Autism

=**Autism **= Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. A result of a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism impacts the normal development of the brain especially in the areas related to social interaction and communications skills. The condition traditionally called "autism" is part of a set of five closely related conditions which all share symptoms and fall under the broad diagnostic umbrella of "Pervasive Developmental Disorders." They each share three primary symptoms of impaired social interaction, impaired communication, and characteristic behavior patterns. Following is a brief summary of the conditions: **Autistic Disorder ** -- occurs in males four times more than females and involves moderate to severe disturbances in communication, socialization and behavior. **Rett's Disorder ** -- diagnosed primarily in females who exhibit typical development until approximately 18 months when children begin to regress especially in terms of motor skills and loss of abilities in other areas. A key indicator of Rett's Disorder is the appearance of repetitive meaningless movements or gestures. **Childhood Disintegrative Disorder ** -- involves a clear regression in multiple areas of functioning including motor skills, bladder control and social skills following two years of normal development. **Asperger's Disorder ** -- typically diagnosed later in life than other disorders on the spectrum, persons with Asperger's Disorder usually function in the average to above average intelligence range and have no delays in language skills. Deficits appear most often in the areas of social skills, concentration and coordination. **Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified ** -- includes children that do not fully meet the criteria for the other specific disorders or those that do not have the degree of impairment associated with those disorders. **Understand ** Individuals with autism interact with others differently. They often appear to live a life of isolation, have difficulty understanding and expressing emotion, and may express attachment in a different manner. Approximately 40 percent of individuals with autism do not speak. Others have echolalia, a parrot-like repeating of what has been said to them. Persons with autism often have difficulty understanding the nonverbal aspect of language such as social cues, body language and vocal qualities (pitch, tone and volume). <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Individuals with autism typically have difficulty relating to objects and events and a great need for "sameness" which makes them upset if objects in their environment or time schedules change. Children with autism may not "play" with toys in the same manner as their peers and may become fixated to specific objects. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Persons with autism may greatly overreact to sensory stimuli that they see, hear, touch, feel or taste. They may also not react at all to various stimuli from the environment. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Children with autism often have a different rate of development especially in the areas of communication, social and cognitive skills. In contrast, motor development may occur at a typical rate. Sometimes skills will appear in children with autism at the expected rate or time and then disappear. <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Autism is a lifelong disability that is generally diagnosed before the age of three years old. However, often children are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed until later in life. **<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Behavior ** //<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;">Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) //<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12px;"> techniques teach appropriate behaviors while attempting to reduce problem behaviors. These techniques focus on teaching small, measurable components of behavior in a systematic manner utilizing principles of reinforcement to help make learning fun.

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