FREE ESSAY ON AUTISM

AUTISM

Autism (pp. 565-570)
Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) that is very complex and involves many
different and separate physical and mental disorders. Researchers have long been puzzled
by autism, or childhood autism as it is often referred to. This severely disabling
disorder affects approximately 80,000 children in the United States and is usually
diagnosed by therapists and psychologists before the onset of two and a half years of
age.
Doctors note many of the complex disorders and symptoms associated with autism during the
months of infancy. Babies who would normally look toward recognizable voices and reach
out to people are often times devoid of these social growth indicators. The absence of
obvious indicators of emotion, such as smiling and laughing have caused researchers and
doctors in the past to label autistic children as "emotionally flat." Researchers, since
the release of recent study outcomes, have retracted this label. 
There are generally five areas of developmental disorder most prevalent in children
diagnosed with autism. One of these areas relates to, and in the past led to the labeling
of "emotional flatness." Autistic disorder often creates in a child a lack of social
understanding and a lack of comprehension of social interaction by and toward others.
Extreme withdrawal from social situations is often apparent. This behavior is often
documented and referred to by the term 'self-isolation'. It will be discussed at a later
time how professionals work with autistic children in the treatment of this particular
behavior along with the treatment of other clinical evidence recognized in autistic
children.
Development in language skills is often times absent in an autistic child. Although some
may develop the ability to learn language, it most often occurs that the autistic child
learns simple words such as 'yes' and 'no' by a method called echolalia, which is much
like parroting. Along with the disability to learn a vocal language is the inability to
deal with loud noises in an environment. Many autistic people do not deal well with loud
or constant noise interrupting their environment and when this does occur, an upset in
behavior may result.
Where a lot of repetitive movement of an object would begin to annoy most people, the
autistic child often focuses on repetitive movement and uses it for stimulation. The
tendency to engage in self-stimulatory behavior is often apparent by movements such as
rocking back and forth and constant throat humming and on an extreme level, banging of
the head repetitively. The latter is usually associated with anger or abrupt change in
their environment which causes negative behavior and physical aggression toward self or
others. Therapists have used methods such as puzzle piecing or card sorting as a
redirection away from these self-stimulatory behaviors. Although putting puzzles together
is a well accomplished task by many autistic children, they do often have trouble
performing gross motor activities. A lot of repeated assistance and routine patterns is
the best way to assist an autistic child in learning activities or schedules due to their
low memory ability. A consistent routine can be the key to teaching an autistic child how
to learn and perform a specific task. This is believed to be a major plus for the
institutional setting, which allows for a routine with no abrupt changes that are so
prevalent in the average American home.
One major area of importance when working with a person diagnosed with autism is to set a
daily routine and follow it with consistency. To a person with autism, a break in a
routine or a change of method is not immediately comprehended. Unlike the "normal" rate
of learning, it may take an autistic child two years to learn simple daily tasks such as
tying a shoelace, given they are taught using a consistent method and pattern for this
specific task. Alongside a daily routine is the importance of placement of things in an
autistic child's surroundings. A sudden change of environment or movement of an object,
particularly one that holds meaning to that person, can cause a major upset in their
demeanor. An example of this would be the movement of their favorite chair to another
room or moving things such as magazines that are an object of fixation for them.
With autism involving so many complex disabilities, it has been difficult for researchers
to come to a conclusion about the precise cause of this developmental disorder is.
Doctors, scientists and researchers have studied family genetics, damage to genes during
prenatal development and they have also taken a closer look at disorders related to
autism. Like any other major disability, a family that bears a child with autism is more
likely to have a recurrence, but this has not been the majority case.
Because of the lack of known cause in developing autism, treatment has been futile. There
are no medications specific in the treatment of autism or it's many disorders, although a
lot of the aggressive behaviors can be controlled with the use of psychotropic and
antihypertensive medications. Along with these few medications, intense therapy and
consistent routines have proven to be the best method in helping an autistic child to
learn how to function in a society and interact appropriately with their environment and
social surroundings.