Autism is a complex neuro-developmental disorder that is seen in children from 18 months to three years of age. It affects the child’s communication, socialization and cognition. If the children with autism receive early intervention they may improve remarkably and many of them may go to the mainstream schools.The Autism experience is different for everyone.
Autism appears as differences in development in three main areas: communication (verbal and non-verbal), social interactions and imagination, which can be seen in repetitive and restricted play or leisure activities.
What is the cause of autism?
We still do not know what causes autism. There is a lot of research looking into what may cause the condition, and the indications are that autism may result from a combination of factors including genetic and environmental influences.
Current research indicates that anything that can produce structural or functional damage to the central nervous system can produce the condition of autism.
We also know that certain viruses and known genetic conditions like Fragile X syndrome are associated with Autism. Statistics show that there are families that have more than one child with autism (a twin or a sibling) or wherein a parent or a grandparent may also have autism, and that reinforces the genetic component to the causes. Current estimates suggest that up to 25% of ASD is caused by known genetic abnormalities (Miles, 2011). We know that there is no one single gene for autism but several genes in combination are involved.
It is important to remember that autism is a spectrum disorder and the manifestation may vary widely across individuals. Hence it is believed that the factors that may have caused autism in a particular individual may entirely separate from those in a different individual. Given all these considerations, is difficult to tell parents why their child has autism and in most cases, the cause may not ever be known.
An important point to keep in mind is that autism is not caused by an unhappy home environment, both parents working, mental stress during the pregnancy, poor handling by the mother, an emotional trauma, or other psychological factors. A parent or home environment cannot cause a person to have autism.
What are the other conditions that may co-occur with Autism?
Autism may occur alone, or may be accompanied by other diagnoses. When autism co-occurs with another condition, it is important that all the interventions the individual receives are autism friendly.
Conditions that commonly co-occur with autism include:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Intellectual Disability (previously known as Mental Retardation)
- Anxiety Disorders
- Depression
- Sleeping Disorder
- Seizures and Epilepsy
- Learning Disorder (LD)
- Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Fragile X Syndrome
- Hearing Impairment
- Visual Impairment
Symptoms of Autism
Depending on the severity of symptoms, autism may be divided into mild moderate or severe forms. Children with mild autism may have only a few of the classical symptoms while the severely affected children may have most or all of the following features of autism:
- Poor or no eye contact
- Failure to respond to commands or one’s own name being called
- Little or no speech or repeats words or phrases (echolalia)
- Failure to point and pulling others to draw attention towards objects of interest
- Difficulty in mixing with other children
- Resists change and likes sameness
- Repetitive body movements like hand flapping and rocking
- Repetitive body movements like hand flapping and rocking
- Inappropriate laughing or crying
- Throws tantrums
- May show aggression to others or self
- Spins objects
- Inappropriate play e.g. the child may continuously spin the wheels of a toy car rather than pushing it or may line up toys or other objects
- No fear of danger
- Walking on toes
- Failure to imitate
Prevalence of Autism
- In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that approximately 1 in 44 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to 2018 data.
- 1 in 27 boys identified with autism.
- 1 in 116 girls identified with autism.
- Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.
- Most children were still being diagnosed after age 4, though autism can be reliably diagnosed as early as age 2.
- 31% of children with ASD have an intellectual disability (intelligence quotient [IQ] <70), 25% are in the borderline range (IQ 71–85), and 44% have IQ scores in the average to above average range (i.e., IQ >85).
- Autism affects all ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
- Minority groups tend to be diagnosed later and less often.
- Early intervention affords the best opportunity to support healthy development and deliver benefits across the lifespan.
- There is no medical detection for autism.