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Defining Features
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) encompass a group of neuropsychiatric
disorders characterized by deficits in social interaction and
communication, unusual and repetitive behavior and inappropriate
responses to the environment. Although not all people with autism have
exactly the same symptoms and deficits, they tend to share certain
social, communication, motor, and sensory problems that affect their
behavior in predictable ways. The indicators and unique factors of the
mysterious disability of autism are characterized by a peculiar
emotional and intellectual detachment from other people and the human
world in general. It has been reported that two to four out of 10,000
children are autistic; 75% of them are boys. More recently research has
indicated that these figures are out dated. In fact, there is an
abundance of information that indicating that the accurate figure is
closer to 1 in every 500.
The degree to which autism affects individuals can vary across a range from mild to severe. Some, but not all, people with autism are non-verbal. Some people with autism are relatively high-functioning with speech and intelligence intact, others are mentally retarded, mute, or have serious language delays. Severely afflicted individuals can appear profoundly mentally retarded. By standard definition that means they have intellectual limitations associated with seriously impaired adaptive behavior and cannot attain a level of social responsibility and personal independence appropriate to their age, either as children or adults.
Etiology
The cause (or causes) of autism are not well understood, however, it is
widely believed within the scientific community that there is a strong
genetic component or pre-disposition to autism spectrum disorders.
Researchers have proposed that immunological, metabolic, and
environmental factors may also play a part in the etiology of autism.
Autism is not caused by emotional trauma, as was once theorized. Autism
or autistic-like behavior may also occur with many other neurological
conditions. The optimal treatment of autism involves an educational
program that is suited to the child's developmental level.
Researchers have developed general theories about the nature of autism. Some believe the main problem is an emotional incapacity for human contact, perhaps caused by too high a level of arousal (or, according to an older view now generally discredited, by parental indifference or rejection). Others contend that the pathology is mainly perceptual, that the autistic air of preoccupied concentration and human indifference comes from straining for order as a result of chaos of the senses.
A third view is that the disorder is chiefly cognitive, the
result of an inability to think in certain ways. In a version of this
idea that has become popular recently, individuals with autism are said
to lack "a theory of mind". In other words, it is not that they are
primarily perceptually confused or emotionally aloof but rather they
are unable to share experience and express emotion normally because
they cannot anticipate the thoughts and actions of others or even
understand that others have their own intention, feelings, and points
of view. Communication, according to this theory, is a way of
influencing others to construct a picture of the world similar to one's
own. The missing "theory of mind" is said to explain some of the odd
strengths and limitations of high-functioning individuals with autism.
They may be able to master complex technical operations and can
sometimes learn the syntax and vocabulary of a language, but they
cannot use speech effectively. Their gestures are poorly coordinated
with their words, they may ask annoying or pointless questions, and
indulge in tedious monologues. They cannot take hints, keep secrets, or
understand irony and humor.
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Early Signs
The earliest signs may appear in the first months of life. Infants with
autism often shrink from touch. Instead of cuddling when picked up,
they may go limp or stiffen, and they do not cling to parents who
return after absence. Normally, children will smile at the sound of
their mother's voice when they are two or three months old. Later in
the first year they begin to reach with their hands, carry on wordless
"conversation," and eventually progress to syllables like "ma" and
"pa". Before the end of the first year they are pointing out objects to
others and looking sad when someone else looks sad or anxious. Many
children with autism never reach these stages or pass through them at a
later age.
In infancy, the symptoms may be subtle and almost unnoticeable
or optimistically disregarded by parents, but it is usually clear by
age two or three that something is wrong. Children with autism have
little interest in others or understanding of their needs and feelings.
They ignore other children and prefer repetitious, solitary play, such
as staring at revolving objects or arranging things in meaningless
patterns. They may repeatedly lay out objects in lines or sit silently
watching sand dribble through their hands for hours.
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Play Schemes and Rigid Behavior
Individuals
with autism often seem to be strangers to imagination and the value of
novelty. Make-believe play may be impossible for them. They tend to
concentrate on one subject or object to the exclusion of all others and
find it difficult to shift or divide their attention. Moving from one
activity to another can provoke a strong emotional reaction. They
impose rigid routines everywhere in their lives and they may panic in
the face of a change as slight as the introduction of new furniture
into a house. They may want to wear the same clothes every day, follow
the same schedules, and take the same routes every time they go
anywhere. They may fear harmless novelties while recklessly exposing
themselves to real dangers like moving cars.
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Language and Behaviors
Language is absent or its development delayed and distorted in children
with autism. Some are mute, many others are unintelligible, even though
they produce words or even sentences that are correctly formed. They
may echo the speech of others or make meaningless sounds but cannot
sustain a conversation or understand simple questions. A striking and
characteristic feature of autism is stereotyped repetitive movements
such as flapping hands, clapping, finger snapping, rocking, dipping,
and swaying. Some children with autism are also hyperactive, impulsive,
aggressive, and destructive. They are unpredictable and hypersensitive
to minor noises, smells, or pain. They may throw screaming tantrums for
incomprehensible reasons, repeatedly bite wrists, strike themselves
with their fists, or hit their heads against the wall.
A few unusually intelligent and articulate adults with autism
have been able to tell us about their lives as children. They speak of
a chaotic world in which everything seemed inconsistent and
unpredictable, noises were too loud, smells overpowering, and the touch
of other people unbearable. Other children frightened them, and complex
feelings confused them. Because they could not find words, they felt
they had to scream and kick to make their needs understood. Their
excruciatingly heightened sensation sometimes provoked violent rage.
Because they lacked an intuitive understanding of human relations and
social conventions, they had to infer the feelings and intentions of
other people laboriously.
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