Autism

Autism

Autism

Autism and NeuroDevelopment

- Neuro disorders
Autism and NeuroDevelopment
What is Autism?
Autism is a mental disorder that afflicts a multitude of patients, having lifetime effects on their cognitive and social abilities.

What is Autism?


Autism is a mental disorder primarily diagnosed in early years of childhood that usually develops within the first three years of life and lasts the person’s lifetime.
Like other diseases, it has different levels of severity and also has multiple symptoms that are seen in almost all cases of children with the disease.
There are three main signs that signal that a child has autism.
Autism causes problems with both verbal and nonverbal communication, reduced social interactions, and preoccupation with objects or activities, which leads to routine, repetitive behavior.
There are also several physical abnormalities, such as low-set, square-shaped ears that have tops that flop down.
Also, autism is associated with lack of control of the face, mouth and eyes.
The major symptoms cause the autistic child and family to encounter multiple problems and cause difficulties in their daily lives.
Autistic children may not look others in the eye, and may also not want to be held or hugged by any other people.
Other mental illnesses in children have the same symptoms of autism, just slightly altered.
A child with Asperger’s Disorder has impaired social interactions and preoccupation with objects or activities, but do not display the lack of communication that autistic patients do.
Also, a child inflicted with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder will develop for the first two or three years of their life normally, but will suddenly acquire all of the symptoms of autism.
Because these two disorders are fairly similar to autism, finding a cure for autism will perhaps lead to a cure for these mental disorders as well.

Autism and NeuroDevelopment


The neurodevelopment of a fetus is highly organized, very precise process, and crucial to proper development of the rest of the body.
But this process can be easily disrupted, causing any number of possible mental or physiological problems.
These mental illnesses, no matter how small, can place major strain on the newborn’s family, and also make the rest of the infant’s life very difficult.
Even though the cause for the neurological underdevelopment is still unknown, and a cure has not yet been found, early detection along with new treatments being provided can assure that the child has the best possible chance of dealing with the hardships caused by this disease.

Autism signs


Communication problems are also common in children with autism and may be early warning signs of an infant that may have the disorder.
These communication problems may be such things as not babbling or gesturing to others by 12 months of age, not saying single words by 16 months of age, or the loss of language ability at any age.
A child’s doctor may also be able to identify certain markers that may signal that a child has the beginning stages of autism.
A doctor would look for a child “not responding to their own name, delayed development of language skills, throwing random temper tantrums, the child being hyperactive or uncooperative, getting occupied with one thing and not being able to move onto another, being in their ‘own world’, walking on their toes, and not being able to play with toys”.
These are all common signs that a child has autism.

Autism Stats and Facts


While autism is not very common, it is also not altogether rare.
“It is estimated that one in 500 – 1000 cases of autism are diagnosed each year in the United States alone”.
Also, it appears to be far more common in males than females.
About 75 percent of all autistic cases are found in males.
Having autism does not necessarily mean that the child is mentally retarded either.
Another 75 percent of total cases of autism are also mentally handicapped.
Another determining factor of whether or not a child will be autistic is due to family history.
If a family already has a child with autism, there is a five to ten percent chance that they will have another child with autism, whereas a family without a child with autism has a less than one percent chance of having an infant with the disease.
It has also been determined that about one in ten people with autism are savants.
Savants are individuals that possess extraordinary skills at cognitive or artistic abilities.

Serotonin and Autism


Autism is caused by abnormal defects occurred during NeuroDevelopment of the fetus, but the exact cause of the abnormal development is still unknown.
Some professionals believe that developmental problems that cause autism are due to serotonin increase in the blood.
“High levels of serotonin in the blood would lead to a loss of serotonin terminals in the nervous system.
This loss could then cause altered developmental processes in target areas, such as decreased dendritic branching in the hippocampal formation and lack of maturation of the hippocampus which leads to fewer connections with the cortex”.
More support for the idea that lack of serotonin is associated with autism is that in the raphe nuclei, which are a major part of the serotonin system of the brain, do not have a decreased number of cells, but that the cells that are there have underdeveloped processes or no processes at all.
While studies have shown lack of serotonin receptors leads to underdevelopment of the brain, postmortem autopsies of autistic persons’ brains shows still more evidence of lack of NeuroDevelopment .
They have found that individuals suffering from autism tend to have shortened brainstems in the pons area.
Also, they tended to have underdeveloped facial nerves, which explains the lack of facial control, and also totally lacked the superior olive, which has important roles involved in sound localization.

Autism treatments


Although there is no cure found for autism yet, there are multiple treatments available for physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists to use.
If the disease is found early enough and if the treatments begin soon after discovery, then the child has a good chance of overcoming most of the major symptoms and will be able to lead a normal life.
Individualized education programs have been found to be highly effective in treating the disease.
It works with patients to overcome specific problems caused by the mental illness.
The specialist would work one-on-one with the child to help them get over one aspect of the disease, and then move onto the next one if needed.
Another program similar to the individualized education program is the applied behavior analysis.
In this treatment, the doctor would work to reduce problem behaviors and replace them with new healthy skills.
Positive behavioral interventions and support is a type of treatment that looks at the patient’s environment and behavior to increase positive behaviors and decrease negative behaviors in order to develop the best lifestyle for the child.
Finally, medications are typically used to treat specific behaviors, and also used to treat the comorbid conditions usually found with autism, such as seizures or sleep disorders.
Autism and current significant gaps in early detection, care, treatment and rehabilitation for mental and neurodevelopment. Fact sheets and details about autism by the World Health Organization (WHO).
UCSF - Neurodevelopment, Sensory Neurodevelopment & Autism - There are three main categories of causes or etiologies that we know contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. These categories include genetic conditions.
Some brain studies identified four different autism subtypes.
Autism is characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction and restricted and repetitive behaviors. - Neuroscientifically Challenged - 2-Minute Neuroscience
NICHD website
Neuro Autism 2024
What is neurodiversity, how do we celebrate it, and what does neurodivergent mean? BBC
What Does It Mean to Be Neurodivergent? Verywell Mind
GroupM Agencies Progress Disability Action Plan Through Partnership With Amaze Autism To Drive Neurodiverse ... B&T
Autism Genes Link to Sound Sensitivity Neuroscience News