Autism-Articles

Autism has an array of "classic" symptoms, with a profound impairment of social interaction skills perhaps being the most familiar to the layperson. Parents often notice something is not quite right with their child, often as early as infancy. In most cases, the signs are present within the first two to three years of life, whereupon a diagnosis of autism is made by medical professionals after a thorough assessment and evaluation using a checklist of items. In infancy or during the toddler stage, the child doesn't make spontaneous eye contact, or actively avoids it. He shows a lack of response to his own name when it's spoken and intuitive reactions to social stimuli are lacking. For example, there is an impairment of exchanging nonverbal social action cues, like returning a smile or reacting to a frown. A "deadpan" expression is common, but not universal, among children with autism. Another cue for parents is the child's not asking...

Do you have a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who is challenged socially? Do you realize that you don't have to rely on the professionals who provide services to your child to enhance their social skills. Social skill groups and classes led by experts in the field are extremely beneficial but you also have the power to take every social interaction your child experiences and turn it into a teaching/learning opportunity. As parents we interact with our children numerous times during the day. Each interaction has a specific reason attached to it, helping a child dress, tucking them into bed, or reading them a story are simple encounters that are almost done by default as if we are on automatic pilot. These can be anything from a greeting, asking them a question or giving them a direction that may be brief yet powerful. When you think of it, every contact we have with our children is a social one and as simple as it might be we can make it even more ...

In order to more fully understand the difference between Autism and Aspergers it is helpful to understand that Autism, also referred to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), covers a range of developmental and cognitive abilities ranging from mild to significant impairments. A person who has been diagnosed with autism may be so severely affected that there are significant impairments to social, language, and cognitive development. On the other hand, autism may be so mild that a person my function at a very high level intellectually while continuing to struggle with social interactions. One of the primary areas of difficulty for a person with autism is in the area of language development. Since the early 1990's many young people diagnosed with Autism have made progress (approximately 85%) with language development partly due to early intervention and increased awareness and understanding. Although speech can be developed, many individuals with autism continue to str...

Children with autism are often misunderstood, especially when it comes to autism and anxiety on socialization and it's not surprising that the most loving parents can make some mistakes. The body of information about this condition is vast, but some of it is conflicting. This can leave even the best parents feeling confused and overwhelmed. One thing no parent wants to see is his or her child is suffering in any way. When it comes to autism and anxiety of socialization, there is some conflicting information out there about the children and what they might really want to accomplish. For a long time it was thought that children with autism did not want to socialize. Some parents would feel bad about trying to get them to relate to other children their age, as it brought about a lot of frustration for the child. Autistics can lack many of the basic social skills needed to make and keep friends. They aren't good with eye contact, initiating conversations, and ...

Our children with Autism need friendships for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are the same as our typical children. Some of those reasons are a bit different for our children. Of course children with Autism need friends to be able to practice social skills. They need to learn to share and take turns. Friends are many times with people longer than siblings. Siblings share location and parents. Friends share interests and time. It is a bit more complicated when our child has Autism. They sometimes do not seem to really want friends. Our children like spending time alone. Many of our children like the quiet. There is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes. Even most of the time. The only problem is that they are missing out on a different type of relationship. Friendship is different than the relationship between us and our children. It is also different than the relationship between siblings. It requires different skills. Sometimes parents are years down th...

Art therapy may be an ideal way to develop social skills, but an autism diet may also be another form of effective treatment. Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy, and like expressive therapy, when it comes to food control, there is more than one type of diet that can be used to treat autism. Many health practitioners believe that an autism diet may be beneficial treatment. The reason is because most autistics have distorted immune response which causes their body to respond abnormally to certain types of food, viruses and toxins. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for many autistics to suffer from gastrointestinal inflammation and other intestinal disorders. It is thought that these intestinal problems might decrease the body's ability to absorb specific essential nutrients. Thus, by following a diet and other alternative treatment methods, certain abilities and overall health may be improved in an autistic individual. The following are 4 autism diet...

Medical professionals often use the term Autism Spectrum Disorders (or ASD for short) to explain the large variety of symptoms, signs and characteristics associated with a diagnosis of Autism. As we all know, more and more children are getting diagnosed with Autism everyday. According to the Center for Disease Control, Autism now occurs in one out of every 150 individuals. Some researchers account for the increase in Autism due to us better understanding the entire Autism spectrum. The Autism spectrum, however, is sometimes difficult for parents to understand. Some parents say things like: "My child has Autism, but he does not do that!" or they will ask "My child will interact with other kids, does he still have Autism?" The answer is simply that Autism is a spectrum, but what exactly does this mean? A spectrum means that there are children with Autism symptoms on one side, the other side, and everywhere in between. For example, let's take ...

Chances are an autistic child who is in mainstream education will not require special education, which means they are unlikely to have obvious learning disabilities. But that said they will still have special needs. The first thing as a teacher you should do is to speak to other members of staff and the SENCO in your school. Make sure that everyone understands what autism is and that they are aware of how this will affect the child's behaviour. Sometimes it is helpful to explain to the other children within the class about autism. This will help to prepare them for the autistic child starting school. It will be helpful to explain that the new class member may act differently or strangely - for example they may shout out unexpectedly or laugh at inappropriate things. You ought to explain that although the autistic child may act inappropriately that this is not intentional and they too have feelings like everybody else. This is an important thing to stress as i...