Autism Essay

With little more to go on than that of what the parents have observed, Sally’s pediatrician has decided that she should be tested for autism. There is no blood to be drawn, no pulse to be taken, for there are no medical tests that can diagnose an autistic child.(2, pg 16) Through careful observation a team of neurologists, psychologists, developmental pediatricians, speech and language

1 in 68 people in the US have autism, this includes 1 in 189 girls and 1 in 42 boys. Autism is a difference in perception; technically it’s a developmental disorder that is the result of a difference in brain chemicals. Scientists don’t know what causes autism or why it’s stayed in the human gene pool for so long. People with autism could have a wide variety of symptoms, but some of the most common characteristics are fixations on things they like, reliance on routines,and lack of social skills. Autism can be formally diagnosed at ages as young as 3. There is no medical test to diagnose autism, rather a trained professional in the psychology field will perform a developmental screening and a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation. When a child is diagnosed with autism, therapy is strongly recommended. The earlier treatment starts the better because certain aspects of the disorder can be lessened through therapy. Therapy helps the mind and the body, certain therapies can help rebuild your brain, so to speak.

Diagnosis. The earliest indicators of autism are impairments of verbal and nonverbal communication. A child with autism will have difficulties responding to their name, smiling and making eye contact, babbling or cooing by twelve months, and using single or two word phrases by twenty-four months (NIMH, n.d.). A proper diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is a two part process. The child is first given a general screening to check for developmental issues. If the child is not making satisfactory developmental progress according to his or her age group, the child would be referred for additional screening. At this stage, the child will need to be screened to check for specific symptoms of autism. The screening can be based solely on the parent’s observation of the

Many people believe that autism is its own disorder that children are diagnosed with. However, autism is actually a term used for a wide range of disorders. Autism 's clinical name is Autism Spectrum Disorder. The term spectrum is used because of the range of symptoms, intensity, and behaviors autism effects. There are also many different types of autism. There is "classic" autism which is associated with being non-verbal and anti-social. Another form of autism is Asperger Syndrome which is associated by having peculiar social skills and play. Other types of autism include Autistic Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. The first signs that a child many have autism are usually noticed between the ages of fifteen and eighteen months when a loss of skills or delays in development are noticed. Prenatal stress may be a leading cause of autism. Yet, there are no true known cures. Autism is characterized by back-and-forth gestures, sounds, attention, play, and conversation. Temper tantrums that are uncontrollable are also a sign of autism. Lastly, a child may use pictures or signing to be understood. All of these symptoms are a key to diagnosing a child with autism. The earlier a child is diagnosed, the better the prognosis for this child. While there isn’t a cure for autism, there are ways to make sure children with autism have the best developmental outcome. This is possible through early

The Autism Society says, “children with autism often have repetitive body movements such as, hand flapping, spinning, or head banging.” An autistic child often avoids interaction with others and does not like to give eye contact during dialogue.

Autism has become an increasingly important public health concern as the number of yearly diagnoses of the disorder has increased since the late 20th century. The National Institute of Health estimates that 1 in 88 children in the United States are classified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (NINDS, 2009), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs children 's ability to learn and causes issues with social interaction and communication. Symptoms of ASD include delays in speech and language, issues with social interaction, and unusual behaviors/routines.

Research into Autism has grown enormously over the past 20 years due to growing awareness and the number of children and adults affected. In 1943, Leo Kanner first described the classic autistic syndrome. Since then, our knowledge and understanding in this area has broadened. In consequence, estimates of prevalence have increased considerably.

Children with autism usually play alone. Often they engage in repetitious activities, such as arranging objects in meaningless patterns, flipping a light switch on and off, or staring at rotating objects. Some engage in repetitious body movements, such as spinning, flapping their arms, swaying, rocking, snapping their fingers, and clapping or flapping their hands. In some cases these movements may be harmful, involving repeated biting of their wrists or banging their head. Children with autism frequently become upset at minor changes in their surroundings and daily routines.

Whether a diagnosis of autism, or diagnosis of another disability is to be made, interventions can be developed to add the child 's “tool belt” on their waist of life. Research shows that the early intervention can highly impact the likelihood of success (Krader, 2014). The American Academy of pediatric tells us that the diagnosis procedure should start in children between 18 and 24 months. With the essential screening process, recommendations can be used to begin intervention and start the help that the child needs. As we have seen through research, not all children receive testing that proves equality (Krader, 2014).

Currently, autism is usually diagnosed by a series of questionnaires, observations, information from parents, carers, or relatives, since there is no medical test for autism currently available, however, there are some new methods being researched that are shown to be quite effective at detecting autism in infants from 14 months old, such as “eye gaze tracking”3. There are also various studies on genetic tests for autism, as some individuals with autism have genetic “risk factors” that can be screened

Over the past twenty years, researchers on Autism have made notable findings in comprehending prevalence rates and creating accurate assessments to gather current diagnostic criterion. A significant increase in the prevalence rate of ASD has led researchers to make further inquiries about the precision of the tests used to assist in the diagnosis of autism.

Diagnosing and testing for autism isn’t always a crystal clear path. It is common for autism to be tested and diagnosed in children age three or younger. There is not a medical test as of now to test for autism, instead there are analyses done by psychologists and specialists to test a child’s behavioral patterns and actions. By giving an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), doctors are able to pinpoint spots on a child’s brain “where the left and right hemispheres of the brains of people with ASD do not communicate properly with one another(Diagnosing).” There is also a study to monitor a pregnant woman’s blood, if her previous child has been diagnosed with autism. After the woman has her baby, the blood is still monitored by more blood tests to see if the autistic symptoms appear in the newborn child. By doing this, there is a hope to find a cause and cure for autism, since there is no definite cure as of

Autism is on the rise. Many researchers feel the reasons isn’t because there are more kids being afflicted with it, but the increased public awareness has allowed this disorder to be more easily recognized and diagnosed at a earlier age.

There is a wide variety of neurodevelopmental disorders, most of which show very similar symptoms and signs. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to differentiate between them without the help of a professional. A lot of neurodevelopmental disorders, which mostly affect children, do not have a test that clearly tells us what a patient is suffering from. Thus, doctors had to come up with different mechanisms to diagnose patients with such conditions. The diagnosis process begins with the suspicion of the doctor about which of these disorders does a patient have. After that, the doctor conducts a series of procedures to determine whether or not a patient actually has this disorder. One of these difficult-to-diagnose conditions is Autism. The mechanism of diagnosing Autism involves a behavior assessment, a physical exam, and some clinical tests.

Tens of millions of people have been diagnosed with Autism worldwide, effecting both genders, all races, ethnicities and people from all socioeconomic classes. In 2010 a Surveillance Summary was conducted in the United States, where it identified that one in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). It has been recognised