Autism
autism; autistic; Kanner; spectrum; disorder; language; communication; asperger; disability; savant;
Contents
Autism occurs in people from all cultures and countries. Autism is a lifelong disorder that affects at least 1 in 1000 people. It affects more boys than girls (approximately 4 boys for every 1 girl). Parents do not cause autism.
People with autism have problems with communication, social interaction, imagination and repetitive activities.
What is autism?
Autism is a type of developmental disorder. This means that children with autism develop their learning and thinking skills in unusual ways and at different ages to other children.
- Autism always affects the development of communication skills and social skills.
- People with autism have repetitive behaviour patterns and obsessive interests.
- They have trouble accepting changes in their life.
- Autism can affect their thinking skills, especially reasoning and imagination.
- About 75% of children with autism also have intellectual disability.
Autism is not a disease or an illness.
- People do not 'catch' it nor do they 'recover' from it.
- People with autism are affected throughout their lives.
- However, the effects change as people get older, especially if they are helped with their learning.
Autism is usually present from birth, but may take a long time to be recognised and diagnosed.
Parents do not cause autism, but because their child is so different to other children, they interact with their autistic child very differently, and it may look as though they are not very loving towards their child. It is hard to relate to someone who does not appear to hear you, who does not look at you, who does not like to be held, and who often screams or has tantrums for no obvious reason.
Causes of autism
- There is no one cause for autism. The causes can vary in different people.
- It is possibly caused by a combination of genetic factors, viral infection and/or complications during pregnancy.
- Current research is looking at how the brain works in people with autism. In some cases, individual areas of the brain (including the cerebellum and frontal lobes) seem to function differently.
- Research looking at genes is starting to show differences in the genes of children with autism. These differences are probably small and they probably need to interact with other causes such as infection during pregnancy to cause the disability.
- If there is autism in the family, there is an increased risk of someone else in the family having autism, Asperger syndrome or a language disorder. The risk is increased from about 1 in 1000 to 2-3 in 100.
How is autism diagnosed?
A diagnosis for autism is based on a child's behaviour and development. There are no easy medical tests to prove that a child has autism. However, there are a number of recognised standards that are used in many countries to help professionals decide about a diagnosis.
Communication
Children with autism have a language disorder.
- They have difficulty understanding verbal language (what is said) and do not notice or understand the non-verbal communication of other people (how people show their feelings, eg. by smiling or frowning).
- They also have difficulty using expressive language (what is said by the person) and using non-verbal communication.
- This means that often they do not:
- make eye contact (look other people in the eyes)
- show expression on their face
- change their voice tone or volume
- show how they feel by the way they walk or stand.
- gesture with their hands, especially to point at things
- Many children with autism do not learn to talk. Some may begin to talk and then stop. Others may have good speech but they may use language in unusual ways.
- Some children with autism seem to be deaf because they do not react to sounds around them. For example, they do not answer to their own name.
- Others may be especially sensitive to certain types of sounds (such as music from their favourite television program).
- Many children with autism repeat what is said to them like an echo. For example, if you say, 'Hello, Johnny.' the child with autism may reply, 'Hello, Johnny'.
- Children with autism take what you say literally. They do not understand that words can be used in many ways. If you tell children with autism that you could 'eat a horse', they might think that you will.
These communication problems make it harder for children with autism to interact with others.
Social interaction
- Many children with autism do not have a need for social interaction and prefer to be alone.
- It is difficult for children with autism to make friends.
- They need help to learn social skills because they do not understand the rules that control how people should act in different situations.
- Children with autism are often said to be 'egocentric'. This means that they think of themselves first and do not think about how they are affecting other people.
- They often seem unaware of other people's feelings.
- They rarely share interests with other people.
Repetitive behaviours
Children and adults with autism have many unusual and difficult behaviours.
- They may insist on a number of routines, as routines can help them feel less confused.
- They may be very distressed if a routine is changed.
- For example, a routine could be disturbed if a parent uses a different route when taking the child to school.
- They may have tantrums and be aggressive at times, especially if they have to cope with a change to their routine.
- Sometimes they will deliberately hurt themselves.
- They may have obsessive interest in objects, activities and places, and not be willing to talk about or do other things.
- They may make unusual body movements which seem to comfort them, such as hand flapping, finger wriggling, stiff walking movements, walking on their toes, body rocking, head banging and hair twirling.
- They may be very sensitive to sound, colours, tastes, smells and textures. Because of this, they may be unwilling to try any new foods or they may refuse to wear some clothes because of the feel of the clothes.
- They may be sensitive about being touched and held by other people (even their parents).
- They may be very good at drawing, music, calendar calculation or memory. But only a few people with autism have these special skills. Sometimes these people are called 'savants'.
Play skills
Most young children, even before they use words, will know how to play with toys such as a car (you push it along and make engine noises) or a tea set (you pretend to drink). Children with autism do not develop these play skills. Parents may notice that their child:
- does the same thing over and over, eg. like spinning the wheels of a toy car
- is not able to pretend during play
- is destructive with toys.
How is autism treated?
Autism cannot be cured. People with autism will have difficulties all of their life, but they can, with a lot of help, learn new skills.
- Many different 'therapies' have been used to help children with autism, but not all have been shown to be helpful, and some are very expensive.
- Special education and behaviour management programs can help children improve their social skills and behaviour.
- Some children with mild difficulties will be able to live independently, but others need support all of their lives.
- People with autism have a normal life expectancy (they will live as long as other family members do).
- There is no medical treatment for autism, but some medicines can help with anxiety and concentration. What works for one person may have a very different effect on another person.
- Support groups and examples of what other families have done can be helpful to parents. However, there is so much variation in autism that what works for some families may not work for others.
Resources
South Australia
General
References and further reading
Attwood Tony, 'Why does Chris do that?', National Autistic Society, London, 1993.
Grandin Temple, 'Emergence: Labelled autistic', Arena Press, Novato, USA, 1986.
Grandin Temple, 'Thinking in pictures: and other reports from my life with autism', Vintage, New York, 1996.
Sacks Oliver, 'An Anthropologist from Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales', Knoft, New York, 1995.
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).