If your child has been diagnosed with autism you are not alone. Nearly one in every one hundred and ten children are diagnosed with autism. That makes autism more common than juvenile diabetes, pediatric AIDS, and childhood cancers combined all together. Every year, this rate goes up 10%-17%.
Boys are more likely than girls are to have autism. However, there is no known cause at this time but there are some facts that are known. No two children have the same symptoms. There is no set pattern to explain why some children have it and some do not. Possibilities of the cause are believed to be the time of exposure, the environment in which the child lives, and genetics.
The symptoms of autism is displayed in three areas; social interaction, language, and behavior. When a child has a severe case of autism they are not able to interact or communicate with others at all.
Social Skill Symptoms:
The child may have poor eye contact, fails to respond to their name when called, appears as though they cannot hear you talking to them, doesn't want to be cuddled or held, doesn't respond to others feelings, and prefers to play alone.
Language Symptoms:
The child doesn't talk after the age of two, shows signs of developmental delays after thirty months, stops talking and loses what speech they already learned, doesn't make any eye contact when making a request to you, when he speaks it is with an abdominal tone - with no elevation in his voice, doesn't start a conversation and cannot keep one going, may report certain words or phrases but cannot use them in a sentence.
Behavior Symptoms:
Performs repetitive movements such as rocking back and forth, develops a certain routine or ritual, gets upset if there is a change in his routine, moves constantly, fascinated by the parts of an object, and sensitive to light and sound.
Watch for signs as your baby develops. If you notice anything different or if you notice that they started developing normal but now they don't seem to be progressing, call your doctor. It may not be anything to worry about but you won't know until you call. Since there are not definite signs of autism doctors learn about it through a series of tests that are both physical and developmental. Once you get the results in you and your doctor can go over the results. After your child has been diagnosed with autism you will need to learn how you can best handle it. There are two types of autism low functioning and high functioning. If a child is diagnosed with low functioning they will require support and assistance from now on. However if a child is high functioning they will be able to live on their own and care for themselves.
As you begin to read books, newspapers, or read articles online you will see the increased number of autistic children and how their families have turned things around and made the most from their child's diagnoses. Autism is something that will touch the lives of everyone because it is growing so quickly. Until there is a reason for it or until there is a cure, if a child is diagnosed with parents can support their child and they need to get support too.
For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula please visit www.childdevelopmentmedia.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maxine_Wagner
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