Friday, March 22, 2024

When Was Autism First Discovered

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Be Careful About Changing Your Childs Diet

Autism Game Accidently Discovered

Talk to your doctor before trying something different, like a special diet. Thereâs no hard evidence that special diets help children with ASD. Autism is a complex brain disorder. While it may seem that cutting out certain foods could relieve your childâs symptoms, it might actually cause more harm.

For example, children with autism often have thinner bones. Dairy products have nutrients that can make their bones stronger. Studies on a protein in milk products called casein have found that many children performed the same whether or not they ate foods with this protein. Their autism symptoms didnât change in any remarkable way.

Some evidence shows that people with autism may have low levels of certain vitamins and minerals. This does not cause autism spectrum disorder. But supplements may be suggested to improve nutrition. Vitamin B and magnesium are two of the supplements most often used for people with autism. But people can overdose on these vitamins, so megavitamins should be avoided.

However, some diet changes may help with certain symptoms of autism. Food allergies, for example, may make behavior problems worse. Removing the allergen from the diet may improve behavior issues.

Some children with autism have digestive problems like constipation, belly pain, or nausea and vomiting. Your doctor can suggest a diet that wonât make them worse.

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What Is The Difference Between Autism And Aspergers

Aspergers is no longer a standalone diagnosis, but its important to understand the difference between an autism diagnosis and an historical Aspergers diagnosis. Learning the difference between autism and Aspergers can impact how families approach treatment.

For over 70 years, doctors treated Aspergers as its own diagnosis. Many professionals believed Aspergers was a more mild form of autism, leading to the origin of the phrase high-functioning.

Now, children with Aspergers symptoms are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder . Their symptoms are typically on the milder side, but every child experiences symptoms differently. Hence the word spectrum ASD features a wide range of symptoms and experiences.

For example, some children with ASD are non-verbal or may have low IQs. Others have superior IQs and only minor social deficits.

No matter the symptoms, its important to get treatment for your child with ASD as soon as possible. Early intervention is one of the surest ways that your child will develop necessary life skills and become independent. At Therapeutic Pathways, we offer applied behavior analysis treatment to help children develop those skills and live satisfying lives.

Keep reading to learn the history of Aspergers. Then call Therapeutic Pathways at 422-3280 for more information on treatment options.

The Early History Of Autism In America

A surprising new historical analysis suggests that a pioneering doctor was examining people with autism before the Civil War

John Donvan and Caren Zucker

Billy was 59 years old that spring or summer of 1846, when a well-dressed man from Boston rode into his Massachusetts village on horseback, and began measuring and testing him in all sorts of ways. The visitor, as we imagine the scene, placed phrenologists calipers on his skull, ran a tape measure around his chest and asked many questions relating to Billys odder behaviors. It was those behaviors that had prompted this encounter. In the parlance of the mid-19th century, Billy was an idiot, a label that doctors and educators used not with malice but with reference to a concept that owned a place in the medical dictionaries and encompassed what most of us today call, with more deliberate sensitivity, intellectual disability.

But what diagnosis might have fit better? If Billy were alive today, we think his disability, and that of others documented then in Massachusetts, would likely be diagnosed as autism. True, the actual word autism did not exist in their time, so neither, of course, did the diagnosis. But that does not mean the world was empty of people whose behaviors would strike us, in 2016, as highly suggestive of autistic minds.

Like that man on the horse, whose devotion to hard data, fortunately for detectives of autism history, was far ahead of his time.

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Sights in Boston and Suburbs

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When Was The First Vaccine Created

  • Smallpox is caused by the Variola virus, which dates back to prehistoric times
  • other diseases traveled around the world before effective vaccines were created.
  • Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, in 1749.
  • the World Health Assembly announced that smallpox had been eradicated from the world.

With the race to find a COVID-19 in full swing, now is a good time to look back on history to learn about how the very first vaccines were created. To understand the timeline, we will start with one of the first natural diseases known to humans, smallpox, called the scourge of mankind.

Smallpox is caused by the Variola virus, which dates back to prehistoric times. The earliest evidence of smallpox-like skin lesions was found on Egyptian mummies from 1570 to 1085 BC. Other indications of the disease were found in ancient Asian cultures, from around 1122 BC. It was later found in Europe, the West Indies, Africa, and the New World.

History Of Autism: Timeline And Diagnosis

Thimerosal and Autism Timeline

Autism diagnosis has changed drastically over the years. Today, the DSM-5 describes the condition as autism spectrum disorder. Here is a timeline of events that lead to this diagnosis.

1911: Eugen Bleuler , a Swiss psychiatrist, was the first person to use the term autism to refer to a group of symptoms related to schizophrenia. The word autism comes from the Greek word autos, which means self.

1926: In a scientific German psychiatry and neurology journal , a child psychiatrist from Kiev, Russia, Grunya Sukhareva, wrote about six children with autistic traits.

1943: Leo Kanner, Austrian-American psychiatrist, published a paper about 11 children with high intelligence but who displayed a desire for aloneness and obsessive insistence on sameness. He later described their condition as early infantile autism.

