Tag Archives | Autism

How to Maximize Learning in Autistic Children?

By on July 3, 2012 in Autism

Children with autism usually have difficulties in learning because of the impairment in their social communication and interaction with others. Moreover, the repetitive tasks and restrictive behaviors and interests also prevent them to integrate to the learning process. Children with autism are best described as children having their own world” so allowing them to learn in a conventional way will not be effective.

learning in autistic children

Parents of autistic children will do the best way they can and try all possible things just to help their children learn. Parents would usually seek help from experts on autism regarding the treatment of their child. If your one of those who has an autistic children or just a concerned individual wanting to help children with autism, here are the following tips to maximize learning in autism:

Seek early intervention

The first thing that autistic children need is early intervention. Autism usually can be observed even during infancy. Parents need to monitor the growth and development of their child to identify possible delays in the language and social development of the child. The earlier the diagnosis will be, the earlier the interventions are, which significantly dictates the outcome of the treatments. Before the age of 3, children with autism require one-on-one therapy in order to improve behavior, language, self-help and social skills of children.

Expose the child to different social settings

An autistic child should never be confined at home because this will just limit their worlds to the home. Children with autism need exposure to the community, school and other social settings to maximize environmental effects to learning. Through social exposures, autistic children will be able to adapt in some way with the presence of other people.

Seek speech therapy

Autistic children will eventually develop language difficulties, which prevent them in dealing with other people. In this line, speech therapy will help children adapt to social interactions although they really do not develop the learning and language abilities of average children.

Undertake auditory integration therapy

Auditory integration therapy is a means by which autistic children are exposed to sounds in order to reduce sensitivity to sound frequencies. Autistic children are usually sensitive to various sounds, which prevents them from their learning. Auditory integration therapy also involves music therapy to enhance and stimulate communication abilities. Parents can employ music therapy even at home such as playing neutral and soft melodies to help children to be calmer.

Special Education

Autistic children also require special education rather than having them in regular schools. Special education caters to the specific needs of autistic children and also improves the mechanism by which children adapt to learning. Special education does not focus on teaching children the basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills, but focuses on improving the social interaction, language development and behavioral modifications. In order to maximize learning in school, parents should choose carefully the school that will provide the best education to their autistic children. For maximizing learning, the author recommends ABC mouse which features books, songs, games, puzzles, art activities and even printables. Read ABCmouse Review to more about it.

Life skills education

Eventually, autistic children will be left on their own especially when their parents will eventually age. In this line, life skills education is also essential to help children go about with the everyday tasks such as self-care and feeding.

Aside from these learning techniques for autistic children, they need unending love and guidance more than anything else. Autistic children who are loved and guided appropriately by their caregivers are able to adapt more and learn more. Those who seek love and attention most often experience deterioration in their cognitive functioning that will eventually make learning more difficult.

Guest Author Bio

Dr. Amarendra, the author writes for www.ordersciencebooks.com which contains Naturepedic Promo codes. Naturepedic provide natural, non-toxic, waterproof, and organic crib mattress and bedding products that are safer and healthier sleeping materials for infants and children.

Comments { 4 }

Pharmacologic Agents May Trigger Autism in a Genetically Predisposed Individual

By on June 15, 2012 in Autism News, Research

The exact cause of autism is not known, but studies support a strong genetic predisposition of the disorder. The development of autism is traced to the presence of genetic abnormalities especially on the genes that affect the neural signaling in the brain. The presence of family history of autism may increase the risk of the development of the disorder in succeeding generations and twins also have a greater chance to have autism when the other twin is affected.

Along with genetics, environmental factors are also seen as causes of autism. This may include exposure of the pregnant mother to certain chemicals such as phthalates, pesticides, heavy metals, infectious diseases, phenols, smoking, alcohol, vaccines, flame retardants and other toxic substances. Pregnant mothers who are exposed to these factors during the first trimester when organogenesis or the formation of the brain takes place may have offspring with autism. However, there are no strong evidence of these occurrences.

The development of autism tends to happen during the early life as early as infancy. Signs of autism are usually observed even during infancy and the signs tend to manifest more as the child grows. Not all people with genetic predisposition to autism may develop the condition; however, a study revealed that normal people with genetic predisposition for autism may eventually develop the disorder when they are exposed to certain pharmacologic agents.

This finding was seen in a recent study conducted at the Idaho State University. The study involved the use of fathead minnows, a variety of fish, which have similar gene expression as humans in terms of autism. The study revealed that when these fish were exposed to certain pharmacologic agents, the gene expression profiles were affected, which is related to the development of autism.

