Autism is one of the disorders belonging to a group of developmental disorders called, in medical language, autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It appears in infancy before the child reaches the age of three at most.
Although the severity and symptoms of autism vary from case to case, all personality disorders affect a child's ability to connect with those around him and develop mutually beneficial relationships with them.
Estimates show that six out of every 1,000 children in the United States suffer from autism, and the number of diagnosed cases of this disorder is constantly increasing.
It is not yet known whether this increase is the result of more effective detection and reporting of cases, an actual and real increase in the number of people with autism, or the result of these two factors combined.
Although there is no cure for autism yet, intensive treatment and early diagnosis can make a significant and serious difference in the lives of children with this disorder.
The main difficulties endured by autistic cases
Children with autism almost certainly also suffer from difficulties in three basic developmental areas, namely:
*Mutual social relations
*Language.
*Behavior.
As children get older and approach adulthood, some of them may become more able and willing to socialize and integrate into the surrounding social environment, and it is possible that they may show fewer behavioral disorders than those characteristic of autism; some may even manage to lead a normal life or a lifestyle close to normal.
On the other hand, others continue to have difficulties with their language skills and in mutual social relations, so that their adulthood worsens their behavioral problems.
Some children are slow to learn new information and skills, and others have a normal IQ or even one higher than other normal people. These children learn quickly but have communication problems in applying what they have learned in their daily lives and in coping with different situations.
A very small percentage of children with autism are self-educated and have unique, exceptional skills, especially concentrated in a particular field, such as art, mathematics, or music.
Symptoms of autism
Due to the different signs and symptoms of autism from one patient to another, it is likely that two different children with the same medical diagnosis will behave in very different ways and will have completely different skills.
But very serious cases of autism are characterized in the majority of cases by an absolute inability to communicate or establish mutual relations with other people.
Symptoms of autism appear in most children in infancy, while other children may grow up and develop quite normally during the first months or years of their lives but suddenly become closed to themselves, hostile, or lose the language skills they had acquired up to that moment.
Although each child has symptoms of autism that show their own nature and patterns, the following symptoms are the most common for this type of disorder:
1.Disorders of social skills
The case's symptoms are as follows:Â
* He does not respond to the calling of his name Â
*No more direct eye contact
*It seems that he does not hear his interlocutor.
*He refuses hugs or shrinks on himself.
*It seems that he is not aware of the feelings and sensations of others.
*It seems that he likes to play alone, expecting to be alone in his world.
2.Problems with language skills
The following are the main symptoms of language skill difficulties:
*Speech begins at a later age compared to other children.
*He loses the ability to say certain words or sentences that he previously knew.
*He makes eye contact when he wants something.
*He speaks in a strange voice or with different tones and rhythms, or uses a singing voice, or has a voice that resembles a robot's voice.
*He cannot initiate a conversation or continue an existing conversation.
*He may repeat words, phrases, or terms, but he does not know how to use them.
3.Behavioral problems
The following are the main symptoms of behavioral problems in an autistic patient:
*Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning in circles, and waving hands.
*He develops habits and rituals that he always repeats.
*He loses his serenity when there is any change, even the simplest or smallest, in these customs or rituals.
*Be constantly in motion.
*He is amazed and fascinated by certain parts of the objects, such as the rotation of a calf in a toy car.
*He is overly sensitive to light, sound, or touch, but he is unable to feel pain.
*Young children have difficulties when they are asked to share their experiences with others.
Causes and risk factors for autism
There is no one and only factor known as a definitively confirmed cause of autism.
But taking into account the complexity of the disease, the extent of autistic disorders, and the fact of the mismatch between two autosomal genes, that is, between two autosomal dominant children, it is likely that there are many factors for the causes of autism.
One of the most important causes that may lead to autism:
1.Causes of autism
Researchers have discovered that there are several genes that are likely to play a role in causing autism, some of which make a child more susceptible to the disorder, while others affect brain growth and development and the way brain cells communicate with each other.
