What is Autism?
Autism begins in the early stages of life and lasts throughout life; It is a disorder of neurobiological origin that causes delays in social relations, communication, behavior and cognitive development. The severity of the resulting syndrome and the combination of problem behaviors are different in each child.
Autism; Mental Disorders are defined under the title of Pervasive Developmental Disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5).
Disorders other than autism under the title of pervasive developmental disorders are: Rett syndrome, asperger syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.
What are the Basic Symptoms of Autism?
The symptoms seen in autism are in three basic groups.
Disorder in the development of social relations.
Impairment in verbal and non-verbal communication, lack of imagination, including symbolic play.
Obsessive, repetitive behaviors; limitation and narrowness of his field of interest.
What Characteristics Are Observed in a Child with Autism?
He prefers to be alone and engage in some kind of activity that is interesting for him rather than interacting. .
He mostly prefers objects and inanimate beings rather than people.
He may not react to some verbal or non-verbal expressions (such as facial expressions).
Eye contact is poor.
He looks restless.
br /> He uses people as tools.
He cannot put himself in the other person's shoes; They have problems using and understanding body language. For example, frowning a person's eyebrows has no meaning for him.
Activities called symbolic games, such as housekeeping or being a doctor, are not attractive for him.
He is generally interested in details instead of playing with toys for their intended purpose. For example, he enjoys spinning the wheels of a toy car for hours instead of driving it on the ground.
His tendency to stack things is very typical. It may be more fun for him to arrange the pieces side by side instead of placing the pieces of the puzzle.
Shining surfaces, light, shadow, rotating objects (fan, fan, clock), people's hair and beards, parts of objects (door handle, buttons). , the movement itself (constantly opening the door
Some motivators that are effective on other children do not have the same effect on these children.
The emotions they experience are immediate and definite, focused on needs.
Waving hands and arms, Movements such as following the movements of the fingers, walking on tiptoe, and turning around are very typical.
He resists changes in daily life (such as changing his seat at the dinner table). He may resort to violence. He may demand that everything in the flow of life remain the same (such as going to school the same way every day).
He may find some sounds, textures and tastes very disturbing. While you are sitting at home watching a noisy movie, you may not notice the sound of a motorcycle coming from outside, so it may seem meaningless to him to suddenly cover his ears and become angry. Some autistic people cannot eat rough foods, some cannot apply cream, and avoid playing with objects that can be contaminated such as play dough and sand.
They do not use speech for communication. The words they use are very limited and they usually use words they hear frequently around them.
Approximately half of children with autism can never develop their speaking skills. Children who can talk, on the other hand, confuse the pronouns, call themselves "you" instead of "I", and when they ask their mother for milk, it is not "mom, give me milk" but "do you want milk?" He asks by saying.
Immediate/delayed echolalia is seen. He repeats the sentence "wash your hands" that his mother said at that moment in a monotonous and mechanical voice. While her mother is trying to explain something, she may repeat an irrelevant advertising slogan she has heard before, such as "the real taste of life."
They like to travel, especially by car, and play with water. They can look at the fish in the aquarium for hours.
They usually have eating disorders. Some of them may like to eat inedible things.
They may be very interested in electronics and kitchen utensils, collect detergent boxes and similar things.
They may be extremely interested in music. They may be very fond of advertisements and video clips and may not show interest in the cartoons watched by their peers.
They are not aware of the dangers around them. He can run across heavy traffic and walk on a high wall without fear. ir. He/she may not be able to predict what will happen when he/she touches hot objects or broken glass.
He/she may exhibit behaviors that harm the environment/himself; When he/she is angry, worried, or unsuccessful, he/she may experience tantrums and actions such as throwing things, screaming, pulling his/her hair, scratching his face, biting his hands, hitting his head against the wall or the ground.
There may be large gaps between some of his abilities. While he may show some skills appropriate to his age or even above his age in motor development, he may only have the social skills of a very young child in social development.
Autism and Superior Ability
Individuals who show superior abilities in memory-based skills that do not require abstraction ability constitute 10% of the entire autistic group. These individuals have deficiencies in many aspects; They have superior abilities in fields such as mathematics, art, music and mechanics. Abilities such as being able to learn to read and write on one's own, being able to read fluently without understanding what is read (hyperlexia), and memorizing in a short time are also encountered. 10-20% of autistic people are also hyperlexic. These autistic children learn to read on their own at a very young age, for example at the age of 2-3, but they cannot make sense of what they read. It has been found that hyperlexic and autistic children are less hyperactive and less clumsy. It is generally seen ten times more frequently in autistic people with high intelligence and in men. It is necessary not to encourage a hyperlexic child, but to direct him to age-appropriate games and social activities directed by adults. Written materials can be used in education by taking advantage of reading ability.
Diagnosis and treatment
If your child has the symptoms listed above, you should definitely consult a specialist. Although child psychiatrists make the differential diagnosis, they will definitely ask you for tests and observations to assist in the diagnosis. After the diagnosis phase, individual training should be started along with medication support if necessary; Your child's social, communicative, motor, mental and speech skills education that will support his/her developmental areas should be planned without wasting time.
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