THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT AUTISM

WHAT IS AUTISM?

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopment illness in the first 3 years of a child’s life. These children show poor interaction and communication skills.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS TO LOOK FOR IN CHILDREN FOR AUTISM?

Usually, children are unpredictable and can have varying moods but if they show these signs consistently then they can be Autistic.

- Delayed speech and response

- Avoids physical gestures like cuddling and hugging with parents

- Throwing tantrums when asked to do something

- Intruding personal space of others

- The child likes to spend time alone rather than with other kids

- Lack of facial expressions or gestures

- Repeats lots of movements, for example, climbing up and down

- Doesn’t play with toys and lack imagination in using them

- Doesn’t play with toys and lack imagination in using them

- Extremely finicky about routines

SIGNS OF AUTISM IN OLDER CHILDREN

Symptoms differ for school-age children with autism. Their symptoms usually consist of:

- Avoid conversations

- Conversations seem like monologues

- Have a robotic tone of conversation without any emotions or feelings

- Difficulty in having a two-way discussion

- Unable to deal with sarcasm, metaphors or figures of speech

- Not adept in basic social interactions

ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUTISM?

Yes! Autism can be categorized as follows.

- One that primarily results in intellectual impairment

- The other causes language impairment

- The third could be due to a medical or genetic condition or environmental factor

- Another type could be due to another neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder

WHAT CAUSES AUTISM?

Medical science has not been able to find the exact cause of Autism, however, there are a few factors that can contribute to it like:

- Genetic disorders

- Low birth weight

- Imbalances in metabolism

- Being exposed to environmental toxins

- Fetal exposure to certain medications like valproic acid (Depakene) or thalidomide (Thalomid)

WHAT IS THE CURE FOR AUTISM?

So far medical experts have not found any cure for autism. Though, there are certain therapies and treatments, which have shown improvements. 

These include:

- Behavioral therapy

- Play therapy

- Occupational therapy

- Physical therapy

- Speech therapy

Other alternative techniques like massages and meditation have shown a calming effect on children with autism.