What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder. It affects children in two big ways. First, it can make it harder for them to communicate and socialize with others. Second, it can cause kids to have repetitive behaviors and limited interests. Children who have autism are born with it. Its not usually noticed until they start to have trouble interacting with other children their age.
In psychiatry, the thinking about autism has changed over time. In the past, children were diagnosed with one of several different conditions known as pervasive developmental disorders:
- Autism
- Childhood disintegrative disorder
- Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified
Now, these different conditions areall considered autism. Kids with autism can have a range of different symptoms and behaviors, so autism is considered a spectrum instead of just one condition.
One in 59 children are diagnosed with ASD. Boys are diagnosed with ASD about three to four times more than girls.
How Common Is Autism
Autism is always present from birth, but it might not be recognised or diagnosed until adulthood. Early intervention, in the form of support for their individual needs, can be helpful for autistic children.
Even if you arent diagnosed until adulthood, getting a diagnosis can be very helpful for identifying your strengths and the things you struggle with, and finding support.
How Can Having Autism / Aspergers Affect Your Day To Day Life
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Everyday Changes And Horizontal Planning
Some everyday changes or new situations a person with autism may need preparation for might include:
- leaving the house
- having visitors at your house
- going somewhere new, such as the dentist
- switching between activities or tasks during play or learning
- doing things in a different order from time to time for example, having a bath/shower before dinner rather than afterwards
- eating new foods
These frequent changes that may occur on a daily basis are known as horizontal transitions.
Many people on the spectrum have;strong visual learning and thinking styles.;Visual strategies can therefore be an effective way in which to communicate upcoming changes. Common visual strategies used in horizontal transition planning include Social Stories, social scripts, task lists, schedules such as timetables, daily planners and calendars. The National Autistic Society have published a thorough;guide;on the various uses of visual supports.
When visiting a new place, having photos to prepare the individual;for what to expect can be helpful. Pictures can be obtained through websites or by exploring a location via the Google maps street view function. Requesting images may also be an option, for example, contacting the doctors practice and requesting a recent image of the doctor and the consult room in advance of the appointment.
How Does Autism Affect Adults
Families who have autistic loved ones may worry about what life with ASD looks like for an adult.
Some autistic adults go on to live or work independently. Others may require continued aid or support throughout their lives. Each autistic person is different.
Introducing therapies and other remedies early in life can help lead to more independence and better quality of life.
Sometimes autistic people dont receive a diagnosis until much later in life. This is due, in part, to a previous lack of awareness among medical practitioners.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Autism In Adults
The most severe symptom seen in adults is that they are no longer able to perform daily tasks and activities. This often leads to the need for care of someone else. Some of the adults with autism can live in the same house with their parents. Some individuals can live with other adults with autism in controlled facilities.
Most adults with autism do not have the tendency to actually engage in social interaction as they have difficulties in creating and maintaining a task. One of the most important signs is that they lack feelings of empathy. This, in turn, leads to a perception of them as unfriendly and cold. However, we need to remember that this is a symptom of autism.
It has also been observed that most adults with autism are obsessed with an item or a condition. When this pattern is altered or deteriorated, they may become distressed or nervous.
Impactful Ways That Clutter Affects Your Life
How does your home make you feel when you walk in the door at the end of the day? Do you feel peaceful and glad to be at home because it is your sanctuary?
Alternatively, do you feel dread because there is a mountain of unfolded laundry in the chair, a stack of magazines spread all over the floor and a sink full of this mornings dishes? Scientific reports claim the state of your house reflects the state of your mind. Disorganization and clutter indicate there is something out of balance.
The trick is learning what is off-kilter and how to set it straight.
Living in a cluttered home is stressful for everyone. Mom is constantly pulled from what she needs to do to help someone find his or her homework. Dad is late for work because he cannot find his car keys. As the pressure to find those things that are lost mounts, so does the tension. Before too long, something or someone snaps.
Think about how you feel when you have misplaced something. You may berate yourself for being careless. You may feel frustrated and ready to give up. When your child comes in to ask a question, you may not respond in a loving manner and feelings are hurt.
Clutter drains you of energy and makes you feel tired. When you have to look at clutter, you most likely feel overwhelmed. You know you need to do something but you do not have the energy. Take time to clear the clutter from one small area.
Clutter can also affect your body weight.
And continued to let it go.
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Autism & Suicidal Ideation
Past research has shown that the rates of suicidal ideation among people with ASD is much higher than in the general population.
