Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

This disorder, which can also be defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder, is congenital and its symptoms are observed in pre-school childhood.

Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects the speech skills and non-verbal communication (gesture) necessary for social interaction. It is a disorder characterized by deficiency in facial expression skills. Continuous, persistently repetitive behavior, speech and interests that always want to be done in the same way are the indispensable features of the disease, it further disrupts social interaction and isolates the child by closing him/her into his/her inner world.

Aside from these disadvantages, ASD also has normal It is a collection of symptoms that include unique strengths and differences that are not visible in children with advanced development.

Today's general approach is that the concept of a single disease does not apply to autism. Rather than being a single disease entity, autism is thought to represent a group that develops due to different causes, progresses at different severities, and has common clinical features, and the spectrum definition is used for this purpose. The term "spectrum" reflects the wide variety of difficulties and differences that autistic individuals have.

Overview

Until the early 2000s in the scientific world, autism spectrum disorder( While it has been argued that ASD is a rare condition encountered in children, this view has been abandoned in recent years with the striking increase in the frequency of ASD (to an extent that cannot be explained by increased awareness or social sensitivity).

The same scientific world, on the one hand, believes that ASD is seen in children. While trying to understand why it has become more common, we are also experiencing the difficulties of not being able to detect the cause of the disorder, not being able to develop new diagnostic methods and not being able to treat the symptoms to the expected level. We have information about the cause of the disease at the infancy level, such as the fact that brain development is affected in the early stages and various genetic factors play a role in this effect. No clue to diagnose the disease has been detected by any blood test, advanced laboratory method or brain imaging. Although medications are used frequently and without discussing their necessity in treatment (accompanied by A drug or therapy method has not yet been found to treat the core symptoms of autism (for tantrums, mobility, control of obsessions).

Although clear successes have not been achieved in detecting the cause of the disorder, diagnosing it and treating it successfully, fortunately, More consistent and satisfactory results have been obtained regarding the symptoms of the disease. These symptoms; It is regulated as diagnostic criteria in the manual called DSM (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders) published by APA (American Psychiatric Association). In this guide, the fifth of which was published in 2013, the diagnostic criteria for ASD are; It is classified under two main headings: social communication disorder and repetitive behavior patterns

Symptoms

Symptoms of autism do not appear immediately. It becomes more obvious after a certain age. The most common reason for application is; It occurs between the ages of 2-3 and is mostly caused by speech delay. However, if a child in this age range:

Does not make eye contact with others,

Does not look when you say his name,

Acts as if he does not hear what is said,

If he doesn't show what he wants with his finger,

If he doesn't know how to play with toys,

If he doesn't show interest in the games his peers play,

If he says some words repeatedly and in unrelated environments,

If he is lagging behind his peers in speaking,

If he has strange movements such as shaking and struggling,

If he is overly active and always acts in his own way,

If his eyes are stuck on something. ,

If he/she makes unusual movements such as rotating some objects or arranging them in a row,

If he/she overreacts to changes in the order in his/her daily life, it is necessary to be evaluated for autism.

 

 

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Some facts about autism

Autism is not caused by a wrong action or behavior of the family.

The cause of autism has not been clearly found. There is scientific evidence that there is a congenital problem with brain development.

One in every three children with autism experiences future problems due to not receiving adequate education.

Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, seizures, sleep. disorders Some medical problems and additional psychiatric problems, especially attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and phobias, often accompany autism.

The risk of developing autism with environmental risk factors such as environmental pollution, mercury, vaccines. While no connection has been shown between the two, it is a common result of many studies that the risk of autism increases with advanced paternal age.

Neurological examinations such as EEG and MRI in the diagnosis of autism do not give any findings about whether autism is present or not. Therefore, it is not used in diagnosis.

Treatment

Early diagnosis and continuous, intensive special education are the only treatment for autism. With behavioral therapies and early intervention, the symptoms of autism are alleviated. At younger ages (2>), more parental education programs and programs that contribute to social-emotional development should be chosen.

Applied behavior analysis is shown to be the most effective program for the basic symptoms of autism. The applied behavior analysis program is a 20-40 hour practice per week. A high rate of success has been reported in these full-time programs.

The family must take a role in education, and they must make efforts at home to change the child's social-emotional development and negative behaviors. During the training, the child psychiatrist should see the child at regular intervals and share the educational goals with the educators.

Those who apply alternative treatment methods, although their effectiveness in ASD has not been proven; By promising families great hopes, they prevent the family from turning to appropriate education and treatment. It is not easy for families who invest both material, spiritual and temporal energy in this area for a long time to start appropriate treatment later.

A) Sensory integration: Current data indicate that the basic symptoms of autism ( social-communicative and stereotypic features) is not effective.

B) Diet treatment:It has not been reported to have any effectiveness on the basic symptoms of autism.

C)Hyperbaric oxygen:It has no positive effect.

D)Detoxification from heavy metals:It has no place in autism treatment.

E ) Neurofeedback: Not effective.

 

Conclusion

Every child's development is different. However, we know that early treatment has the potential to dramatically improve the course of the disease. Studies show, for example, that early intensive behavioral intervention improves learning, communication and social skills in young children with autistic spectrum disorder.

In this sense, it is very important to recognize the early signs of autism and access early intervention services.

>One of the most important things you can do as a parent or caregiver is to learn the early signs of autism and know the typical developmental milestones your child should reach.

Parents who are concerned about their child's development should take the time to do so, as outcomes may be improved with early intervention. They should request a child psychiatrist examination before they lose it.

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