Autism is one of the most prevalent disorder around. Even though there are numerous studies on autism, there are still a lot of queries and no definite answer on the causes of autism as well as effective treatments available. Here are 10 facts that we should know about autism.
1. How many?
Autism is prevalent, affecting 70 million people around the world. It is also worthy to note that males are about four times more likely to have it than their female counterparts.
2. The symptoms
Autism is about having poor social, cognitive and adaptive skills. People with autism may suffer from language impairment, repetitive behaviours, social communication difficulties, sleep disorders, allege reactions, seizures and abnormal behaviour. These symptoms are usually able to be identified when the child is between six months and two years old. This list is not definite or exhaustive, the child may suffer from other conditions that may be linked to autism.
3. Is there a cure?
For now, there is no cure for autism. Autism is perceived as a lifelong condition even though there are people who have recovered. Somewhere between 3% and 25% of children may lose their autistic diagnosis over the years (Helt et al., 2008). However, it is critical to note that this group of people mostly likely have high intelligence, relatively good language skills and motor development.
4. One quarter of children are non-verbal.
There is a handful of children with autism who are non-verbal. Furthermore, almost half of people with autism may not have strong enough linguistic skills to be independent in their daily activities and some of these problems may even be carried into adulthood.
5. It is a spectrum.
It is critical to note that autism is a spectrum and there is a huge variability in this disorder. This “spectrum” includes Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder etc.
6. What causes it?
The answer is unknown. However, there are a list of reasons such as the parents’ genes, the age of parents when they give birth to the child, a deficient mirror-neuron systems in the brain, the “extreme male brain” etc.
7. Incredible genetic complexity
The autism database currently lists 573 genes thought to be related to autism.
8. Cortical under-connectivity
Even though there are still a lot of areas undiscovered in the spectrum of autism, one thing that can be confirmed is that autism results from cortical under-connectively. In other words, it means that autism stems from the fact that various parts of the brains do not communicate with each other as efficiently as in a typical brain, hence diminishing its effectiveness as a whole.
9. Savant syndrome
A small proportion of people with autism, around 10% have savant syndrome. This means that these people have extraordinary abilities in some limited areas, such as advanced mathematical skills or improved visuospatial abilities.
10. What is the treatment?
There are both chemical and behavioural treatments available. Various drugs are being used to help these people cope with their autistic conditions, but do not address the core autistic problem of social and communication difficulties. For behavioural approaches, the most useful will involve play, focusing on motor skills as well as the use of picture exchange for communication.
Category(s):Autism spectrum disorders
Source material from Psyblog
