...Autism Spectrum Disorder Introduction Imagine seeing and hearing a parents complain to doctors that they have been noticing their infant is not responding to their love and affection like other babies their age. This infant does not babble, make eye contact, smile, or show any interest or emotion to a happy game of patty cake, instead he is staring off fixated on something in the distance. The parent explains to the doctor that their child grunts, seems to just want to play by himself, and will not try to interact with others or show any type of emotion. Now imagine these same parents being told that there is nothing wrong with their child and the child is just lagging behind other infants their age. Unfortunately, these parents find out a...
Words: 1326 - Pages: 6
... Autistic Spectrum Disorder Clinton T. Ashe Professor: Dr. Janice Spagenburg February18, 2013 AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS 2 Autism Spectrum Disorders Autism is a disorder that use to affect an estimated 3.4 out of every 1,000 children ages 3-10. And now research suggests that autism now affects 1 out of 110 children. These types of Disorders can cause disruption in families and unfulfilled lives for many children who have this disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorders range from a severe form which is called autistic disorder to a mild form known as Asperger syndrome. The risk for this disorder is higher for males than females. In 1942 while working at John Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Leo Kanner conducted a study with a group of 11 children and at the end of the study introduced the label of “early infantile autism” into the English language. During that same time frame and half way around the world, Dr. Hans Asperger described a lesser form of the disorder that became known as “asperger syndrome”. These two disorders have been described and are currently listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as two out of five pervasive developmental disorders and are often referred to as autism spectrum disorders. These disorders are categorized by the variance in the degrees of impairment in communication skills, social...
Words: 995 - Pages: 4
...Assignment 2 Term paper By Nicole Alonso CDD 2251-04 Speech Language Hearing Disorder Kean University November 26,2011 Introduction Detailed overview of disorder “Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. ( 1.PubMed Health, 2010)” Autism is also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD). “ Health care providers think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder, since it is a group of disorders with similar features. (National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2011 paragraph)” A child who has autism may have symptoms that span from mild to severe. There are several types of autism that fall under the spectrum. They include Aspergers Syndrome, RETT Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS). “These disorders are characterized in varying degrees, be it difficulties in social interaction, verbal and non- verbal communication and repetitive behaviors.” ( Autism Speaks, 2011) Aspergers syndrome is a high functioning form of autism. A child with Aspergers might have difficulty interacting with others, awkwardness, and display repetitive behaviors. “Rett syndrome is a disorder of the nervous system that leads to developmental reversals, especially in the areas of expressive language and hand use.” (2.PubMed Health,2010) Childhood...
Words: 2486 - Pages: 10
...Interventions for Children with Autism Name Institution Tutor Date Interventions for Children with Autism Individuals with autism demonstrate delays or deficits in social interaction and behaviours. Autism is apparent from early childhood, but can emerge in early adulthood. It is associated with a wide range of possible causes, but genetic factors are the main causes. Children with autism have impairments in cognition, language delays, and lack of or poor social interactions. Lack of communication may force these children to adopt repetitive behaviours such as self-inflicted injuries and violence. The teaching process requires interventions that address the repetitive behaviours, skill development, and play activities that promote communication and social interactions. Several authors have discussed different intervention models that are discussed in the sections below. Rita Jordan-Behavioural and Communication Intervention TEACCH Programme The programme is community based and targets children and adults with autism and communication disabilities. TEACCH aims at developing communication skills among autistic children, and help them work and play independently of adults (Jordan, Jones and Murray, 1998). The development of communication skills is based on their understanding capability and their ability to express themselves. The programme teaches several ways of communication, such as the use of photographs and pictures, symbols and words...
Words: 1760 - Pages: 8
...Genetics and Neurotransmitters in Autism Abstract Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by the inability to relate and perceive the environment in a realistic manner. Brain development is affected in the areas of communication, cognition, and social interaction. There is a great variability in the disorder from person to person. There has been evidence to show that 60-90% of autism can be considered hereditary. Many researchers are attempting to understand the genetic determinism of the disease in order to pinpoint treatment. There are gene mutations and variants that have been discovered but due to the disease being heterogeneous and complex it is difficult to find consistency. There is also research indicating that the cause is neurological. The gap between genetics and neurology concerning autism is where the connection needs to be made in order to understand the disability wholly. Autism is a complex developmental disability as the result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. The onset of the disability is in infancy or early childhood with males being affected four times as often as females. Autism shows no racial, ethnic or social boundaries. The term Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is used because it is covering a group of disabilities with similar features. There are three categories of autism spectrum disorder known as Autistic Disorder...
