferers of either Asperger's syndrome or Kanner's autism or either of the...

Autism is a neural disorder that can affect how a person interacts and communicates socially. It is also characterized by either restricted or repetitive behaviors. It affects the way that information is processed in the brain because it affects the way that the nerve cells and synapses in the brain communicate and process information. Symptoms can begin before a child is before a child reaches the age of 3 years old. Often, genetics are the cause of this disorder, while the entire range of genetic reasons are not completely understood, it is the result of some rare mutations or combinations of genetic variants. Studies at the, "National Institute of Health" have found that families that may have one Autistic child have a 1 in 20 chance of having another with Autism, while an autistic twin presents a 90% chance that the other twin is Autistic. Now, those are some scary statistics. Conditions in the brain that affect the levels of neurotransmitters such as dop...

Autism is a very complicated neuro biological disorder. It is actually part of a group of disorders known as ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorders. It is becoming a rather common ailment with 1 out of every 150 people being diagnosed with it. That is more common than diabetes, pediatric cancer and AIDS combined. It seems to afflict boys more often than girls. The main symptom of autism is the individual's inability to communicate and relate to others. They may also be very socially impaired, frightened around others or extremely shy. Other symptoms include being obsessed with a rigid routine or arranging and organizing objects. An autistic person may display repetitive behaviors, like constant hand or body gestures, rocking motions or eye blinking. These symptoms can be very mild or extremely severe. Sometimes autism symptoms are hidden behind more serious and debilitating handicaps. Asperger's Syndrome, a close "relative" of autism, has many of the same sympt...