Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 2567 Location: USA - SC
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:50 am Post subject: April is Autism Awareness Month
April is Autism Awareness Month. 1 in 150 children have Autism. One of those children, is mine.
As many of you know, my two year old daughter was officially diagnosed with Autism last month after many months of uncertainty and heartache. We knew very early on that Hailey was a different child. I have always considered her not broken, but just different and special in her very own way. In fact, it is how different she is from most children that I love most about her. Raising her for the past two years has been a major learning experience for me and I continue to learn more about her every day in hopes that I can continue to make life comfortable for her. But in order to do that, I realize how important it is that people understand what Autism is and how it affects both the Autistic child and their family. April is Autism Awareness month and I hope that you will all share in my story and help spread awareness.
What is Autism?
Autism (sometimes called “classical autism”) is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.
What are some common signs of Autism?
There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.
The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.
Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.
Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.
Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.
What causes Autism?
Scientists aren’t certain what causes autism, but it’s likely that both genetics and environment play a role. Researchers have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder. Studies of people with autism have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with autism have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that autism could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how neurons communicate with each other. While these findings are intriguing, they are preliminary and require further study. The theory that parental practices are responsible for autism has now been disproved. In February 2009 a special federal court ruled that there was no proven link between certain early childhood vaccines and autism that developed in three children.
Do symptoms of autism change over time?
For many children, autism symptoms improve with treatment and with age. Some children with autism grow up to lead normal or near-normal lives. Children whose language skills regress early in life, usually before the age of 3, appear to be at risk of developing epilepsy or seizure-like brain activity. During adolescence, some children with autism may become depressed or experience behavioral problems. Parents of these children should be ready to adjust treatment for their child as needed.
How is autism treated? There is no cure for autism. Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to remedy specific symptoms and can bring about substantial improvement. The ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that target the core symptoms of autism: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and obsessive or repetitive routines and interests. Most professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better.
- Educational/behavioral interventions: Therapists use highly structured and intensive skill-oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Family counseling for the parents and siblings of children with autism often helps families cope with the particular challenges of living with an autistic child.
- Medications: Doctors often prescribe an antidepressant medication to handle symptoms of anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anti-psychotic medications are used to treat severe behavioral problems. Seizures can be treated with one or more of the anticonvulsant drugs. Stimulant drugs, such as those used for children with attention deficit disorder (ADD), are sometimes used effectively to help decrease impulsivity and hyperactivity.
- Other therapies: There are a number of controversial therapies or interventions available for autistic children, but few, if any, are supported by scientific studies. Parents should use caution before adopting any of these treatments.
I encourage you to share your own stories about your family here in this thread - whether you have a brother, sister, uncle, cousin.. whoever in your family that suffers from Autism, or even if you are Autistic yourself. I also encourage those of you who aren't familiar with the disorder to enlighten yourselves by checking out the links provided below. I hope it helps you gain at least a limited understanding of this mysterious disorder. Help us put the puzzle pieces together and find a cure.
You can also help spread awareness by collecting your free widget badge from my home page and displaying it on your widget card for this duration of the month (tho I would hope you would use it longer). For the month of April, I pledge to donate 10% of my April earnings from IMVU to the Autism Society of America.
Two of my 3 nephews has Autism and although one is making progress as he gets older, the younger one seems to be getting worse.
I was actually planning on putting together some kind of fund raiser and donating the money to the ASOA. _________________ I have nothing interesting to say.
Woohoo, my own month. I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (High Functioning Autism) when I was 13. So, ten years ago come October. _________________ Life Problems? Ask Sei-chan
Go Steelers!
Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 2567 Location: USA - SC
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:30 am Post subject:
Thank you for the wonderful responses so far. I know a lot of the information I gave is very.. well, scientific. I want to take the time to give those of you who are unfamiliar with the disorder, a brief taste of what a regular day is like for us so that you may gain a better understanding of what all that scientific stuff up there means.
On a good day, my daughter responds to her own name maybe 1 out of 5 times. She's not deaf - not in the slightest. She just doesn't understand the concept of it being her name and that her attention by looking towards the person calling her name, would be the approprite social response. This can be frustrating when it comes time to get her attention. Most children upon hearing their name called, would turn their head towards the source (ie, the person calling their name) and if even briefly, acknowledge that their attention has been captured. Autistic children simply lack this social understanding.
Hailey is very repetitive in her actions. One of the things I find works best for us all is to allow her to repeat her actions as many times as she wishes so long as their is time allowed. I've found that over time, these actions lessen. However, it usually means that we spend 45 minutes while she runs her hands along the texture of the diaper box and observes the baby on it. Or it could mean allowing her to stack, and restack blocks grouped by colors multiple times. Raising her and understanding her requires a lot of extra time and patience.
Too much stimuli can upset her. Tho unlike a lot of children with Autism, Hailey generally handles outings pretty well. She doesn't understand people touching her or trying to interact with her. She looks at people like they are insane (I don't blame her.. I do too lol). She is able to mimic other children's actions during play and interact that way, but otherwise in incapable of interaction. She doesn't understand the concept of sharing and doesn't understand when a child take a toy away from her. She doesn't cry - she simply gets something else to play with.
She doesn't cry often at home - only when she is over stimulated, too tired or she really gets hurt or scared. She helps curve the stimulation of her surroundings through a series of actions. One of her biggest helpers is jumping - as it is for a lot of Autistic children. It helps relieve the sensory tension.
She doesn't like to be touched a lot or guided in her play. Attempting to do these things leads her to have tantrums. You have to wait for her to want to hug you, or it could cause her to scream and cry - which particularly embarassing in public. :/
There are so many other little things - little quirks that make Hailey so special. I don't find any of them to be particularly bothersome, but it does require a lot of work, patience and dedication. I love everything about her no matter how strange some of her actions may be to others. _________________
Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 1410 Location: USA - IL
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:40 am Post subject:
My mom could not tolerate an Autistic child. So I'm thankful for not being that way. But I'm sure it would have made her a better person so anyhow, thanks for sharing this with us. _________________ 18 and got bills already
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