Once considered rare, Autism has only recently gotten more attention. It was once prevalent in only 5 out of 10,000 people but now statistics say that 91 in 10,000 people have an autistic spectrum disorder. There has been an ongoing debate on whether autism is an epidemic or if there have been more diagnoses due to the fact that there are more branches of autism that have been introduced, or both. The question: “Is autism on the rise?” happens to be a difficult question to answer. “A child is much more likely to be recognized as having autism now than 10 to 15 years ago.” (Wing 40) Autism spectrum disorders are more common than Down Syndrome and many other childhood conditions. All autism spectrum disorders are more common in males than females. Four boys for every girl are labeled with severe autism. For each affected girl there are 10 boys with milder forms of autism. Girls are less likely to have autism and whenever they do they are more likely to have the most severe autism. “People are saying, ‘We never had any kids with autism before, and now we have 10! What’s going on?” says Sheila Wagner, director of the Autism Resource Center at Atlanta’s Emory University. (Nash 48)

The word autism comes from the Greek word autos, meaning self. The term autism was described by Leo Kanner; a child psychiatrist from John Hopkins University in 1943. “Dr. Kanner described children who showed little interest in people, insisted on routines and have unusual body movements, like flapping their hands.” (Ozonoff 5 ) The children had a variety of learning problems and despite being able to talk, they rarely used their speech to communicate with others. Dr. Kanner’s description was used for many years and only children with similar or the same severity or both were diagnosed. Now researchers are beginning to realize that autism is a spectrum condition and is no longer recognized as a narrowly defined one. Dr. Kanner was the first step to finding the research on autism.

When a child is diagnosed with an autistic disorder, professionals use the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The latest diagnostic tool is the DSM-IV. According to the DSM-IV symptoms of autism include: Problems with looking at people in the eye. Failure to make age appropriate friendships which means that they often have relationships with people much younger or older than them or only family members. Autistic people may appear deaf because of selective hearing, sometimes they do not respond to others as if they cannot hear them, they may ignore very loud sounds yet respond to a sound that is desirable such as their favorite commercial jingle. Children with autism are sensitive to touch, smell and sound. It may sound weird that an autistic person would sometimes not hear loud sounds yet be sensitive to them but they are; if they hear a loud sound they may be more bothersome to them than normal people. Another problem is that autistic children may pull away from affectionate touching yet be insensitive to pain and behave as if nothing is wrong even if it is a severe injury. “As with other abnormalities in response to sensory stimuli, these tend to be less marked with age.” (Wing 31) Autistic people have routines that have to be preformed in exact order and if there are even minor changes to their rituals or routines they easily get anxious. Repetitive motor mannerisms such as flicking fingers in front of their eyes, odd body postures, spinning, rocking, walking and/or running on tiptoe and flapping hands when excited or upset is common in autism. Autistic children have a lack of imagination; they use toys for concrete reasons rather than acting out scenarios and pretending with them. They use objects in unusual ways like flicking a doll’s eyes or turning over a toy car and spinning the wheels. Autistic people pay close attention to shining objects and bright lights. They also like objects that move like fans and running water for example.

Individuals with Autism may frequently repeat what people say to them. This repetition is known as echolalia. Autistic people tend to repeat dialogue from movies, books or commercials at inappropriate times and sometimes make up words that only have a meaning to them.

Most autistic children have a difficult time developing language. They develop normally in the first months of life and around two years of age speech declines. Severely autistic people remain mute for the rest of their lives and might only progress to making mechanical or animal noises. Some autistic people speak but never get any further than echoed language. More able people with autism have problems with the way they speak. Autistic people may speak too loudly or softly to be heard well, speak too quickly, emphasis on the wrong words in sentences. Say statements as if they are questions and may take breaths at unusual points during speaking. Many autistic people also have a monotone voice. “Often children with high functioning autism are unaware of how different they sound.” (Ozonoff 13) Autistic people’s gestures may not match the tone of their voice so therefore it is difficult to tell how they feel. Autistic people take expressions literally and don’t understand sarcasm.

