Tuesday, 12 May 2009
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The Mystery Of Autism
Thoughts Regarding Autism Spectrum Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Of these rare neurological dysfunctions, Autism is the most common of these passive developmental disorders. Autism is a disability caused by a brain development disorder of unknown cause, yet some suspect the cause is some sort of neurological dysfunction- possibly with a genetic predisposition.
Usually, symptoms of the disease present themselves before the toddler reaches the age of three. Before Autism was more understood, others inaccurately labeled autistics as childhood schizophrenia or as having a psychosis or mental retardation.
Out of over two dozen diagnostic criteria utilized for these disorders, eight must be present to be considered autistic, according to the DSM. As with all passive developmental disorders, the person expresses language, social, and behavioral difficulties.
Treatment includes what are called psychotropic medications that delay the progression of the disorder, as well as relieve some of the symptoms of one who is autistic. Behavioral therapy is common as a treatment regimen as well. Boys get Autism much more than girls.
Then there is the controversy between many who claim that thimerosal- a preservative containing mercury, which is a neurotoxin that was used in vaccines until 2001, was the catalyst for autism in children.
Over 5000 lawsuits have been filed because of this belief, and some have been successful for the plaintiff. Yet most agree the correlation between thimersal and autism is void of scientific merit. Furthermore, the cases of autism have not decreased since the preservative was discontinued in 2001.
Aside from Autism, the other four passive developmental disorders are known as autism spectrum disorders.
Asperger’s Syndrome is more common than autism, and the symptoms are milder, as there is minimal delay in language abilities, if at all. What is expressed with Asperger’s syndrome is mild autistic symptoms. In time, the patient may express atypical personality disorders, though.
While intelligence is within normal limits with the Asperger’s patient, social interactions and abilities preset difficulty for such a patient. As with Autism, medications and behavioral therapy are treatment regimens with one with this syndrome
Rett’s Syndrome or disorder presents with not only atypical behavior, but also suffers from restricted physical growth and movement. There is cognitive and social impairment as well. The disorder affects mostly girls, and the cause is due to a gene mutation.
Childhood Disintegrative disorder is rare, and is 10 times less common than autism. The disorder has a late onset with mild autistic symptoms. The disorder affects mostly boys, and regression is sudden and possible with this disorder. Skills lost with this disorder may be language, social, self-care, as well as play or motor skills. Decreased function or impairment with this disorder may include social skills and behavioral flaws. Central Nervous System pathology is a suspected cause of this disorder.
Finally, there are passive development disorders that are not otherwise specified. This may include atypical autism, for example. Yet as with the rest of types of these disorders, the symptoms vary in their frequency and intensity, as well as the range of abilities of these developmental disorders vary widely as well.
Medicinal treatment along with cognitive and behavioral therapy prove to be most beneficial for all the different types of Passive Development Disorders that unfortunately exist for unknown reasons, yet further research should be done to discover both the etiologies as well as more effective treatment for the Autism Spectrum.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/139183.php
Dan Abshear
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- From: quiact@xanga
- Name: quiact
- About Me: Vocations in the medical and health care fields have saturated my work life for a period that spans three decades. Most of my vocations have been assessing and treating those seeking restoration of their health. When I treated such patients, I did so with what was available to me that was not only reasonable for my patient, but determined necessary based on standards of care. Aside from medical writing, for the past 10 years, I have worked for large pharmaceutical companies, and presently training and educating others on how not to break the law at where they work.. .
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Comments (12)
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Glad that you are including information as well.
