DEFINITION

Autism, disorder that severely impairs development of a person’s ability to communicate, interact with other people, and maintain normal contact with the outside world. The disorder was first described in 1943 by American psychiatrist Leo Kanner. One of the most common developmental disabilities, autism affects 2 to 5 out of every 10,000 children and appears before the age of three. It is four to five times more common in males than in males.

CAUSES

It is a brain disorder present from birth which affects the way the brain uses information but the cause of autism is still unknown.

Some researches suggest a physiological problem affecting those parts in the brain that process language and information coming in from the senses – pre-natal and or post-natal infections, chromosomal disorders, CNS dysfunction, seizures, vaccines, brain injury.

There are some imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain.

Genetic factors may sometimes be involved. In many families there appears to be a pattern of autism or related disorders which suggest a gene(s)-based cause, however, at this time no gene has been directly linked to autism

Autism may also result from a combination of several causes.

Vaccinations

Food Allergies

LEARNING PROBLEMS TO BE ADDRESSED

Organization – children with autism are frequently immobilized and sometimes will not be able to begin their required task.

Distractibility – it takes many forms in a the classroom; reacting to outside noises or visually following movements instead of completing the required work.

Sequencing – difficulty in remembering precise order of tasks because they focus concretely on specific details and do not always see relationships between them.

Generalization – difficulty in applying what has been learned in one situation to similar things.

Receptive language – many children with autism, especially at a very young age, may not understand language.

INDICATORS
Physical Health

Generally healthy
Generally good-looking
Is a picky-eater, tends to smell food/objects and put things in the mouth
Exhibits disturbed sleeping patterns
Does not seek attention when hurt, has high pain threshold, unable to localize pain.

Gross Motor
Walks on ___ especially during early years
Is hyperactive, uninhibited
Is fast and strong and does not tire easily
May either have good or poor perceptual-motor skills depending on level of attention span

Fine Motor
Is absorbed by some objects with tendency to get attracted to spin around/ whirling objects
Self-stimulates by touching surfaces/edges, arranging/aligning objects precisely/repetitively

Psychosocial
Demonstrates unusual fears
Is socially immature and handicap
Is maladaptive to changes in food, clothes, routine, routes of arrangements of things
Tends to be self-injurious

Self-Help
Is delayed in performing eating, dressing, and grooming tasks
Is unable to assume age-appropriate responsibilities
Lags behind in discriminating and avoiding dangers

Language-Cognitive/Intellectual/Achievement
Shows deficit in the use of language
Under-reacts or overreacst to sounds
Under-reacts to language and visuals
Demonstrates rate learning
Is echolalic
Is delayed in language-conceptual abilities- reasoning, inferential thinking, problem solving, deductive and inductive thinking
Is delayed in overall intellectual response
Exhibits repetitive movements, body rocking, hand wiggling, whirling, “ritual of walking to and fro” etc
Is either echopraxic or non-imitative of gestures