Words: 1668 - Pages: 7
...Cmea Psycology 11 October 2012 A Briefing in Autism Autism is a brain impairment, a disorder that affects the neural development, causing difficulty in a person's ability to communicate, understand and speak, and most of all social interaction. Childhood autism usually manifests itself before the age of three and is more common in boys than girls, 1 in 88 kids are now diagnosed with some type of autism in the United States. Autism is not necessarily accompanied by mental retardation because there are cases of children with speech and intelligence intact, especially those diagnosed with “...Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism, that is marked by normal intelligence, often accompanied by exceptional skill or talent in a specific area, but deficient social and communication skills...” (Myers). Giving the fact that austim is a spectrum (ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder), which I like to compare it to a rainbow, there are many forms, or categories that are within the spectrum. One of them is PDD, Pervasive Developmental Disorder which differs from autism by becoming evident only after 3 years of age. Because Autism has not a specific cause, it is called syndrome (= set of symptoms) and as in any syndrome, the degree of impairment can vary from most severe to the milder and reaches all social classes worldwide. Leo Kanner (1894 to 1981) was the first to classify autism in 1943, when he published “Autistic disturbances of affective contact”, in the magazine...
Words: 1183 - Pages: 5
...Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social, communication skills, and restricted and repetitive behavior. It affects the processing and organization of information to the brain. But this is only one of the recognized disorders in the autism spectrum, the other two are Asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder. Autism has a strong genetic basis, and in rare cases, is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects. Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder. Social deficits distinguish autism and the related autism spectrum disorders from other developmental disorders. People with autism have social impairments and often lack the intuition about others that many people take for granted. Some unusual social development becomes noticeable in early childhood...
Words: 1700 - Pages: 7
...paper, I will discuss the Son-Rise Program and its delivery to children that are diagnose with Autism. Families have a difficult time because they are unaware that children with Autism need that special attention and do not know how to communicate with their child. The Son-Rise Program gives them hope to bond and understand their child and create a positive environment and try to give them a better future. In Colorado, Growing Minds, an agency specializing in autism intervention is at the forefront of using this program and the outcomes results are very positive. The design and delivery of the Son-Rise Program will be discuss and examined. Autism What is Autism? Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person's life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person's communication and social interaction skills. In the case of Autism, children are the population that are diagnose with this disorder. People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter. (What is Autism? What causes Autism?, 2013) Son-Rise Program The Son-Rise Program (SRP) is an intensive, child-centered approach for autism intervention, incorporating strategies to promote child-initiated social interactions. The program was developed...
Words: 1565 - Pages: 7
...Final Paper: Autism in Children: Conceptualizing the Complexities Genesis Cuesta The Chicago School of Professional Psychology December 13, 2012 Autism is a disorder that is becoming more and more common in our everyday society, despite a lack of everyday knowledge on this multifaceted disorder. Children are diagnosed with a range of autism disorders, fearing the consequences that come with it. In a short amount of time, the fields of medicine and psychology have advanced tremendously in their knowledge of this disorder and how it affects the development of children. In this paper, we will explore aspects of autism, from the different causes offered by researchers, common symptoms, and the latest treatments to combat this complex disorder. Overview Autism is not one disorder, but rather a group of developmental brain disorders, collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) (2011) the term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of impairment, or disability that children with ASD can have. As indicated by Johnson and Myers, Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University first described autism in a small group of children in 1943 (as cited in Kanner, 1943). Kanner documented that they showed extreme aloofness and total indifference to other people. In 1944, Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician published an...
Words: 1899 - Pages: 8
...The Effectiveness of Music Therapy in Treating Children with Autism: A Literature Review Abstract This literature review explores the use of music therapy in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and its degree of effectiveness in helping children to better develop social and communication skills. All of the sources discussed used improvisational music therapy to conduct different types of studies that address the usefulness of music therapy. Researchers used different methods of measuring children’s responsiveness to music therapy. A majority of the authors claim music therapy has a considerably positive effect in treating children with autism; however, some results indicated there is not enough evidence to confirm music therapy has a significant impact or that it is the best form of treatment for autistic individuals. There is a need for further research in order to determine whether or not music therapy is the most effective form of therapy. Future studies may be more strategically designed to minimize the difficulty in analyzing such complicated results. In addition, there should be studies that have clinical value and contain a larger number of participants so that the results may be better generalized. Introduction For years, scientists, doctors, psychiatrists, and several others have been trying to determine the cause of autism as well as a cure for the disease. Autism is a type of Pervasive Developmental Disease that is characterized by an inability...