People on the autistic spectrum have a different theory of mind than other people. “Children on the autistic spectrum, however are “mind blind”; they appear to think that what is on their mind is identical to what is on everyone else’s mind and that how they feel is how everyone else feels.” (Nash 51) Autistic people don’t understand that people could be deceiving and could easily be taken advantage of. Autistic children who are very verbal may make comments that are uncalled for even though it is the truth. Autistic children aren’t trying to be rude, they just don’t understand that it is inappropriate. They have a hard time lying to people and even if they do it’s not for deception but more for making up things based on books and TV. Autistic people may also appear to be egotistical because they do not realize that they are hurting other people’s feelings. Their lack of understanding of other people’s thoughts and feelings are because of the inability to imitate others which is very crucial because that is how children learn behavior.

People with autism have an attachment to unusual objects like a vacuum or a string for example. Or they have very unusual interests for their age. Autistic children favor topics such as the stock market, astrophysics, geography, etc. When they speak about their interests they have a hard time talking about anything else and may be so obsessed with their interest that it interferes with their lives to the point where they have problems caring for themselves. They have a hard time letting go of their topic and don’t realize that the listener is uninterested. Surprisingly there is a good side to this issue; autistic people with average to above average IQ’s are able to get a career in their interest and be successful. They have an amazing memory for their topic and have the persistence to work very hard at pursuing their interest.

Some autistics are savants. A savant is defined as an individual who posesses abilities that normal people can’t acquire. These gifts can range from calculating long mathematical problems in seconds, being able to be amazing artists or musicians without being taught and saying what day a certain date might occur in at any date on the calendar. Ten percent of autistic individuals have these abilities while only about 1% of non-Autistics are savants. The myth that all autistic people are savants is false.

Some autistic people are verbal, have average to above average IQ’s and are able to do age appropriate tasks but their main problem is communication and relating to others. Other, low functioning autistics, however, are not able to communicate with others.

“Like the current diagnostic process, the many “treatment” strategies for autism are based on behavior and are designed to help a person with autism lead a full life as possible.” (www.naar.org)

Some autistic people can benefit from medication prescribed to deal with specific behaviors. The medicine itself, however, does not cure autism; it can only reduce problems such as aggressiveness, tantrums or hyperactivity. Changes in diet may also help. Autistic people in general have more food allergies than others, removing certain food groups, such as diary products, from the diet of autistic individuals showed significant improvements in autistic children. Some autistic people are sent to institutions, hospitals or schools for the disabled. Schools design educational programs to meet the needs of autistic children. “They enroll in a special education classroom, a “mainstream” or normal classroom or a combination of both.” (Edwards 46) For an autistic child to be included in a mainstream classroom they must be able to speak well and have normal or higher intelligence. If the children are cannot do that, special education is available. Speech therapy can improve language difficulties and occupational therapy helps the motor skills of the autistic child.

Clinical psychologists are also available to understand autism and observe the problems of an autistic person to organize their environment for them. They provide services for learning difficulties and training for social skills. Sensory Integration Therapy is needed when autistic people are sensitive to certain sounds, tastes, smells, etc. Sensory Integration Therapy is for autistic people to cope with sensitivities. The therapy works by exposing the person to senses by play and movement.

Long term outcomes for an autistic person varies. Since no two autistic people are the same, it depends on how well they can function in society. The most able adults with autism organize their own lives. Some able autistic adults can live independently but have to rely on others to make sure they get their needs. There are group homes and institutions for autistic adults who cannot function without the constant assistance of somebody else. Autism is a life long disorder. Only lessening the severity of symptoms can occur. So far there is no cure for autism so people with autism will have to deal with the challenges that come with autism. Autistic people can have satisfying and happy lives if help from professionals and support from their families exists.

Works Cited

1. Edwards, Michele Engel. Diseases and Disorders: Autism. San Diego, California:Lucent Books, Inc. 2001.

2. Nash, Madeleine J. “The Secrets of Autism.” Time. 6 May 2002: 48-56.

3. Ozonoff, Sally., Dawson, Geraldine & McPartland, James. A Parent’s Guide To Asperger Syndrome & High-Functioning Autism. New York, New York:The Guilford Press. 2002.

4. Wing, Lorna. The Autistic Spectrum: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding and Helping Your Child. Berkeley, California:Ulysses Press. 2001.

5. National Alliance for Autism Research.

(29 April 2004)

Published on: 2004-06-24 (7179 reads)