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In general, autism is the developmental disability that prevents individuals from properly understanding what they see, hear, or otherwise sense. Approximately 3 to 5 out of every 10, 000 school aged children have some for of autism, and males with the disorder outnumber females with it by nearly 5 to 1. It is estimated that 1 in every 500 display some autistic characteristics (Williams, xiv). Autism is called a spectrum disorder because there is no one characteristic and it is different in every person. Parents may hear labels such as: autistic-like, learning disabled with autistic tendencies, high or low functioning autism. These labels dont describe differences in the child as much as the differences in the professionals training, vocabulary, and exposure to autism (autism zone, review).
Autism and related disorders are grouped under the broad heading of Pervasive Development Disorder or PDD. Autism, PDD-NOS (pervasive development disorder, not otherwise specified), Aspergers syndrome and Retts syndrome are the four diagnoses used to describe individuals who manifest some, but not all characteristics of autism (Dalldorf, 1). There is no definite test for autism. Autism is usually first diagnosed in children when they are about 2 years old. A child may display normal or above normal development until this age and suddenly change. It is unknown exactly what causes autism, but it is a biological problem and a childs environment has nothing to do with the disorder (Martin, 2 - 4).
Also there is no one treatment to help autistic people. There are dozens of ways that seem to help and for every person it is different. First there are the characteristics that are most common in autistic people to varying degrees. Delays in the development of language or no development at all. If it does develop then there is often use of words without attachment of normal meaning, use of unusual metaphors or speak in the formal, and talk in a monotone voice (Martin). They usually avoid eye contact and appear to tune out the world around them.
They can appear to be deaf one minute and overly sensitive the next and similar reactions with all their senses. Some autistic people may excel in one area or another such as music, math, drawing, or memorizing facts whether important or not. That was the characteristic displayed in the movie Rainman. However, only about 20 % of autistic people have average or above average intelligence (autism zone, review).
Autistic people tend to perform repetitive body movements such as rocking back and forth, hand flicking, or twisting. This is called stereotypic or self-stimulatory behavior. This behavior is often exhibited in mentally retarded patients, but it is even more common in autistic individuals. Autistic individuals likes routines and finds comfort in repetition, and when change occurs in those routines the person becomes agitated and distressed (autism zone, review). They are usually not interested in socializing and like to be alone. Their behavior may be very passive or they may overreact.
They may throw a tantrum for no reason at all, appear to have no common sense, and may not realize the potential danger of things like stoves and cars (Williams 68 & 69). These are only some of the characteristics of autism, and a person may exhibit some of these characteristics yet not be autistic. Also the degree and if some are present at all The exact causes of autism are unknown, but there seems to be a link with heredity and genetics, though a particular gene that causes autism has not been identified. An article in the American Journal of Psychology says that families with an autistic child have a higher rate of depression and anxiety that are unaccounted for raising an autistic child and it is also displayed in aunts and uncles. Also, non-autistic relatives may display some characteristics of autism in small quantities. This shows that there is a link between genes and autism (Piven 557).
There are biological reasons why autistic characteristics are displayed. The structure of the brain and the biochemical in the body of an autistic person are notably different from a normal human being. Autistic children have symptoms like abnormal electroencephalograms, MRI scans, PET test, seizures, abnormalities on neurological examinations show structural differences in the brain. These differences in the structure of the brain show the dysfunction of the neurotransmitters that relay messages to the brain.
These defects are also similar to those in schizophrenia (Piven 558). The hypo campus which is used for the normal functioning of memory, behavior, and emotion, the cerebellum which receives vestibular, propioceptic, and visual data, and the pons which affects the ability to feel pain and our fear responses are all affected by autism and explain the reasons for some of the characteristics of autism. The vestibular system is the primary means of balance and one of three systems that help people determine where they are in space. If this information is relayed incorrectly because of a problem with the cerebellum, the brain will feel off balance and want more information. Rocking, twirling and moving are ways of stimulating the vestibular system and send more impulses to the cerebellum, but those impulses too are relayed poorly and the behavior is repeated over and over again. The cerebellum also receives information on the visual world.
This too works improperly and distorts the world the person is seeing. The poor relaying of information explains the stereotypic behavior of autistic people (autism zone, treatment: neurological reorganization). Another theory of stereotypic behavior is the bad transmitting of information could disturb the person and the behavior is done to calm the individual. Another problem is the pons. If the pons are damaged, then it may always trigger a fear impulse.
It is possible that an autistic person may be in a constant state of fear (autism zone, treatment: neurological reorganization). One of the main problems with diagnosing autism is that there are no real tests that positively show for certain that the person is autistic; all the tests are subjective. A doctor diagnoses a person as autistic when a number of characteristics are displayed in the patient (Daldorf 1). The number of characteristics displayed that are inappropriate for a child that age determines the diagnoses the child receives. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is the tool that states the characteristics how to diagnose the patient. There are also numerous tests that rule out any other disorders to make sure that it is truly autism.
An audiology evaluation can be done to make sure there is no form of hearing loss, and the individual is having problems interpreting the noises as would an autistic person. If there is no way of observing if there is hearing loss, then an Auditory Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (ABR, BER) can be performed. This test does not require the cooperation of the patient, but they will need to be sedated. Doctors measure the activity along the auditory nerve to the brainstem to see how the person is hearing. Autistic people are known to have inconsistent responses and increased latency (Martin 189). A Computed Tomography of the Brain can be done which can detect many problems in the brain such as cysts, tumors, and many other abnormalities.
Autistic children have a relatively low occurrence of abnormalities detected by the test. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can be performed which is similar to the CT but does not give off radiation. MRIs can detect abnormalities in the cerebellum and brainstem, and that is usually the case with autistic people. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) test can be performed in which radioactive glucose is injected intravenously.
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