1944: Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician, described a milder form of autism, which is known as Aspergers Syndrome. He reported cases where the patients were all boys and had high intelligence but had problems in social interactions.

1967: Bruno Bettelheim, an Austrian-born psychologist, popularized the theory that autism was the result of cold and inattentive mothers, coining the term refrigerator mothers. This theory has been debunked solidly. At this time, researchers did not consider the biology or genetics involved, but only looked at the impact of life experiences.

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Who Resolution On Autism Spectrum Disorders

In May 2014, the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Comprehensive and coordinated efforts for the management of autism spectrum disorders ,” which was supported by more than 60 countries.

The resolution urges WHO to collaborate with Member States and partner agencies to strengthen national capacities to address ASD and other developmental disabilities.

Special Education & Reclassification

Another milestone came in 1991 when the Department of Education granted special education services to children with autism. This might have encouraged families to seek out more help for their children if they felt that access to special education services, which they previously would not have been eligible to receive, was a possibility.In the fourth edition of the DSM, published in 1994, the inclusion of Asperger syndrome as a milder form of autism spectrum disorder pushed the boundaries of the understanding of autism even further. Statistical findings from the CDC are based on the DSM-IV definition of autism. The DSM-5 edition condensed autism, AS, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified into a single diagnosis. This reclassification was met with controversy by autism advocates, while it was supported by some researchers.

However, the DSM-5 did address the concern of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder being diagnosed together, as was the case in past editions. This may have led to some people with autism being misdiagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder .

The DSM-5 allows for diagnoses of more than one disorder. Many children who have developmental delays are now regularly screened for autism. This increases the possibility that they may be correctly diagnosed and drives up the rate of autism diagnoses in the United States.

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High Rate Of Possible Undiagnosed Autism Discovered In People Who Died By Suicide

A new study has revealed that a significant number of people who died by suicide were likely autistic, but undiagnosed, highlighting the urgent need for earlier diagnosis and tailored support for suicide prevention.

A team of researchers, led by Dr. Sarah Cassidy from the University of Nottingham and Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, are the first to examine evidence of autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England. They analyzed Coroners inquest records of 372 people who died by suicide and also interviewed family members of those who died. The research was published on February 15, 2022, in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The researchers found that 10% of those who died by suicide had evidence of elevated autistic traits, indicating likely undiagnosed autism. This is 11 times higher than the rate of autism in the UK. The research team worked with Coroners offices in two regions of England to identify the records.

Reference: Autism and autistic traits in those who died by suicide in England by Sarah Cassidy, Sheena Au-Yeung, Ashley Robertson, Heather Cogger-Ward,Gareth Richards, Carrie Allison, Louise Bradley, Rebecca Kenny, Rory OConnor, David Mosse, Jacqui Rodgers and Simon Baron-Cohen, 15 February 2022, The British Journal of Psychiatry.

Postwar Conceptualizations Of Autism And Infant Psychopathology

How I Felt When I First Found Out I Was Autistic

After the war, the controversies over how to describe infantile thought continued. The diagnoses of schizophrenia, psychosis and autism in children were largely interchangeable during the 1940s and 1950s. In the USA, Bender and others employed a Kleinian model to understand infant and child psychopathology and focused on schizophrenia as the central psychopathological problem of childhood. Bender was an important figure in the development of perceptual tests for children. In 1947, she published a study on one hundred schizophrenics who had attended the Childrens Department at Bellevue during the period 193747. She defined childhood schizophrenia as

pathology in behavior at every level and in every area of integration or patterning within the functioning of the central nervous system, be it vegetative, motor, perceptual, intellectual, emotional or social.

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The History Of Autism

It has been more than 50 years since Leo Kanner first described his classic autistic syndrome. Since then, the results of research and clinical work have helped us learn more about autism. More and more people are being diagnosed as autistic, although we still have a long way to go in creating a world that works for autistic people.

Read our charity’s timeline below to explore the history of autism, meet some of our ‘autism pioneers’ and find out more about the incredible work they’ve done.

Origin And Diagnosis Of Autism

According to Martin Luther, A 12-year-old boy was affected by autism. Luther thought this boy was possessed by a devil. The earliest case of autism is of Hugh Blair of Borgue in 1747 which is registered as a court case in which his brother requests to annul Blairs marriage to get Blairs inheritance. In 1798, A feral child has some signs of autism who are treated by a medical student Jean Itard with a behavioral program.

In the 1940s, researchers within the United States began to use autism to explain kids with emotional or social issues. A doctor from Johns Hopkins University, Leo Kanner used it to elucidate the behavior of many kids he studied United Nations agency acted withdrawn. Simultaneously, Hans Asperger discovered Aspergers syndrome.

Donald Gray Triplett, born in 1933 in a rural town known as Forest, Mississippi. He is the one whom psychiatrist Dr. Leo Kanner in 1938 has first at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Kanner was puzzled after seeing his symptom and was initially unable to diagnose him. However, in Dr. Kanners 1943 paper, Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact, Donald Triplett was registered as Case 1, Donald T.