Words: 2904 - Pages: 12
...Health problem Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a known to be a complex brain disorder found among children during their brain development stages. An individual having difficulties in social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communications, and behavioral challenges can characterize autism spectrum disorder. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated the “1 and 68 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder and about 1 in 6 children aged 13-17 has developmental disability” (CDC, n.d.). Several children are not recognized to have a developmental disability until after entering grade school. The signs children that may not have been identified with developmental disability are shown when they have...
Words: 1357 - Pages: 6
...focuses their gaze on the other individual, points their finger on the object and then returns their gaze on the individual. Cross sectional description of a child’s ability to follow an eye gaze was first presented by researchers Scafie and Bruner the first time in 1975. They found out that children aged between eight to ten months followed a line regarded to them, children between eleven and fourteen months old also did the same. This form of early research showed that it is possible to bring objects to the attention environment of an infant through the use of an eye gaze (Moore & Dunham, 2009). A good development in language is of critical importance when it comes to an infant’s readiness for school and achievement in academics (Janus & Offord, 2007). Language development is also a key facilitator in the development of social skills of an individual which optimizes the involvement of the individual in social and economic activities of the society (Zubrick et al., 2009). There is increased attention from researchers in early child development in language so s to better understands human development. Language development may be viewed as a simple process but it depends on the quality and amount of language that infants are exposed to (Hoff, 2012). Joint attention plays a very important role in the learning of vocabularies in children (Baldwin, 1995). Pointing of gestures and verbal labeling provides an opportunity for infants to learn words through appropriate object...
Words: 3293 - Pages: 14
...disorders Autism- a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts. Biological Components – Many experts feel that Autism is caused by biological factors. The cause of Autism has yet to be identified and a cure had not yet been discovered. As the years have passed important information in regards to the source that Autism has some biological components has emerged sparking the hope for a cure. Genetic factors “studies of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs show that autism has an extremely strong genetic component” (page 517 Hansell, Damour). In some studies it is shown that Autism may be linked to having an older father, Autism appears in equal number of sons and daughters of older fathers. Anatomical Anomalies – researchers have shown that it appears to be a disruption in people suffering from Autism (chapter 13 page 517). Children who suffer from Autism according to Dr. Eric Courchesne. “In addition to anomalies in brain size the white matter of people suffering from Autism grows excessively and asymmetrically” (page 518 Hansell, Damour).White matter shows the communication function in the brain, persons suffering from Autism display less white matter in their brain then in someone who is not suffering from Autism. Prenatal, Birth and neuro-chemical factor, there is a list of prenatal birth complications that have been linked to Autism but...
Words: 821 - Pages: 4
...What is autism? Definition Autism is a severely incapacitating developmental disorder of brain function characterized by three major types of symptoms: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual or severely limited activities and interests. The definition of Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is provided by the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Children with autism are less able to interact with the world as other children do. To provide a comprehensive definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder, there are separate labels given to children with autism for different points on the Autism spectrum. At the least affected end, you may find labels such as "Asperger's Syndrome", "High Functioning Autism" and "Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified" (PDD-NOS). At the other end of the spectrum you may find labels such as "Autism", "Classic Autism" and "Kanner Autism". Description Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two...
Words: 3105 - Pages: 13
...Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Tests, Signs, and Symptoms That Aid in Early Intervention Abstract This paper contains information pertaining to Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Throughout this work, I discuss how ASD can cause significant social, communication, and behavior challenges. I identify many signs and symptoms to look for as children are growing. I share research on an investigation into a tilt test and also a study on siblings that are at high and low risk for ASD. My own personal experience as the mother of a child diagnosed with ASD and early childhood educator is discussed in great length. Awareness of the symptoms, special tests, and typical development are mentioned so that a child with ASD can be diagnosed early and receive services to support their learning and success throughout life. Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Tests, Signs, and Symptoms That Aid in Early Intervention Introduction Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a subject close to my heart. My oldest daughter was diagnosed several years ago at about nine years old. She was extremely high functioning with above average language skills throughout her early childhood. Her speech was quite formal for a young child, but this really made her sound intelligent. Having strong language skills made it more difficult to see the delayed social conventions. As a young child, my daughter had difficulty listening to others and allowing for the give...
Words: 2408 - Pages: 10