These pharmacologic agents tend to be medications used to treat neurological disorders. These include fluoxetine, an antidepressant drug with a class of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor; carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant drug; and venlafaxine, a Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor.

The study further showed that these pharmacologic agents only affected the gene expression associated with autism spectrum disorders, which are largely genetically predisposed. In conclusion, these agents may just trigger autism in genetically predisposed individuals when taken in adequate amounts to cause autism.

While the exact cause of autism is unknown, it is essential that people know their family history of diseases in order to avoid potential risk factors that may lead to the development of disorders. In line with autism, people who have a family history of the disease should as much as possible avoid pharmacological and environmental agents that may trigger autism later in life. Also, pregnant mothers should also avoid these factors to ensure that their offspring may not develop the disorder especially when genetic predisposition is present.

Autism is not a disease that can just go away or can be treated. Autism is a lifelong disorder that may affect the learning abilities of children. Although the symptoms can be reduced and the child may have maximum abilities, preventing autism is still more essential.

About the Author

Dr. Amarendra, the author is freelance writer. He writes at dental implants and www.dentalimplantsblog.co.uk.

Comments { 2 }

Detecting Autism in Children

By on June 11, 2012 in Autism

Autism is a condition affecting the neural development of a child that may lead to problems in social interaction and behaviors. Every parent would want their children to grow normally and knowing that your child has autism becomes very difficult to accept.

Children who are found to exhibit autism as early as eighteen months have better treatment outcomes to help them thrive, grow and learn to be the best that they can. Nevertheless, parents should never lose hope no matter what the child’s age is because treatments for autism always help children if treatments are coupled with good parenting and understanding the condition of the child. In this line, it is important for parents to understand autism and how to detect it early in children.

All about Autism

Autism includes a spectrum of disorders that include similar symptoms that vary on the extent or severity. Autism may affect the child’s ability to interact with others, play or talk. Children with autism have varied impairments from a single impairment to several problems that give children a lot of obstacles to meet. Despite the differences in children with autism, the most common characteristics of children with this disorder include:

  1. Problems in communication, either verbal or non-verbal
  2. Problems in establishing relationships with other people and the environment
  3. Problems in behaviors

Detection of Autism

The detection of autism relies greatly on parents. Parents are the child’s companion 24 hours a day and seven days a week so warning signs of autism is usually observed by parents more than anyone else. Parents may also see some problems in their child that a pediatrician may not see so parents really have a huge role to play in the detection of autism. The following are the important tips that you can do in order to detect autism early in your child:

  • Observe your child’s developmental milestones

Since autism may lead to developmental delays, although not relative, observing the milestones of your child is the first thing that you can do while the child is still an infant. Observe when your child first smiled, giggled, talked, and others. You may want to inform your pediatrician all these things to tell you if it is normal or not. Also, look into some types of regression in your child because this may be a very serious sign for autism. For instance, your child already started to say mommy or daddy and as she grows, she suddenly stopped using those words. This may be a warning sign of autism that you need to refer to your pediatrician immediately.

  • Take action in every problem you see

Any delay that you see in your child requires actions. It is important to have an idea on what are the normal milestones of children in order to compare your child’s achievements to normal development.

  • Trust your intuitions

Never underestimate your intuitions if you see problems in your child. Sometimes, even doctors miss to see red flags in your child so you should always refer to your doctor any instincts that you have.

  • Never wait for your child to outgrow it

Waiting for your child to become normal like other children just makes you lose the right time for your child to improve. If you see some problems today, this is the right time for your child to have some therapies to maximize their growth and development.

To make it easier to detect autism symptoms, here are the most common manifestations of a child with autism:

  • Absence of eye contact
  • Does not smile
  • Does not respond to sound or name
  • Does not visually follow objects
  • Does not wave goodbye or make other gestures
  • Does not make noises if he or she needs your attention
  • Does not imitate facial expressions and movements
  • Does not respond to or initiate cuddling
  • Does not share enjoyment with other people
  • Does not reach out to other people
  • Does not ask for help for basic needs

These are important signs to be observed in children in order to detect autism early in life and improve treatment outcomes.

About the author

Dr. Amarendra is a regular contributor to AccessRx.com,  a safe and secure online medication facilitator and health blog.

Comments { 2 }

I have Aspergers – Part 2: Getting the diagnosis

By on April 24, 2012 in Autism

For more on this series, go back and read part 1: who I am.

It has been quite some time since my wife first suggested to me that a lot of how I am reminds her a lot of how my son with autism is. It was one of those things that I would dwell on for a while and would come up between the two of us from time to time.

