Autism- Define, types, causes and reasons

Autism - Definition

Autism is a developmental disorder. As it is a spectrum disorder, the autistic child shows several symptoms which include disabilities in many areas.

They lack social communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, and sometimes intellectual skills.

Autism types

Autism can be severe or mild. It is decided by the symptoms and their severity. The symptoms vary from child to child.

And the tips for one child may not exactly work well for other child.

High functioning autism Vs classical autism-

Ref - http://autism.about.com

Children with classic autism are usually non-verbal, unengaged, and unable to perform well on standard diagnostic tests. Their major problem is

speech. They can speak very few words but most of the times they will use the words without following the meaning.

High functioning Autistic child-  Depending upon their age, they can use meaningful language, read, write, do math, show affection, complete daily tasks.

BUT they can't hold eye contact, maintain a conversation, engage in play, pick up on social cues, etc.

Reasons and Causes

The reasons or causes are not yet known, although some says that it may be due to genetic disorder.

 It may be due to neurological disorder or in simple language it may be due to chemical imbalance in brain.

Parenting-problems - Expressing the feelings by a child

The child with Autism has a different way of thinking or analysing the things. They will have multiple problems- expressive language problem, as they can't express properly themselves. Mostly the classical Autistic kids will not speak. They may say few words but without following the meaning.

The child who is borderline autistic, sometime speaks but he/she will not be able to express the feelings. As a result the parents will have tough time to understand what the child wants or needs

TIPS for Parents-

1. Listen to the child carefully and dont get irritated on the child.
2. Mostly the child repeats the same words and try to say something. (It is one of the symptom of autism)
3. So to help him to express in proper word-
4.    Give options or suggest some simple words to child. they find it very useful. I have tried this with my child. It works!!

Slow learners

There are various types of learning Disabilities in the children. Some Symptoms can be seen or observed during early childhood but some are seen later as they grow.
One of the serious type is  Autism- which is a spectrum disorder observed in the children. There is not much awareness about it either in the society or also in the medical profession. So it becomes very difficult for the family or parents to diagnose and handle this problem.
Autism is not a disease but it is a mental disorder and there is no proved cause or theory about why it happens!
So this platform can be used by parents to share their opinions about the Autism and associated problems.