Autism Case Study Essay

Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.

As a part of American culture, Autism Speaks has wriggled its way into the homes and mouths of families across the country, throwing massive amounts of money into fundraising, advocacy, research, and advertising every year. They are one of the most well-known, easily recognized organizations that advocates and raises awareness for the growing community of Autistic people in America. However, can the American people really be sure that Autism Speaks is going about it in the right way? With better, faster diagnoses, disability services, and more qualified specialists, why is Autism Speaks focusing tightly on researching connections and causes and cures, rather than channeling that money into assisting families of autistic children and adults? Why do some of the salaries of their board members exceed six figures, if they truly are a “non-profit” organization? Why do some of their ads treat autism like a man in an alleyway waiting to rob someone of their happiness, their money, and their “happy marriage?” (I am Autism). While millions of Americans believe that Autism Speaks is a worthy non-profit organization, the truth is that their spending is reckless and their treatment of autistic

     Autism is a developmental disability that affects all areas of behavior and perception. Approximately 10 out of every 10,000 children are diagnosed with autism and four out of five are males. Autism is the third most common developmental disability, more common than Down Syndrome. Children with Autism are characterized by impairment in several areas of development such as: Cognitive, Language, Play/Socialization skills and exhibit many challenging behaviors. Behavior Patterns of Autism:

Autism Spectrum Disorder affects various aspects of an autistic child’s life. Many children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year, while others go undiagnosed for an extended time, or even for their whole life. A child exhibiting delays in language benchmarks or showing little interest in the surroundings should be examined for possible ASD. Language is often impaired and although the level of impairment can range from severe too unnoticeable in each child, a child is likely to have a delay in another area, like coordination of motor skills, if not in language. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that causes impairments in various aspects of language development.

The term “autism” has been used for approximately one hundred years. Autism comes from the Greek word “autos” which means “self.” Self applies to autism because people are taken away from their social life and isolate themselves. A Switzerland psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, was the first person ever to use the word autism in 1911 towards symptoms of schizophrenia. From 1940 through the 1990s, doctors have had many theories on how autism affects children. They came to the conclusion that autism medically affects each child differently. Towards the 1980s

Children With Autism Children with autism have the possibility to improve greatly, and some even overcome the effects of autism if appropriate therapies are begun early enough. A multifaceted disorder, autism has long baffled professionals and parents alike. At a point in time, doctors gave parents absolutely no hope for the recovery of their children. But recently, new treatments and therapies have shown that improvement is possible. With early intervention, intensive care, some children have if not fully recovered, improved, and have been integrated into schools, indistinguishable from their peers.

Autism is categorized by deficits in maintaining social relationships and difficulty communicating. The number of children being diagnosed with autism is steadily increasing. Therefore the need incorporate effective interventions that focus on the development of the individual child has become an imperative component for their success. The key for children with Autism to achieve academic and social success depends upon the collaborative effort that is shared among all parties involved: family, teachers, peers; mental health professionals and the community.

Autistic infants often show little or no interest in other people and lack typical social behaviors. For example, they may not smile at their mother's voice or make eye contact with caregivers. Autistic children fail to develop normal relationships with their parents, brothers or sisters, and other children. Often they seem unaware of the needs and feelings of other people, and may not respond if another person is hurt or in distress. They also fail to make friends.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) hits very close to home for me. Considering I have been a child/adult with Autism, I thought the topic of how to handle people with Autism in the health care industry was a good fit. As a child, I personally had difficulties going to the doctor. I have had countless unpleasant encounters with doctors, and I understand what Autistic people go through. If there was more understanding of the condition and more culture competence towards the issues faced with someone having Autism, there would be more autistic people who receive health care.

Leo Kanner was a renowned child psychiatrist and helped create the first children’s psychiatric unit at Johns Hopkins. I do not believe he knew what he was creating when he coined the term “refrigerator mother.” As the “Father of Child Psychiatry”, he attempted to right his wrongs by writing In Defense of Mothers. Kanner claimed that autism was a disorder that only affected individuals during infancy, which left adolescents and adults with the same symptoms to be overlooked. Kanner was eventually proven wrong, because autism was proven to affect individuals throughout their lives (Baron-Cohen.)

It wasn’t until 1943 when the classification of autism was introduced by Dr. Leo Kanner. Dr. Kanner, a psychiatrist from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, reported on eleven child patients

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of conditions grouped under the neurodevelopmental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) published in 2013 (Kress & Paylo, 2015). Those who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder must present two types of symptoms: 1) Deficits in social communication and social interaction and 2) Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities (APA, 2013). The DSM-5 merged all autism disorders into one diagnosis of ASD. Before this publication, they were organized as distinct subtypes, which included autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome (Kress & Paylo, 2015).

Autism affects the individuals’ social interactions and the social construction of the world (National Autistic society, 2015). Children with Autism follow a different developmental pattern from other children and develop at the different rate. It could be understood as a social/psychological disability. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – is a neurological condition that affects the way a person experiences and interacts with the world. Children with Autism spectrum disorder have problems with communication, imagination and interaction. This disability affects 1 in 100 children. There are around 100.000 children with Autism in the United Kingdom itself. To recognize Autism Spectrum Disorder theory of mind could be used to answer the question how children with Autism can be supported in education. Some of the answers could be Makaton and The Transporter systems.

In order to analyze a language sample, I transcribed a video of a four-year-old boy named Max. Max has a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is a group of disorders that vary in severity but share commonalities such as impairments in social interaction, communication, and behavioral differences (Kuder, 2013, p.172). Max appears to be using a “singsong voice,” which typically means that his tone and pitch fluctuates while he talks. The setting in which this video took place appears to be at his house, and his mother seems to be the person asking the questions. Throughout this paper I will discuss the content, form, and use of Max’s language and how the context affects each. Finally, I will explain assessments that I would use for Max and interventions that he would benefit him.

Refrigerator Mother Theory. Initially, Leo Kanner (1943), a child psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University, introduced the term “early infantile autism” in 1943. He considered that the refrigerator mother triggered early infantile autism. In other words, he believed that the autism was developed after the birth, and lack of parental warmth triggered children to become isolated from the society. Consequently, those children who did not receive enough care exhibited autistic like feature, meaning “alone or self” in Greek. Furthermore, this idea was strongly supported by Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-born American child psychiatrist, for two decades. He similarly claims that the autism was caused from mother withheld appropriate affection toward their children and failed to make a good connection with them during infancy (Bettelheim, 2010). Moreover, he states that weak or absent father would likely cause autism, since children would not receive enough paternal love. In both cases, psychiatrists in mid-twentieth century believed that the autism was developed from children not receiving enough love, warmth and care from their parents. Moreover, they believed that good parenting could alleviate children from becoming ASD.