After a while, I decided that wondering was serving very little purpose. It answered some questions but raised a much bigger question and it did very little good in how I would talk to others about autism because I had this big piece of information to share but couldn’t… simply because I wasn’t sure.

So I finally decided to put my questions to rest and talk to my doctor.

Doctor HibbertMonth 1

A very unpleasant visit with my doctor marked the beginning of the process. Don’t get me wrong, she was very pleasant. It was the part where I had to find the words to answer “So what brings you here today?” that made the situation unpleasant.

No matter how many times to run it through your head ahead of time, when you’re sitting there and someone actually asks you… you go “uhhmm…. well… uhhh…”

So I find my way through suggesting that I need an assessment for myself and then need to explain why.

Let me explain. People who don’t read this blog, even my doctor, don’t know that I know anything about autism. I could just see her, in her mind, thinking “oh great, another one who thinks that just because he has google, he can diagnosis himself with anything that it tells him too.”

But it would seem that she did not think that, she understood the reasons and said she would put in the request.

Month 2

I get called into the local hospital, which is where the psychiatrists, psychologists and others of those fields all are.

I get to sit with a young lady who informs me that she has a questionnaire to run me through before they can determine if I qualify for an assessment.

I laugh and say “so this is an assessment to see if I need an assessment?”

Yup.

About an hour into it, still not done, she’s already suggesting that there are some great councilors at the hospital that I could do sessions with or group therapies. There are even marriage councilors that she could recommend… just in case our marriage needs it.

So we continue on and finish somewhere near the 1.5 hour mark.

She basically asked me a lot about my state of mind… if I’ve ever considered suicide, if I would describe myself as being happy, if I get excited about stuff… and on and on and on.

It was clear that I needed an assessment.

Month 4

A doctor comes in from out of town (because there are none here) and gives me some tests.

Over 3 hours of tests!

I did an IQ test, EQ test, AQ test and an SQ test. There was even some other tests that I didn’t recognize.

On top of all of that was the regular observational stuff. He noted that I was able to make eye contact, was quite fidgety and some other things like that.

One thing that I noticed though, that I thought I should mention… some of the tests actually offended me a bit.

I found that, in some tests, alcohol and drug abuse accounted for at least one third of the questions.

Questions such as “has your alcohol abuse affected your relationship with your family?” and the answers would be “rarely, sometimes, occasionally, often, all the time” or choices to that effect.

Where was the option for never? Or… I don’t drink?

Questions such as “has your drug use ever interfered with your job?” seem very one sided when there is no option to say no… only that it has to be to some various degree.

And they were repetitive… as though they were trying to see if you’d answer the same question differently later in the test if it was worded just differently enough for you to not recognize it.

The thing is… when you are answering 300-400 questions and 1/3 of them are about alcohol or drugs… you start to feel like you’ve been judged before the fact.

Is this really how they think it is for autistics? That they’re all alcoholic drug abusers?

Most of the time, I would just scratch it out and actually write “I don’t drink” or “I’ve never done drugs” and just let them figure it out or I would just not answer.

A part of me sat there wondering… if I’ve never been a drunk or a stoner… will I still qualify for an autism diagnosis? Is that how it works with them?

Still though, I just tried to brush it off and say “they know what they’re doing” and did my best to get through.

After 3 hours, I was exhausted.

The doctor told me he’d be back in town in 2 months.

Month 6

Doctor didn’t show up.

He did say he’d call me in month 7 if he wasn’t able to come back in month 6.

Month 7

No call.

Month 8

I call the hospital and they tell me to call my doctor’s office.

My doctor’s office is all shut down for the holidays.

Month 9

My doctor’s office tells me that they have nothing, know nothing and I have to talk to the hospital or the doctor that did the diagnosis.

The hospital tells me that the results should be at the doctor’s office.

Month 10

I sign a paper at the doctor’s office giving them the legal capacity to track down this doctor and get my results.

Month 11

My doctor’s office gets the results and tells me that they will not give me the results until we can meet face to face…. in month 12!

One full year.

However, I ask to be put on the cancellation list and by some miracle, I’m called in… in month 11.

I talk to my doctor and then talk to a councilor that same day and I am told that it is official.

I am diagnosed with Aspergers and Mood Disorder too.

A long year

It’s been a long year… a long several years if you take into account the time that I’ve suspected it before hand.

But worth it. Because now I know.

The process is obviously not the same for everyone, I would imagine most people don’t lose their doctor somewhere along the way.

