AUTISM

by :Catherine C. Faigao

Autism is a complex
developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. (Autism Society of America)

Leo Kanner
Was the first to describe and name the condition in 1943 He called the condition Early Infantile Autism He based the term in the Greek word autus meaning self.

Causes of Autism
There is no know single cause for autism.

Researchers are investigating a number of theories, including the link between heredity, genetics and medical problems.
Other researchers are investigating problems during pregnancy or delivery as well as environmental factors such as viral infections, metabolic imbalances and exposure to environmental chemicals.

Prevalence
In 1996, autism was estimated to occur in 15 of every 10,000 children. Today, 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with autism making it more common than childhood cancer or Down Syndrome. Boys are affected about 4 times more often than girls and knows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries.

Diagnosis
There are no psychological test at this time to determine whether a person has Autism. Diagnosis of Autism is given when an individual displays a number of characteristic behavior.

Autism Signs and Characteristics

Communication and Verbal Skills

Autism should be considered if any of the following signs occur: Apparent hearing problem Cannot explain needs Does not smile Does not respond to name Loss of communication and verbal skills at any age No eye contact

 Repetitious use of words out of text (echolalia) Sixteen months of age with no word use Does not point or gesture by one year of age Does not coo or babble by one year of age Does not speak in two-word sentences by two years of age

Behavioral Deficits
Resistance to change Obsessional and rigid behaviors Aggressive and destructive behaviors Cut Off behaviors Tantrums Self-stimulatory behaviors

Self-Stimulatory Behaviors
Physical Stimulation Auditory Stimulation Visual Stimulation
I enjoy twirling myself around or spinning coins round and round and round. Intensely preoccupied with the movement of the spinning coin, I saw or heard nothing. People around me were transparent. And no sound intruded on my fixation. It was as if I were deaf. Even a sudden loud noise didnt startle me from my world.

Sensory Impairments
May experience gentle touch as painful Some are tactilely defensive and avoid all forms of body contact Others have little or no tactile or pain sensitivity Experience discomfort when exposed to certain sound or frequencies

 A gifted, autistic man from Portugal wrote I jumped out of my skin when animals made noises (White & White, 1987)
My hearing is like having a hearing aid with the volume control stuck on super loud. Its like an open microphone that picks up everything. Sudden loud noises hurt my ears like a dentists drilling hitting a nerve (Grandin,1988)

Intellectual Performance
80% of Autistic children have some degree of learning difficulties Uneven skill development Some exhibit splinter skills About 10% exhibit savant skills

Physical Abnormalities
Abnormalities may be classified into 2 types: Dysfunction in the neural structure of the brain

Abnormal biochemistry of the brain

 Albert Einstein didn't speak until he was four, and not fluently in his own language until he was eight or nine. He did poorly in school and was a day dreamer. He had tantrums as a child and couldn't express himself very well. When he was a child, he was considered retarded even by his own parents. Many people in the Einstein family are autistic. An autopsy of Einstein's brain showed that Einstein's cerebrum was indeed larger than normal (like an autistic brain). Even as an adult, Albert Einstein couldn't take care of himself. He never learned how to drive a car. He was a visual thinker.

Temple Gramdin

Raun Kaufman

Teaching Children With Autism

Determine which learning style best suits the child with autism, and emphasize that method of learning and communication. It is common for an autistic child to be unable to process multiple sensory inputs at the same time. If the child has visual sensitivity, fluorescent lights or CRT computer screens might seem to flicker like strobe lights.

 If the child has auditory sensitivity, a class bell, PA system, or even the teacher's voice could seem like someone is blasting an air horn. Autistic kids often have trouble with generalization, which can affect the way they learn skills. Autistic children may fixate on something they enjoy, such as trains. Incorporating this fixation into their lessons by including stories of trains, math problems involving trains, and so on gives motivation to learn. Achieve better results while using behavior modification techniques by always rewarding good behavior (positive reinforcement) and never punishing aggressive, repetitive or undesirable behavior (negative reinforcement).