Autism or autism spectrum disorder is a widespread mental condition that is known to incapacitate people with communication and forming relationships. Autism is believed to have been around since the beginning of mankind, but it was first diagnosed as a disorder in 1908, and revised and clarified during the 1930s. Two percent of children in the United States are affected by autism, which equates to 1 in 45. With such a large percentage of children having autism, many people know someone who is affected. To fully understand autism in today’s society, one must know what this disorder is, the history, symptoms, statistics and the options for treatment. Spectrum refers to the wide variations of challenges and strengths possessed by each person with autism. …show more content…
The first case of Autism, diagnosed by Dr. Leo Kanner in 1934, involved a five-year-old boy named Donald Triplett. Donald Triplett had an aptitude for naming musical notes, music, multiplying numbers, identifying patterns, and the alphabet. Australian -American psychiatrist Leo Kanner, who was best known for work in Autism, originated the “Refrigerator Mother Theory “He professed that autism was a psychological disorder that was developed in children due to their emotionally cold mothers. This theory was further supported in the 1950’s by Austrian born psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, who argued that autism was caused by the mental damage from mothers (History or Autism). In the 1970’s, - Eric Schopler and Robert Reichler conducted a study of twins where at least one of the two children showed symptoms of infantile autism (History or Autism). The study showed possible causes of autism to include brain injury and possibly genetic predisposition, but remained uncertain as to what might be
Autism Spectrum Disorders are developmental disabilities with lifelong effects for the person. They are characterized by the repetitive behaviors exhibited by the client with social and communication deficits as well. Clients with ASDs have unusual abilities to learn, they struggle with paying attention and may react inappropriately with extreme tantrums to different sensations. ASDs include and are not limited to autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, atypical autism and Asperger disorder. Research of autism has been tracked by the Centers of Disease Control for prevalence since 1996, however tracking of developmental disabilities began in the 1980s.
Autism is a common disability that when diagnosed in the pre- school stage, affects the development of the child when going through the pre school developmental stage. This will be demonstrated through an examination of not only what autism is, but also the various areas of development that it affects. These areas include, cognitive, social, emotional, speech, gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Many developmental theories can also be applied to autistic children in the pre school developmental stage; however, the two theories that will be discussed will be the social learning theory and the socio cultural theory, as they can be used to not only explain the behaviour of Autistic children but can also assist Autistic children in learning.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a growing problem throughout the entire globe. Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined as deficits in social reciprocity and communication, as well as unusual, restricted and repetitive behaviors (Lord). Such behaviors may include running back and forth, excessive cleaning, noises, and clapping. These also vary greatly with age and ability, and the notion of ASD has been introduced to recognize these diversities (Firth). Autism was first discovered in 1943 when Leo Kanner observed 11 children with several common traits such as, impairments in social interaction, anguish for changes, good memory, belated echolalia, over sensitivity to certain stimuli (especially sound), food problems, limitations in spontaneous activity,
Autism is a syndrome that is characterized by the impairment of social interaction skills, verbal and nonverbal communication, and a decreased interest in participating in a variety of activities. In 1943, Kanner, the man who is attributed with the identification of this disease, hypothesized that autism might be a biological disorder as opposed to a psychological one. Numerous studies have been conducted supporting Kanner’s hypothesis. These studies have ranged from examining the effects of rubella to investigating certain purine metabolic disorders as possible etiological agents. Recently, the areas of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and genetics have played a crucial role in developing a clearer picture into
Autism is a spectrum disorder that refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skill impairment, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as unique strengths and differences.
Autism spectrum disorder is a lengthy diagnostic category that includes those with impaired social interaction and communication, and those with repetitive stereo-typed behaviors (Persico & Merelli, 2014). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), defines the term ‘spectrum’ as a wide range of symptoms, skill, and levels of impairment or disability that kids with ASD possess. It is a disorder in where several parts of the brain have obstacles working together to complete complex tasks. It is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges (CDC, 2015).