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Signs And Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Some people with ASD have a known difference, such as a genetic condition. Other causes are not yet known. Scientists believe there are multiple causes of ASD that act together to change the most common ways people develop. We still have much to learn about these causes and how they impact people with ASD.

There is often nothing about how people with ASD look that sets them apart from other people. They may behave, communicate, interact, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. The abilities of people with ASD can vary significantly. For example, some people with ASD may have advanced conversation skills whereas others may be nonverbal. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives others can work and live with little to no support.

ASD begins before the age of 3 years and can last throughout a persons life, although symptoms may improve over time. Some children show ASD symptoms within the first 12 months of life. In others, symptoms may not show up until 24 months or later. Some children with ASD gain new skills and meet developmental milestones, until around 18 to 24 months of age and then they stop gaining new skills, or they lose the skills they once had.

Antibiotic Found To Prevent Autism Development In Mice Study Says

First grade student with autism found wandering Tampa ...

Feb. 21 — Blocking an overactive signaling pathway in the brain during the first five weeks of life prevents mice from developing autism symptoms, a study published Monday by the journal JNeurosci found.

Mice treated with the drug rapamycin early in life did not develop symptoms, the data showed.

The drug, an antibiotic that has been sold under the brand name Sirolimus, among others, works by blocking mTOR signaling, a pathway in the brain and central nervous system involved in cell growth and development, the researchers said.

Abnormal signaling in this pathway has been found in people and animals with tuberous sclerosis complex, a neurodevelopmental disorder closely linked with autism spectrum disorder, they said.

Treatment administered during critical periods of child development could prevent autism symptoms from ever manifesting, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said.

Because tuberous sclerosis complex often is diagnosed in humans, defining these critical periods may provide an opportunity to prevent development of autism behaviors, the researchers said.

After four weeks of treatment, starting at one week of life, mice displayed normal social behaviors and normal brain cell activity — even after four weeks without treatment, according to the researchers.

The disorder affects one in 44 children born in the United States, according to Autism Speaks.

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Introduction To Asperger Syndrome

In 1944, Hans Asperger in Vienna had published an account of children with many similarities to Kanner autism but who had abilities, including grammatical language, in the average or superior range. There are continuing arguments concerning the exact relationship between Asperger and Kanner syndromes but it is beyond dispute that they have in common the triad of impairments of social interaction, communication and imagination and a narrow, repetitive pattern of activities .

1993

  • Stephan Ehlers and Christopher Gillberg published the results of a further study carried out in Gothenburg. This study examined children in mainstream schools. The aim was to find the prevalence of Asperger syndrome and other autism profiles in children with IQ of 70 or above.
  • From the numbers of children they identified, they calculated a rate of 36 per 10,000 for those who definitely had Asperger syndrome and another 35 per 10,000 for those with social difficulties. Some of these children may have fitted Asperger description if more information had been available, but they were certainly on the autism spectrum. Teachers of these children had previously recognised social and/or educational differences, but had not been able to find a reason for these differences.

1995

How First Autism Genes Were Discovered

Date:
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Summary:
Scientists have presented the compelling neurobiological story of discovering the first autism genes. The role of gene mutations, their association with synapse abnormalities, and — surprisingly — a connection between circadian rhythms and autism risk was discussed at a recent conference.

At the 21st Congress of the ECNP 2008 in Barcelona, professor Marion Leboyer, University of Paris, France, presented the compelling neurobiological story of discovering the first autism genes.

Thereby she highlighted new findings on the role of gene mutations, their association with synapse abnormalities, and — surprisingly — a connection between circadian rhythms and autism risk. These insights will nurture applied projects on the development of new therapeutic strategies.

The autistic disorder was first described, more than sixty years ago, by Dr. Leo Kanner of the Johns Hopkins Hospital , who created the new label ´early infantile autism´. At the same time an Austrian scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that became known as Asperger Syndrome, characterised by higher cognitive abilities and more normal language function. Today, both disorders are classified in the continuum of ´Pervasive Developmental Disorders´ , more often referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders .

Advances in autism research: genetic influences

The role of gene mutations in autism

Autism and synapse formation

References

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Autism Rates Across The World

This is not just the case in the United States but also around the world.

Reporting on the Lancets Global Burden of Disease study, Axios wrote in 2018 that 4.57 million children under the age of 5 have autism, or 1 in 138 children in every country. Most of them live in developing or low-income countries: 1 million in the Sub-Saharan African and South Asian regions. The highest rates of childhood autism are in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.

So much of the dialogue around autism looks at developed countries, like the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, that it tends to be overlooked that the rate of childhood autism is concentrated primarily in areas where access to health care and education are limited. The actual number and rate of autism diagnoses across the world is likely far higher than what it is now.

From a global perspective, there are 851,000 children with autism in India, by far the largest in the world. The next highest is China, with 422,000. Between the United States and Canada, there are about 150,000 children with autism and 140,000 across Western Europe.

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