KOCHI: April is World Autism month. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. Autism affects the way an individual perceives the world and these disorders are characterised by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviour. However, symptoms and their severity vary widely across these three core areas.
Taken together, they may result in relatively mild challenges for someone on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. For others, symptoms may be more severe, as when repetitive behaviours and lack of spoken language interfere with everyday life.
There is no one cause for autism. While the causes of autism are complex, it is abundantly clear that it is not caused by bad parenting or cold mothers. The misconception that unloving mothers caused their children’s autism even now creates a tremendous burden of guilt among parents.
Early red flags
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified possible red flags for autism spectrum disorder in young children, including not responding to his/her name by 12 months of age, not pointing at objects to show interest by 14 months, not playing games by 18 months, avoiding eye contact or preferring to be alone, getting upset by minor changes, flapping their hands, rocking their body or spinning in circles, having unusual and sometimes intense reactions to the way things smell, taste, feel and/or look. A diagnostic evaluation typically involves an interview and play-based testing with the child by a psychologist, developmental-behavioral paediatrician, child psychiatrist or other providers. A multi-disciplinary evaluation is important for diagnosing autism and other challenges that often accompany such as delay in motor skills. If your child has not been evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team, you will want to make sure further evaluations are conducted so that you can learn as much as possible about your child’ s individual strengths and needs.
Early intervention
Significant improvement in autism symptoms is most often reported with intensive early intervention. Early attention to improving the core behavioural symptoms of autism will give your child and the rest of the family several important benefits. A good early intervention programme has at least four benefits. It will provide your child with instruction that will build on his or her strengths to teach new skills to improve behaviour and remediate areas of weakness. It will provide you with information which will help you better understand your child’s behaviour and needs. It will offer resources, support and training which will enable you to work and play with your child more effectively. It will improve the outcome for your child.With proper support, people with autism are able to live fulfilling lives, as independently as possible.
Rini KR is a speech-language pathologist at Prayatna Centre for Child Development, Palarivattom.
The views expressed by the author are her own.