The rates tend to be higher among girls with autism and people with milder forms of disorder. In the latter case, it is usually because people who are higher-functioning have a greater awareness of the limitations and frustrations of their autism than those with severe cognitive deficiencies.
Additionally, the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders writes that many people on the spectrum are victimized by bullying, sometimes on a daily basis. This often leads to the development of anxiety conditions and depressive disorders.
Those conditions, on their own, are leading factors in suicidal ideation and behavior. When combined with the challenges of living with autism, it significantly increases the risk factors for people with autism spectrum disorder.
Differences In Motor Development
It is thought that the difference in the physical-motor development of children with ASD is not due to the inadequate development of their imitation skills since they are not sufficiently concerned with their environment.
In the beginning, Leo Kanner stated that children with autism had the same motor development as normally developed children. After some point, he changed that claim. Even if these children have a normal physical appearance, there are differences and impairments in the development of motor skills compare to their peers. Although it seems that they will be able to perform every skill in their normal time as a physical structure, the development of some skills would be late.
Autism Spectrum Disorder in children often results in delays in their physical development. It affects the lower brain which is a responsible center for the individuals balance and coordination. The muscle tone of children with ASD may also be different from that of normally developed children.
The development of motor skills in children with autism is generally close to their chronological ages. These children may experience some problems with the movement in accordance with the directive and in the serialization of the movement. For example; Mostly it could be in inadequacy in fine motor skills such as throwing cubes into a box, paper cutting with scissors.
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Thinking And Processing Information
Some people may have a rich and creative imagination, but find tasks like organising what they need for the day challenging. Others may experience difficulty recalling recent events, or following lengthy, complicated instructions. This can make actions that require multi-tasking or have a time pressure challenging. For some people, having information about new concepts and tasks presented in a visual way can be helpful.
How Autism Affects Physical Development
An individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder does not always show every symptom of the disorder. On the other hand, there are some symptoms that are typically observed. These symptoms should be recognized beforehand because it is important for education and training. The earlier the training is the easier it is for an individual with autism to get used to the daily life routine. In addition, families learn to act according to the child by understanding how they should approach their children with autism.
In general, symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders are manifested in 3 different titles. At least two of these symptoms in those titles should be observed. These 3 main titles are problems of social interactions, communication problems, and limited and repetitive problems.
Now, I will mention those limited and repetitive behaviors which are related to physicality. After that, there will be some information about what is physical development, the comparison between normally developed children and children with ASD in physical development, and how autism affects physical development. Moreover, I will continue with children with autism needs what kind of training or exercises in order to improve and develop their movements for making easier their physical activities.
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Recognize And Address Sensory Needs
Sensory issues very often affect individuals on the autism spectrum. As mentioned before, one or more of the senses may be affected. Senses may be overly sensitive and/or under sensitive . Some people with ASD are hypersensitive to various lighting. For example, they see the blinking and/or hear the buzzing of fluorescent lighting. For some, headaches are triggered. A person on the autism spectrum may be overly sensitive to various smells and/or sounds in the environment. Light touch may feel like pins yet actual pinpricks may not be felt at all.
In some situations, a person on the autism spectrum may appear not to process sensory information from one or more of the familiar five senses of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. They may seem unaware of what is in plain sight and/or process words as noise. These situations can seem very curious. Three other less known sensory systems are also often affected for many on the autism spectrum. There are the vestibular system , the proprioceptive system and the interoceptive system . Interoception is often referred to as the eighth sense.
At home, sleeping in total darkness and using a weighted blanket can be helpful for some. At home, hopefully, it is easier to adjust lighting and control or mask sounds and smells in the environment. Sometimes working with an occupational therapist who is trained in sensory integration can be beneficial.
Using Visual Supports For Life Skills
Many people on the autism spectrum work best with visual cues and supports. There are several helpful options for teaching life skills.;A great way to start is to create a visual aid that breaks up;a;complex daily routine;into smaller tasks. For example, you can create a checklist;for each part;of the day, such as a ‘Morning Checklist’, ‘Lunch Checklist’, ‘Bedtime Checklist’.;This can help a person with autism get accustomed to the daily routine by checking off items on the list as the day goes on. See example below:;
If a person requires more supports, you can also break down each specific task into its own checklist, to make sure each task is completed correctly and efficiently.
Check out our Task Analysis for Brushing Teeth, an example of breaking down one of many morning tasks – brushing your teeth!