Any genetic defect in itself and alone may be responsible for a number of cases of subjectivity, but it seems in a holistic view that genes in general have a very central and even decisive influence on autism disorder, and some genetic disorders may be transmitted genetically, while others may appear spontaneously.
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2.Environmental factors
A large part of health problems are the result of genetic and environmental factors combined, and this may be true in the case of autism.
Researchers have recently been examining the possibility that a viral infection or environmental pollution may be a provoking factor for the emergence and onset of autism.
3.Other factors
There are other factors that are being researched and studied recently, including problems during childbirth and the role of the immune system in everything related to autism.
Some researchers believe that damage to the amygdala, a part of the brain that acts as a detector of risk situations, is one of the factors that trigger the onset of autism.
Risk factors for autism
Selfishness may appear in any child of any origin or nationality, but there are known risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing selfishness. These factors include:
1.The child's gender
Research has shown that male children are three times more likely to develop autism than female children.2.Family history
Families who have a child with autism have a higher probability of having another child with the disease, and it is well known and common that parents or relatives who have a child with autism themselves suffer from certain disorders in some developmental skills or even from certain subjective behaviors.
3.Other diseases
Children with certain medical problems are more prone to self-injury.
 These medical problems include:
*Fragile X syndrome is an inherited syndrome that leads to intellectual dysfunction.
*Tuberous sclerosis, which leads to the formation and development of tumors in the brain
*The neurological disorder known as Tourette syndrome
*Epilepsy causes seizures.
4.Parental age
Researchers are inclined to believe that parenthood at a later age may increase the likelihood of developing autism.
Very thorough research has shown that children born to men over the age of forty are six times more likely to develop autism than children born to fathers under the age of thirty.
Complications of autism
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One of the complications of autism is the following:
*Inability to succeed in studying.
*Social isolation.
*Inability to live independently.
*Tension.
*Abuse them and deal with them violently.
Diagnosis of autism
The attending pediatrician conducts regular examinations of growth and development aimed at detecting developmental delays in the child.
If the child has symptoms of autism, he can go to a specialist in the treatment of autism, who, in cooperation with a team of other specialists, will accurately assess the disorder.
Since autism ranges in very many degrees of severity of the disease and the severity of its symptoms, self-diagnosis can be a complex and difficult task since there is no specific medical examination to detect an existing case of autism.
The sanctioned assessment of autism includes the following:
*A specialist doctor's examination of the child
*Talk with parents about the child's social skills, language abilities, and behavior, and how and to what extent these factors change and evolve over time.
*Subjecting the child to several examinations and tests to assess his speech and language abilities and examine some psychological aspects.
Although the initial symptoms of autism appear before the age of 18 months, the final diagnosis is sometimes made only when the child reaches the age of two or three years, when there is a developmental defect, a delay in acquiring language skills, or a malfunction in mutual social relations.
Early diagnosis is very important because early intervention, especially before the child reaches the age of three, is a very important element in achieving the best prospects and opportunities for improvement of the condition.
Treatment of autism
To this day, there is no single treatment that is suitable for everyone with the same amount, and in fact the range of treatments available for autism patients that can be adopted at home or at school is amazingly diverse and numerous.Autism treatment includes
* Behavioral remedy
* Speech-language pathology treatments
* A pedagogical and educational remedy
* Medicine is a remedy.
Prevention of autism
There's no way to help autism, but early intervention helps to ameliorate the symptoms.
of a person with autism.
Alternative therapies
Due to the fact that autism is a veritably delicate and intractable condition that has no cure, numerous parents resort to the results handed down by alternative medicine.Although some families have reported positive results after autism treatment with a special diet and other indispensable curatives, experimenters cannot confirm or deny the effectiveness of these colorful treatments in autistic cases.
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Some veritably common and indispensable curatives include
* Innovative new treatments
* Follow their own diets.