The word autism meaning “living in self” in Greek was first utilized in 1911 by Swiss psychiatrist, Eugene Bleuler. He used this word to describe a condition of self absorption caused by social relatedness (Gupta 2004). In 1943, Dr. Leo Kanner from the John Hopkins Hospital introduced the label early infantile autism when he reported 11 children exhibiting similar behaviors. Before his work, doctors labeled such children as mentally retarded or emotionally disturbed. About 75% have IQs below 70. At the same time, research is equivocal regarding the number of children with autism who are nonverbal,
Autism can be defined as a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts (Merriam-Webster Online). Autism can have a wide variety of severity; there is the autism spectrum, which tells educators, whether the child is higher up or lower on the spectrum, or if they are in the middle. There has been a steady increase in the number of students who have been diagnosed with autism, according to Deris (2013); the number of children who have autism went from one in 150 in 2000, almost to one in 88 in 2008.
Autism is a brain based disorder that causes social-communication challenges. Autism is often diagnosed when children are very young. They can be diagnosed as early as 18 months according to the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many expecting parents will prepare for a pregnancy by the usual healthy diet to make sure that they have a healthy baby, however, many children are still getting diagnosed with autism every day. There is a statistic stated on the Autism Spectrum Disorder that about 1 in every 68 children in the United States currently has autism. There are many different beliefs people have for as to what causes autism, but there still has not yet been a found cure. There needs to be a stronger effort in the medical fields to find the leading cause of autism.
Autism is a mental condition that can occur in children from birth but is diagnosed in early infancy or early childhood. It is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout the lifetime of a person. It can be considered as a spectrum of disorders characterized by severe developmental deficiencies that can affect socialization, communication, emotional development and can cause repetitive or unusual behaviors. The ranges of the symptoms are mild to severe. There is a milder form of the disorder known as Asperger syndrome. Other developmental disorders that fall under the category of autism spectrum disorders are Rett Syndrome, PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorders) and childhood disintegrative disorder.
What is Autism? Autism also specified as Autistic Spectrum Disorder, ASD, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Childhood Autism (ICD-10), Autistic Disorder (DSM-IV), Atypical Autism (ICD-10), PDD not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), Asperger Syndrome (ICD- 10)/Asperger Disorder (DSM-IV), is a series of developmental disabilities that cause substantial impairments in social interaction, as well as difficulties in nonverbal interactions and behavioral challenges. From the early 1900s, autism has been pertained to a range of neuropsychological conditions and has been in use for about 100 years. In which it still does today, the word "autism" comes from the Greek word "autos", meaning "self 'which describes conditions in which a person is detached from social interaction or an isolated self. ("A history of autism," 2005). Psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler was the first person to use the term to describe the behavior of some of his patients and it wasn 't until 1938 that autism was first studied in depth to where it 's modern meaning (Jevtic, 2015). Autism is a result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, causing many people with ASD to seek more help in their daily lives where others might seek for less. Autism is also known as a wide-spectrum disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined as a group of complex disorders of the brain. The autism spectrum contains many other disorders within itself, and each of them have different symptoms. These disorders include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, and Asperger syndrome (Frequently Asked Questions, 2015). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that around 1 in 68 American children are on the spectrum, with the statistics in other countries being even higher. This number has increased in the last 40 years and could partly be because of the improved diagnosis and awareness, all because
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a “developmental disability that cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges” (Autism, 2015a). The word “spectrum” refers to “a wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of impairment or disability that children with ASD can have” (Autism, 2015b). ASD is “not a single disorder, but a spectrum of closely related disorders with shared core of symptoms”. These disorders include: Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Rett Syndrome (Smith, 2015). One in sixty-eight children in the United States are affected by this disorder (Autism, 2015c). ASD is a little different from the many other mental disorders. It does not affect all children exactly the
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.
Behaviorist theory believes oral language is learned from human role models through a procedure that includes imitations, rewards, and practice, you are totally correct because children with autism and neurotypical children can benefit from this theory when we are talking about learning communication skills, because as human beings we learn in this way, with imitations from our environment, with rewards and practice. I totally agree with you when you are saying that the behaviorist theory is the most valid when teaching individuals with autism. They need modeling because they are visual learners. This point here is very important and interesting because as visual learners, children with autism they need to have reinforcers when they are learning