@neuroticfitchmom@xanga - Absolutely :)
I beg to differ that I am not diseased, nor broken in any way. As a very difficult aspie growing up, and now having a degree in the social sciences and have studied function within groups in world cultures, ANY brain variation that pops up so consistently around the world over so much time (institutionalizing nonnormal children used to be the norm), there has to be a functional reason it's popping up. For instance, every word you say on a cell phone bouncing off satellites in outer space at the speed of light-- it takes aspie minds to handle stuff like that. Obsessive weirdos get really cool ideas. Back in the '80s we were called the freaks and geeks. We might be a little hung up as kids, and might be kinda antisocial as adults, but I really beg to differ that this is something that needs to be fixed. In fact, there is a movement for Tolerance in Mental Diversity, and I'm all for it. Sorry, not preachy so much as aspie.
P.S. Tony Attwood, noted psychological researcher, said it best-- "From my clinical experience I consider that children and adults with Asperger’s Syndrome have a different, not defective, way of thinking. The person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities than would be expected with other people. There is also a different perception of situations and sensory experiences. The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others. The person values being creative rather than co-operative. The person with Asperger’s syndrome may perceive errors that are not apparent to others, giving considerable attention to detail, rather than noticing the ‘big picture’. The person is usually renowned for being direct, speaking their mind and being honest and determined and having a strong sense of social justice. The person may actively seek and enjoy solitude, be a loyal friend and have a distinct sense of humour. However, the person with Asperger’s Syndrome can have difficulty with the management and expression of emotions. Children and adults with Asperger’s syndrome may have levels of anxiety, sadness or anger that indicate a secondary mood disorder. There may also be problems expressing the degree of love and affection expected by others. Fortunately, we now have successful psychological treatment programs to help manage and express emotions."
I have heard it stated more often that people with AS are of higher to normal intelligence. Also, I have not heard of medical therapy for the AS itself, but for comorbid conditions such as ADD. I wish I could cite my sources, but it's been a while since I've read on this topic.
Good post, though. Thanks for the link, I'll have to take a look.
Autistism is a fuzzy set. While some are clearly handicapped, others have more advantages than differences that are usually interpreted and experienced as disadvantages in societies geared toward neurological, social and other majoritarrianism (hint: some difficulties or handicaps seem to dissapear, lessen, or may even be seen as gifts in different settings, roles, cultures, and relationships).
Personally, I can name a number of advantages I have over "normal" people. My grandson, however, is very autistic, cannot speak, is intelligent in some ways, but is clearly handicapped.
You can read my http://sari0009.xanga.com/607813128/autism-as-wrong-disease-demonic/ page to get a few clues as to why that's so wrong to look at the fuzzy set (I do hope you know what that is) of autism through a disease/disorder lens.
Trying to peg all of autism as disease or disorder is much like trying to pound square pegs into round holes and it results in cognitive dissonance and layers of logic errors.
Interesting.
good info.
@stephyju2517@xanga - i don't get it, why do you always say "comment" or something to that effect but never actually make a comment about the post?
I would like to welcome you to Xanga. I hope this site proves a useful place for those dealing with autism.
Thank you for being here and helping people understand and cope with Autism. It is greatly appreciated even for families very "new" to Autism.
Thank you for the post!
My nephew was diagnosed with autistic symptoms when he was 3.5 years old, he's 7 now. His older sister started to speak one words when she was about 1.5 and we were wondering why he wasn't talking when he reached 2. We thought it was normal because the pediatrician and everyone else said that boys speak about a year or two later than girls. Then around 3 years old, we figured that something isn't right.
When he first started the special education program, he didn't speak a single word. He would keep to himself and would ignore people when they talked to him directly. Now he is able to recognize his family members and say simple words. Problem is there are times when he gets hyper and run away from us even when we call his name and tell him to stop.
I was wondering, is there a chance that he can go to school in a regular classroom, surrounded by kids without autism? He's still in special education classes. Is there a way to cure this?
We are afraid that when he grows older, like the teenage years and beyond, no one will be able to handle him when he throws a tantrum. Right now the dad is able to but what happens when the dad gets old and weaker? As for myself and my sister, we're bot females and we've given up trying to hold him when he gets angry because he can get too strong. Any suggestions?
Thank you.