Autism in children

Autism in Children: Signs, Causes and Treatments

Autism, a pervasive neurological syndrome affecting individuals' behavior and communication, has become more common in recent years. More parents are finding that their children are autistic and require different considerations and care. Although some autistic children simply have the stereotypical symptoms, such as lack of speech and repetitive movements, most have their own mix of symptoms from a long list of autistic behaviors. The signs that children may have autism, as well as possible causes behind the disorder, are discussed below, along with some of the most popular treatments for autistic spectrum disorders. 

Many young autistic children don't like to be touched, but this isn't true with all of them. Some enjoy cuddling or hugging family members but no one else. On the other hand, some are mainly upset by touch they are unprepared for. Finally, some autistic children may arch their backs or engage in other self-stimulation to ease the discomfort of being embraced or touched.

Problems with Touch

Most commonly, autistic children dislike loud noises and bright lights, but this isn't always true. Some are only sensitive to certain types of sounds, such as strange voices or toilets flushing, and others appear totally indifferent to loud noises that bother most non-autistic people. As with touch, the sounds that often cause the most problems for sensitive children are those that are unexpected.

Sensory Issues

Behaviors that are repeated over and over, such rocking, pacing or filling up and pouring out a cup of water over and over, are classified as stereotypical behaviors and are commonly seen in autistic children. These actions can arise from discomfort, overstimulation or simply from an intensely focused enjoyment of some feeling. They're not, as some worry, signs of psychosis.

Stereotypical Behaviors

One of the most common symptoms associated with autism is a lack of speech, but autistic speech is often more complicated than mere muteness. Some children don't speak at all, others don't begin speaking until much later than their peers. Many autistic children speak in strange ways, such as parroting back everything that is said to them. Others speak in a very formal monotone, using strange rhythms and tones when they talk.

Odd or Absent Speech

Many autistic children self-stimulate, or stim, themselves in response to anxiety arising from overstimulation. This may take the form of tapping themselves, humming, hand-flapping, rocking, or in cases of extreme frustration, biting themselves. After getting away from the source of overstimulation, such as a crowded grocery store, parade or firetruck siren, the behavior often disappears.

Self-Stimulation

In autistic children, social skills are usually stunted either severely or in strange ways. Some children do not acknowledge the presence of others, while others may only behave awkwardly with others. In some cases, young children with autistic spectrum disorders may develop impressive language skills despite interacting inappropriately.

Social Skills

Many autistic children have trouble learning actions from watching others but few problems learning facts such as vocabulary, transportation schedules or animal names. In school, these children may have trouble paying attention and learning at the same pace or in the same way as the other children.

Learning Abnormalities

In normal children, imaginary play is commonplace. This can take the form of having tea parties, pretending a rock is a car or pretending to be a comic book character. This behavior is conspicuously absent in most children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Lack of Imaginary Play

Some autistic children don't understand the emotions of others. For example, they may wonder why others cry or smile, and they may not display these emotions themselves. Despite these differences, autistic children are not emotionless by any means; rather, they simply don't process their displays of emotion the same way others do. 

Problems Recognizing and Displaying Emotion

Despite long-standing beliefs about vaccines causing autistic disorders, this is not supported by science. Autistic disorders are not caused by bad parenting, and they're not as dependent on genetics as once thought. In some cases, however, mutated genes can cause autism or similar disorders such as Fragile X. In addition, parents with one autistic child are much more likely to have a second child with the disorder. 

Older parents are more likely to have autistic children, and infertility treatments are also associated with a higher risk. Premature children and those with low birthweight are more likely to be autistic, and children exposed to certain medications, such as valproic acid, during pregnancy are more likely to be autistic. 

Some say that food allergies, such as gluten or casein intolerance, are to blame for autistic spectrum disorders. Although such food allergies are more common in autistic children, they have not been proven as causes. 

Causes of autism

Although no cure is currently known, many treatments have reputations for improving the functioning of autistic individuals. One of the most popular conventional treatments is applied behavioral analysis, also known as ABA. ABA aims to mold the behavior of autistic children superficially to get them to behave more like others, but it does not change the person inside. Proponents note that it enhances public acceptance, but many people criticize the practice as inhumane; ABA practitioners commonly terrorize autistic children with unbearable stimuli to achieve their results. 

Alternative treatments vary, but one of the most popular is vitamin therapy with B vitamins, fish oil and vitamin C. Many autistic children, who commonly have nutritional deficiencies, experience significant improvements with this. Gluten-free, dairy-free diets make big changes for some children, and these diets have been shown in studies to improve functioning in various populations. Finally, some people advocate the use of chelation therapy to remove heavy metals, and others promote oxytocin to help autistic children feel more trusting with others.

Although autistic children share many symptoms with each other, they're as varied in personality and aptitude as the rest of the population. Each autistic person has his or her own challenges, and responses to various treatments vary tremendously. With proper nutrition, support and training in social and life skills, autistic children can be surprisingly successful.

Autism Treatments