Autism

By: Jonathan Van Oyen Autism is the fastest growing serious development in the U.S.A. Autism affects more than one million people in the U.S., and more than tens of millions of people worldwide. Autism is four times more likely to be found in boys than girls. What is autism? Autism is a brain development disorder. There are many symptoms, many interesting facts, a few causes, and its very difficult to live with autism. The rate of autism has been increasing for the past two decades. In 2007, the rate chance of having autism was 1.2%. Currently, the autism rate has increased to 2%. The chance of boys age 6 to 17 was 1.8%. Then, it increased to 3.2% in 2007. The rate of ages 14 to 17 went from .7% to 1.8% in 2007. 1-88 births are kids with autism. Children have a higher chance of having autism if they were born with a small head, although kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have larger brains than normal. Autism appears in young children. It wont develop when you are past four years of age. Less than 5% of research funds go towards ASDs. When you have autism, you can also have an increased chance of other things. Two in three people with autism will have mental retardation. One in three autistic kids

develops the disorder of epilepsy. There are also many different forms of autism. Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Pervasive Development Disorder, and Aspersers Syndrome are the most common. There are many different symptoms of autism. One of those is that victims dont develop language as early as normal. Another way to tell if your child has autism is noticing if they have wrong gestures or facial expressions. Victims might also talk endlessly about a subject. If you ask an autistic child a question, they might repeat the question a couple times, but might never answer it. That is another way to tell if your child is autistic. If your child is guaranteed to have autism, their relatives must carry the symptoms or possibilities of autism. Autistic kids also have abnormal social interactions. The child might not receive comfort from the parent. Children with autism also tend to have a lack of eye contact. It is very possible that if you call your childs name, they wont respond and could just as easily walk away. If the child sees someone laughing or talking to someone, they wouldnt understand their social behaviors. The four main symptoms of autism syndrome disorder are abnormal social interactions, abnormal communications, restrictive repetitive interests and behaviors. Without early intervention, the symptoms can worsen. An example of this is having a child delayed in skills like reading. If you want to try to prevent a

baby being born with autism, try to take prenatal vitamins with folic acid. This can reduce the chances of having a child being born with autism. If the child doesnt babble or coo in the toddler age, this could be a symptom of autism. Also, if they dont point or wave in the toddler age, it could be a symptom of autism. There are two main causes of ASDs. The two are environmental factors and abnormalities in the brain. One possible cause of autism may be that the baby produces anti-bodies inappropriately that attack the brain. People have concerns that autism might be linked to childhood vaccines. One of these vaccines thought to cause autism is Thimerosal. In 2001, this was removed from most vaccines. The CDC, the central for disease and control prevention, does not believe that Thimerosal is a cause of autism. Another possibility of causing ASDs is viral infections. Just like there is no absolute cure; there is no single known cause. One main cause is complication through pregnancy. When a woman is pregnant and if they are taking drugs or become infected with German measles, it will increase the chance of having a baby with autism. Air pollutants are factors that could be connected with the causes of autism. There are probably many more causes that we dont know about. There is no real cure, so if you are born with autism, youll have it for the rest of your life. When living with autism, early intervention and identification is

critical. Early intervention can have such a huge impact on a childs behavior, functioning, and future well-being. As a parent, you have to focus on helping the child with ASDs. This may put stress on marriage, other children, finances, etc. Since the child cant express his/her needs, they might cry if they are hungry, thirsty, or sick. This will usually lead both parent and child to frustration. If you are spending more time with your ASD child, you will spend less time with their siblings. A key is to also have the child in an unlimited love inclusion church so they feel comforted and included. There are biomedical treatments, nonmedical treatments, and related approaches. Biomedical treatments include changes in diet, supplements, or attempts to regulate the immune system. Non medical interventions include changes in daily habitat routines. Related approaches include classes using art, music animal therapies, and more. As a child with autism you wont speak as often with others which will give them a limited ability to communicate, and you also will tend to have unusual behaviors. A treatment goal is usually to maximize a childs ability to function and learn. Treatments include behavior and communication therapies, educational therapies, family therapies, and other medications. Preschool children who

receive intensive, individualized behavioral interventions often show great progress. If the child doesnt receive this care, they might be at risk of self harm. As a child with autism you will throw frequent temper tantrums, you are usually highly intelligent in a single subject which is most commonly math. An ASD child will talk about odd things, theyll have trouble understanding social customs like a person smiling is related to being happy, theyll most likely have one interest, autistic children have repetitive movements like tapping on their lip over and over. The majority of autistic kids do not like changes in daily routines. Autism is extremely costly. On average, autism costs about $60,000 per year. As you can see, autism is a very serious disorder. Autism affects many people worldwide. There are many different symptoms, and there are a couple of causes related with autism. Lastly, it is very hard to be the person living with autism, and even being a sibling to the autistic child.