Autism presentation

Presenter: Gregory Napier

DefinitionAccording to Carlson (2005) Autism is a chronic

disorder whose symptoms include failure to develop normal social relationships with other people, impaired development of communicative ability, lack of imaginative ability, and repetitive, stereotyped movements.

The syndrome was named and characterized by Kanner (1943), who chose the term (auto, “self” ism, “condition”) to refer to the person’s apparent self-absorption.

The text indicates that 4 in every 10,000 infants are born with this disorder and it afflicts boys three times more often than girls.

Can you imagine being a parent and your own blood does not love, cherish or appreciate you?

SymptomsLack of social responsiveness to others.

Autistic children do not reach out to or even make eye contact with their parents.

Language and communication difficulties. About half of autistic people do not develop language. The language that does develop is often strange, involving repetition of words or phrases with little recognition of meaning. Many engage in echolalia, the exact echoing of phrases spoken by others.

Sameness and routine. Autistic children become extremely upset at even minute changes. The movement of a piece of furniture or the change of one word in a song may evoke a tantrum.

Repetitive stereotyped behaviour. They may spend their time spinning objects, flickering their finger or rocking their bodies. Some engage in self-injurious behaviours such as banging their heads.

Some autistic individuals exhibit extraordinary savant abilities. A common savant skill is calendar calculation.

Brain PathologyIt is widely accepted that Autism has a

biological basis. A single reason or reasons has yet to be determined. However, many anomalies exist in the anatomy and physiology of autistic brains. In addition a variety of non-genetic pathological conditions especially those that occur during prenatal development can produce symptoms of autism.

Brain-imaging studies show that the brains of autistic children are larger than average, reflecting abnormal brain growth during the first year of life. They also reveal abnormal development in the cerebellum which coordinates movement and is involve in shifting attention.

Autopsy of autistics also reveal abnormalities in the cortex, brain stem and the cerebellum.

Twin studies show that autism is highly heritable, however, several genes are responsible for its development.

The drug, thalidomide, has been shown to increase the likelihood of autism. During the 1960’s it was used to alleviate the symptoms of morning sickness. Later it was found to cause birth defects. Miller, Stromland and colleagues (1994) studied 68 people whose mothers had taken thalidomide during pregnancy and found that 5 of them were autistic.

Other causes during prenatal development include rubella (German measles), encephalitis (caused by herpes virus) and tuberous sclerosis.