Autism Recovery Stories
Autism is a developmental disorder that is characterized by impaired development in communication, social interaction, and behavior. Autism is classified as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), which is part of a broad spectrum of developmental disorders affecting young children and adults, the Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
This type of disorder is recognized globally as an urgent health care crisis. Unfortunately, in a country built on the tenets of freedom of speech, sometimes people with access to the media are able to spread harmful mistruths. Autism is diagnosed on the basis of abnormalities in the areas of social development, communicative development, and imagination, together with marked repetitive or obsessional behavior or unusual, narrow interests.
Individuals with autism may have an IQ at any level. This behaviorally is defined as neurodevelopment disorder that begins in early childhood. Although the diagnosis of autism may not be made until a child reaches preschool or school age, the signs and symptoms of autism may be apparent by the time the child is aged at 12-18 months, and the behavioral characteristics of autism are almost always evident by the time the child is aged 3 years.
While the degree of severity varies widely, people with autism have difficulty understanding relationships and emotions and sometimes display inappropriate behaviors, such as extreme reactions to minor changes, unusual sensitivities to particular sounds, sights or textures, compulsive routines and repetitive movements.
A child with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they don't understand social cues provided by tone of voice or facial expressions and they don't watch other people's faces to pick up on these cues.
Autism is a heterogeneous disorder which means that there are several known causes of autism including phenylketonuria (PKU), tuberous sclerosis and 15q duplications. However fragile X is the most common known cause of autism so far identified.
A comprehensive evaluation requires a multidisciplinary team including a psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals who diagnose children with ASDs. Child and adolescent psychiatrists are trained to diagnose autism, and to help families design and implement an appropriate treatment plan. They can also help families cope with the stress which may be associated with having a child with autism.
Since children with Autism have a problem with part of their brain, it means kids with autism develop skills differently than most other kids. Children with autism deserve our respect for their bravery in tackling an incurable condition.