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How Should I Discipline My Autistic Child
Tantrums and other difficult behaviors often emerge from an autistic childs need to communicate. An essential component of discipline is therefore identifying what sparked their meltdown or what they want to express. Maybe the child was overwhelmed by the crowd at a holiday dinner or forbidden from playing with a toy. The first step of disciplining a child is observing and identifying potential triggers.
Parents may then seek to implement a system of rewards for positive behavior and punishment for negative behavior. Following this plan consistently can help the child understand the consequences of their actions.
Alex’s Care Plan Includes A Weekly List Of Microwaveable Meals But Doesn’t Always Want To Eat
And probably even just on my own, I suppose, trying to live a practical life. If I want to do things like, sort of paying a bill, well the number of steps that simply takes to do that is really quite considerable, and it creates a pressure from trying to switch off my brain from whatever its previously thinking about, towards focussing on something like simply paying a bill. Its really quite sizeable the number of steps it makes me take, where most people can do it instantly, but every single ones a new challenge. Whereas the simple ease with which you can simply just sit there and think about whatever, or do whatever you want to do, whatever your minds particularly focused upon. That to my mind is one of the essences of autism. What really demarcates the autistic person from a normal person as it were, that sort of level of obsession, of course, there are other distinctions as well.
So whats difficult about everyday life that you need support? Would you know?
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Is There A Test For Asd In Adults
Clinicians have developed different tests that can help diagnose ASD in adults. These include diagnostic tests such as ADOS 2 Module 4, ADI-R, and 3Di Adult.
However, it is not clear how reliable these tests are for adults. The reasons for this include:
- Researchers who look at the reliability of ASD tests often use a small number of study participants.
- Not many research studies on testing for adult ASD include enough participants from historically underserved groups, such as People of Color or people who are LGBTQIA+. This means the results of studies looking at ASD testing methods may not represent a true population of autistic adults.
- Many clinicians may not be familiar with the signs of ASD in adulthood. This is especially true if the patientâs symptoms are not severe or if the patient also has other conditions, for example, anxiety.
Autistic people may have of co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety or depression, than those in the general population.
Autism & Medical Complexities
Scott Wright, a researcher at the University at Utah and editor of a book about autism spectrum disorder in middle age and later life, said that the âmedical complexitiesâ of patients with autism, coupled with their limitations in language and communication, can lead to physicians, hospitals, and the health care system at large not being capable of providing the best level of care. It might be possible that patients with severe forms of autism spectrum disorder donât even seek help for their ailments because they are overwhelmed by the awkwardness of talking with other people about themselves.
Wright suggests that a parent or a caregiver should find a specialist or a primary care physician who has training in working with autistic patients or otherwise demonstrates the necessary awareness and empathy for what the experience must be like for an autistic person. Beyond that, Wright recommended that there be more training for health care professionals so that autism can be recognized and appropriately responded to in a clinical setting.
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How To Identify Children With Autism
Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in early childhood. Autism is the most common condition in a related constellation of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders, also called ASDs. Other autism spectrum disorders include Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, or PDD. Autism and other autism spectrum disorders can be difficult to diagnose, because the symptoms and degree of impairment — ranging from mild to severe — are different for every child.
Some features of autism include:
- Social withdrawal
- Verbal or nonverbal communication problems
- Rigid and repetitive behavior
In severe cases, an autistic child may never learn to speak or make eye contact. But many children with autism and other autism spectrum disorders are able to live relatively normal lives.
Life Insurance Underwriting And Autism
Just like the individual with ASD, the disorder itself can be very unique and have many different characteristics. Life insurance is not one-size-fits-all and when you applyfor an individual life insurance policy, not a child riderunderwriters review the complete application and all the records that go along with it. They then decide how much coverage and at what cost to offer the applicant, unless they decide to deny or postpone the application.
If an applicant has been diagnosed with autism, they dont automatically get put into the autism filethere is no such thing. Each application, no matter the conditions associated with it, is individually evaluated.
Before we get into examples of autism cases, lets go over the different general life insurance classes.
In the world of life insurance, when you apply, underwriters will assign a classification to you depending upon many factors. The main factors are your age, gender, and health. These classes range from the best at Preferred Plus down to Standard.
» Learn more: What Is a Risk Class and How Does it Affect Me?
If an applicant doesnt qualify for these typical classes, the underwriters will then table rate them.;The table rating system typically means that your pricing for life insurance will be the Standard price plus 25% for every step down the table you are. Tables descend A-J or 1-10 depending on which format the insurance company uses.; For autism cases, it is not uncommon for an applicant to be table rated.
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