Autism Spectrum Disorders Essay

We are living in a time where a remarkable and advanced medical treatments exist. However, scientists and medical professionals are constantly faced with diseases and disorders that contemporary humanity needs a cure and treatment. Amongst the disorders that affecting our young people today is the autism spectrum disorder. It is a “complex and life long behavioral disorder marked by impairment in social and communicative abilities”(Evans, et al., 2008). People living with autism range from those with high IQ’s to those with intellectual retardadtion.

Autism spectrum disorder is an umbrella term used in diagnosing a collection of developmental disorders of the brain that vary in severity1. People with ASD may have trouble with social interactions, problems with different types of communication, may practice repetitive actions or behaviors1,2, struggle with paying attention, and suffer from motor disfunctions1. ASD is usually diagnosed in children between the ages of 2 and 3, this early diagnosis is very beneficial because it leads to intervention which intern leads to more positive outcomes later in life1. ASD affects 1 in every 68 American children1 and is 4-5 times more common in boys than girls1. Prevalence of this disease is on the rise, with a 10-17% increases in cases per-year1, which could be due to improved diagnostic methods, environmental factors, and other reasons that are unknown1. One well established diagnostic tool is the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) which is 15-point rating scale3 used to diagnose children with ASD and determine its severity2. Another less accredited, but still informative diagnostic tool is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC)2 which differs from the CARS because it is a parent rater form of measurment2. ASD has no cure, but there have been studies that show behavioral outbursts can be reduced with the use of certain movements and breathing techniques4. This encourages confidence that more aspects of ASD can be improved with similar methods.

“Often, parents first start to see symptoms or unusual behaviors in their child at a young age” (Nelson). There is a list of informative questions that parents can answer that can indicate whether he or she should be further evaluated by a specialist. This test is the Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers, also known as the M-CHAT. Occasionally Autism can be diagnosed later in one’s life, often in relation to difficulties with learning, or with social and emotional cases. Just like with young children, diagnosis of older patients involves personal observations and interviews from trained specialists. Many times, diagnosis brings a sort of relief to those who have struggled with many difficulties throughout life and are finally given an answer. Diagnosis opens the doors to access to therapy, and assistive technologies that can improve their function in the areas of difficulty and improve their overall quality of

Autism is an exceptionally that effects many people. In order to truly understand autism one must research certain information that helps unpack what autism is and how to help these induvial with any form of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study will include the definition, statistics, characteristics, behaviors, challenges, accommodations, diagnostic tactics, and strategies in order to gain a full perspective of ASD.

Autism is a mental condition that presents from early childhood; this condition is a complex neurodevelopment disorder that characterized in different degrees, such as difficulties in social interaction, both nonverbal and verbal communication, repetitive and patterns of behavior. These symptoms are always being a challenge for affected child’s daily functioning. The behaviors in autism children can range in impact from mild to disabling. Autism show up with different characteristic and its severity are not equal in affected children; the symptoms may go unrecognized for some period of time especially in mildly affected children. There isn’t certain about the causes of autism, but it’s possible that genetics and environment play

Most children are eager communicators who are determined to engage their world and the people within it. Social interaction and communication lay the foundation for learning, and help children build important life skills that are critical for development. When a child is affected by autism, these skills are usually greatly diminished, and the development of the child becomes delayed. As the number of children diagnosed with Autism increases, so does the need for new therapeutic strategies and techniques for intervention. Speech therapists have been turning to technology to help their clients communicate since the invention of the first AAC device. Individuals with autism typically prefer to

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious disorder which affects the child’s neurological and behavior functions and may cause different levels of disability. Autism is a regressive neurodevelopment disorder that impacts social interactions, verbal and nonverbal, as well as negative behaviors. It is a disorder that is connected to abnormal biology and chemistry within the brain. Also, autism appears within the first three years of life. A child can seem developmentally normal and meeting all milestones that are age appropriate and then begins to regress. The ASD is a neurological disorder can have classified to a different level from moderate to severe. According to Reynolds and Miller “Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and repetitive behaviors” (166). Actually, the number of children who are diagnosed with autism increases and the Autism Spectrum Disorder becoming one of the fastest growing disorders in the USA. According to Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “identify around 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years. Careful researches show that this increase is only partly explained by improved diagnosis techniques and awareness. Studies also show that autism is four to five times more common among boys than girls. An estimated 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls

