Autism Spectrum Disorder:
Autism spectrum disorder is a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that involves delays in the development of many basic skills & functions including the ability to socialize and to communicate. Autism Spectrum Disorder includes conditions as Autism Asperger's Syndrome.
The American Psychiatric Association reclassified pervasive developmental disorder to autism spectrum disorder. The name change came in 2013, doctors don't use the term PDDS anymore.
The condition begins in early stages and lasts throughout a person's life, it causes difficulty to functioning in society. Autism spectrum is estimated to affect about 62.2 million globally as of 2015 males are more often diagnosed than females.
The exact cause of the condition is unknown. The research suggests that genes can act together with influences from the environment to affect the child's development that may make a person be at a higher risk of developing autism spectrum disorder that may include a family history of the condition being male having certain genetic conditions such as
Down syndrome
fragile X syndrome and
Rhett syndrome
fragile X syndrome and
Rhett syndrome
having older parents extremely preterm babies. Babies born before 26 weeks of gestation may be at a greater risk of other disorders such as tuberous sclerosis.
The age of two years children with this condition can display a unique pattern of behavior and severity ranging from mild to disabling people with autism spectrum disorder generally have problems with social communication and interaction and patterns of behavior social communication and interaction symptoms are.
- Having poor eye contact and a lack of facial expression failing to or being slow to respond to someone calling their names resists cuddling and holding and seems to prefer playing alone.
- Having difficulty with verbal communication including problems using and understanding language.
- Having difficulty with nonverbal communication such as interpreting other people's gestures and facial expressions.
- Having difficulty to sleep .
- Having an aggressive behaviour, difficulty in expressing emotions or feelings and may be unaware of others feelings.
- Having an unusual tone of voice that may sound singsong or robot like patterns of behaviour are usually limited and repetitive.
They may include monotonous/uninteresting movements such as rocking spinning or hand flapping, have an over interest or fixating on an object or an activity performs. Gestures that may cause self harm like head banging, sensitivity to sensory input such as light & noise develop specific routine or rituals and becomes disturbed at the slightest change, has food preference such as eating only a few foods or refusing foods with a certain texture.
There is no specific medical test to diagnose the condition to make a diagnosis a specialist may recommend genetic testing to identify a genetic disorder such as
fragile X syndrome
Down syndrome or
Rhett syndrome
Down syndrome or
Rhett syndrome
Observe the child and ask the parents or guardians how child's social skills and behaviour have developed and changed with time and give child tests that cover hearing speech language developmental level and behavioural issues whose and follow the criteria written in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders or DSM published by the American Psychological Association.
There is no cure for this disorder but early treatment can make a big difference in the lives of many children. The goal of treatment is to improve the ability of the child to perform by reducing symptoms and supporting development and learning treatment options include therapy as following
behavioral therapy
communication therapy
educational therapy
family therapy
speech therapy and
occupational therapy
communication therapy
educational therapy
family therapy
speech therapy and
occupational therapy
The type of therapy depends on the child's need. The core symptoms of autism cannot be enhanced with medications although medications such as antidepressants can help to control anxiety or antipsychotics for severe behavioural problems.
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