But still, I am glad that I waited until after I got my diagnosis to tell anyone… and this is why.

After going through over an hour of questions just to be assessed for an assessment, then another 3+ hours of doing test upon test upon test plus observation plus what ever paperwork he had to do once back at his own office… I feel very justified in not assuming that I could diagnose myself.

I mean, it turned out that my suspicions were right. But still. I am not qualified. That much is so obvious to me now.

If the experts, who attend years and years of school, have read libraries worth of books and go through assessments just like that one on a regular basis are still able to make a misdiagnosis from time to time…. then who am I to think that I could ever get it right just by going on a feeling?

When my son was diagnosed at 2, the doctor made the diagnosis much in the same way I did… I watched his behavior. I could tell that his milestones were delayed and so could the doctor.

But it’s not like that for adults. It’s not that simple.

If you suspect that you have autism, I will take your word for it. Still, I suggest finding out for sure.

No, it won’t change your life and they won’t throw you into services that you don’t need, since there really are none… but believe me when I say that I am very very glad that I didn’t tell anyone until I was sure.

I wasn’t confident of the decision to stay quiet before but after having gone through it all, I am now.

I now have a real answer. And even though I’m still me and nothing much in my life has changed, it is a huge question answered and as strange as it sounds… it’s a big weight off my shoulders.

Tomorrow:

Part 3: Life after an autism diagnosis

Comments { 7 }

Changes On The Horizon

By on February 3, 2012 in Autism

I started out wanting to write about changes that I’ve noticed in Mike, and how this, to me anyway, signaled a positive step forward in his journey with autism. On further reflection though, it reminds me that although he has taken some steps forward, like everyone else, he might very well encounter some obstacles along the way.

Mike is 12 and is entering puberty, and he is noticing the changes in his body. We too have noticed how he is starting to sprout pubic hair and has begun to notice girls. My wife laughed hysterically when, upon discovering said pubic hair, he exclaimed, “I’m turning into a sasquatch!!” In the past six months we have noticed that he has asked more than one ‘girl’ to kiss him, including his married after-school teacher among them. So yes, we are kind of freaking out about puberty.

Perhaps we were unglued because his two older brothers were (comparatively) less demonstrative in noticing the fairer sex upon entering puberty. Or maybe because autism did not give Mike a ‘filter’ that neurotypical children have when expressing themselves; he just says what’s on his mind. As parents of an autistic child, any verbal expression (appropriate or not) is like gold; we just want to keep hearing it. So we have begun weaving social stories about girls and kissing and appropriate behavior. Personally, I hope this works for at least a little while; I don’t think I’m ready to give Mike ‘The Talk’.

Puberty, in and of itself, may have unintended effects on his developing brain and cognitive ability. Research has shown that there is an association between fetal testosterone and autistic traits. To many in the research community, it is not simply a coincidence that a diagnosis of autism is made four times more often in boys than in girls. To this end, I worry about what effect the influx of testosterone during puberty will have on Mike. Could it ‘worsen’ his autistic traits? Could it blunt his cognitive development? Could it make him more aggressive?

These are certainly possibilities that tend to keep us up at night, but are comforted in part by knowing that Mike is learning to be empathetic, and has a degree of self-awareness. Just like noticing the physical changes in his body, he knows when he becomes angry with others, and is apologetic and often embarrassed by it. He readily takes note of babies and younger children who are crying and wants to “make them happy again.” He has initiated greeting our neighbors, and has asked to play with some of the neighborhood kids.

Big change.

Not all of change is bad per se; his verbal and comprehension skills have markedly improved in school and his brief chats with us have slowly progressed to often conversational proportions. His teacher confided that she is thinking of submitting him for consideration for a self-contained class in a General Ed school (otherwise known as a satellite program). Mike has shown he has the capacity to do more academic school work, as opposed to being vocationally-inclined only. With this thrilling possibility brings change, and change always brings the possibility of failure and regression. Mike has thrived and become transformed at his current (out of district) school for the past three years after languishing in-district as the Special Ed department struggled to develop its resources and plans. The thought of returning him to a similar setting is tempering our enthusiasm but reinforces our feeling as parents that our son has more possibilities open to him now. I have quietly begun to think that Mike is inching toward the higher-functioning end of the autism spectrum.

His desire to someday become a paleontologist/chef/zoo keeper/book writer is not so far-fetched after all. Big change indeed.

It seems Mike is poised and ready for bigger and better things, despite all the pitfalls inherent with puberty. My little boy is growing up. I hope his mom and I are ready.

Comments { 0 }