Millions of people are diagnosed with autism but few know what they go through every day. It is a constant struggle day in and day out of either fearing social interaction or accidental touching of strangers. Their minds work at an entirely different pace, compared to others, running at full speed.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopment disorder that affects people as young as infancy that can become more evident throughout their childhood. The word Spectrum refers to a wide range of disorders that are closely related through similar symptoms, as it will be explained later in this paper. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders also known as the DSM-5 diagnostic manual, updated the types of disorders listed as: Autistic Disorder, Rett 's Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder also known as PDD-NOS. These types of Autistic disorders have affected over 3 million individuals in the U.S and

Autistic children/adults go through all kinds of different interventions. Interventions can involve behavioral treatments, and medicines. Many people with ASD have different types of medical conditions such as sleep disturbance, seizures and gastrointestinal (GI). Working with these conditions can approve a lot of attention, learning, and other interconnected behaviors (How Is Autism Treated | What Is Autism | Autism Speaks). When kids are put in early intervention they want to have the child's entire family to get involved and the family has to work with a team of professionals so they can understand the life of autism. In some interventions some therapist will visit the home to work with the family, this will involve parent training with parent leading the sessions while being watched by the therapist. Other programs are held in a special center or a preschool. As a child starts to grow older, interventions and supports start to become appropriate for that child’s social and learning skills. As children with autism enter school they may be put in a targeted social skill training classes and new approaches to

Autism is a clinical syndrome characterized by qualitative impairment of social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, imaginative activity, and a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests. Within the first 3-6 months of their lives, parents may note the child does not develop a normal pattern of smiling or cuddling response. As they grow older, they do not progress through developmental milestones such as learning to say words or speak sentences. Instead, they seem aloof, detached, and withdrawn. Instead of developing a pattern of relating warmly to their parents, they may instead engage in self-stimulating behavior such as rocking or head banging. By age 2 or 3 years, it is

The exam that children are given to diagnose autism through behavior asses the child’s communication skills, social interactions, restricted interests and activities, and stereotypical behaviors. The most widely adopted exam for diagnosing autism is the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. This is a form of artificial intelligence. There are also revised versions of this exam that speed up the process but may compromise accuracy.

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have different needs and they have a wide range of disabilities. For example, some students with ASD are non-verbal and some students with ASD are extremely intelligent. At times outsiders would not know they have autism. This paper will discuss an after school program for 10 students diagnosed with ASD. In addition, this paper will talk about the overall goal of the program, location, timeframe, measured data, assistive technologies used, staffing, and rationale for the program.

Autism spectrum disorder is not a single disorder, it comprises of a very diverse group of neurodevelopmental disorders. According to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder 5th edition (DSM-V), diagnosis of ASDs includes three main deficits which are; having difficulties with social interaction and communication and deficit in behaviour, for example individual with ASD tend to repeat the same behaviour and they tend to be preoccupied. Under the DSM- V ASD consist of Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and childhood disintegrative. This essay will discuss the Etiology and prevalence of ASD as well as the treatments and interventions for ASD. Research study findings will be used as evidence to support the efficacy of these treatments for ASD. Finally this essay will briefly consider some limitations of these treatments.

Escobedo, Nguyen, Boyd, Hirano and Randgel (2012) studied the effects of a mobile assistive technology named MOSOCO: A Mobile Assistive Tool to Support Children with Autism Practicing Social Skills in Real-Life Situations. The cohort study observed twelve children, three who were autistic and nine who were neurotypical (NT), between the ages of eight and eleven year olds