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The term autism spectrum disorders refer to
three specific conditions: They are autistic disorder,
pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified
and aspergers syndrome. These three conditions
have in common an impairment in social interaction.
However the numbers and severity of behaviors,
communication impairments and social impairments differ,
children can be severely affected or very mildly affected.
Early intervention is important because there are
some studies that have shown that children that are identified
early make more progress in terms of their speech and language
social and communication milestones and also
it helps the family in terms of understanding the disorder.
Some of the red flags for autism include no babbling by one year of age
no single words by 16 months of age, and not putting words together
two or more words together by two years of age.
Parents often report that these children appear to be deaf
and they often do not respond to their name at less than one year of age.
We know that there are many causes for the many types of autism.
We know that autism have a strong genetic basis
and that is associated with a number of different genetic diseases
such as Fragile X syndrome. We also believe that the genes
associated with autism might lend a person more susceptible
to certain outside factors such as an infection or a chemical exposure
and it is the combination of the genetic susceptibility
and these outside factors working together that leads to autism.
Children with ASDs present with signs and symptoms
in three specific areas, they usually have language delay,
so not only with what they are saying and may be delayed in their speech,
but they also have delays in what they can understand. Their understanding of language,
for example, following directions is delayed as well.
They have deficits or delays
in social interaction, they may not be interested in
being around other children, they may not respond,
they certainly rarely respond to their name being called,
they may not turn to look when you point to something.
We call that “joint attention” and this responding to somebody
who is pointing to something and saying “look” and don’t respond to the point.
They also don’t draw attention to themselves
or get their parents to pay attention to something they are doing,
either drawing or coloring or point out something interesting
in the environment like a fire engine. Kids with ASD
also demonstrate unusual behaviors,
they can have unusual body movements like spinning,
flapping and toe walking, they like to look at their fingers very closely
hold them up in front of their eyes, so sometimes they will have unusual movements.