Autism is one of the neurodevelopmental disorders. It is a condition with onset in the developmental period. This disorder typically manifest early in development, often before the child enters grade school, and are characterized by developmental deficits that produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning. Autism is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, including deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and skills in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, or activities including stereotyped or repetitive motor movement, use of objects or speech, insistence of sameness, inflexible adherence to routines or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior, highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus, hyper or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment. (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 2013).
Myth and facts of Autism.
Myth- Poor parenting causes autism
Fact- The old belief that poor parenting causes autism has totally proved wrong. Parenting skills have nothing to do with Autism. Instead it is through parents effort and training that have successfully contributed in intervening for children with autism. (M.,C., Helen and D., Tim,2007)
Myth- Autism is mental illness
Fact- It is the strange battle over what’s neurological versus psychiatric. Autism is genetically predetermined- biologically based or neurologically based disorder of development. It is not considered a mental illness.
Myth- Children with autism can perform amazing mental feats, such as memorizing the whole telephone directory or multiplying large numbers in mind.
Fact- Autistic children who have such unique abilities are called savants abilities. Less than 5% of the autistic children have such abilities. Even for them those skills are useless as they may not have the social skills needed to use them appropriately. This ability are not limited to autism or other central nervous system disorders, or disease have some spectacular islands of genius that stand in jarring juxtaposition to the overall limitations. The condition can be present from birth and evident in early childhood or develop later in life after Central Nervous System injury or disease. Males show signs of savant syndrome approximately four times more often than females. (Darold A Treffert, 2014)
Myth- Children with autism will never learn to speak
Fact- About 50% of children with autism does not speak. It is because children with autism often are self absorbed and seem to exist in a private world where they are unable to communicate and interact with others. With early detection and training it is possible to decrease this number. It is also possible to teach them alternative means of communication.
Myth- Children with autism are all alike in their symptoms.
Fact- Autism is a spectrum of disorder closely related with a shared core of symptoms. The level of disability and the combination of symptoms varies tremendously from person to person. In fact, two kids with same diagnosis may look very different when it comes to their behaviors and abilities.
Myth- Children with autism are disobedient kids who intentionally ignore people and instructions.
Fact- They look like disobedient because of their poor communication and social skills. All behavior is ALWAYS driven by something. The issue of whether the behavior is premeditated or ill-intended is different. In most cases, kids with autism do not premeditate or intend ill will to others. Premeditation and ill will toward others requires highly sophisticated executive functioning skills, as well as high level of social or communicative awareness as these two areas are significantly impacted in autism.
Myth- Children with autism are mentally retarded or intellectually disabled.
Fact- Not all the children with autism are mentally retarded or intellectually disabled. Only some portion of children with autism co-occurs with mental retardation. Studies have distinguished the difference between the children with autism and children with intellectual disability. This distinction can be observed by the age of one. (O. A. Julie, D. Geraldine and M. A. Jefferey, 2002)
Myth- Autism affects only boys.
Fact- While the majority of the affected is boys, yet it affects the girls as well. The ratio is 4:1. The genes influencing autistic traits appear to be the same for boys and girls. Lower prevalence and severity of autistic traits in girls may be the result of increased sensitivity to early environmental influences that operate to promote social competency. (C.N.John and T.D.Richard 2003).
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