Is Autism A Learning Disability
A person with autism doesnt necessarily have an intellectual disability. Unfortunately, sometimes children with ASD who arent verbally communicating may be assumed to have an intellectual disability. During the 1980s, 69% of people with autism had a co-diagnosis of intellectual disability. When the research began to hone the criteria for diagnosing autism, the number of children having both diagnoses went down, and in 2014 was at 30%.
The misdiagnosis could be that the genes that cause autism also cause intellectual disabilities. While intellectual disabilities can include some social issues, autism doesnt necessarily include intellectual disabilities. An IQ test at the time of an autism screening would help make that distinction, but there may be a need for a nonverbal intelligence test. One study in 2007 had 38 children with autism take a nonverbal intelligence test and a test for people with typical verbal skills. The children scored an average of 30 points higher on the nonverbal test.
Many children with autism spectrum disorder are able to learn and remember details, and they may excel in subjects such as math and science or in creative realms such as music and art.
Being able to distinguish between ASD and an intellectual disability, if one doesnt co-exist with the other, is important in getting a child the correct type of help and support he/she needs.
Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism is a developmental spectrum disorder that impacts the individual in terms of many aspects of their lives. There are multiple causes of the disorder. However, most of such causes are still unknown.
Often , there is nothing to differentiate an individual with autism from other normally-developed people.
But an individual with autism may communicate, interact, behave, and learn in different ways from most other people. Learning and many other abilities of individuals with autism range from severely challenged to being gifted. Some may require a lot of help while others may need less.
Social communication challenges, and restricted and repetitive behaviors are the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders.
In autism spectrum disorder, these symptoms begin in early childhood, but they may go unrecognized. Such symptoms also persist and interfere with daily life.
Friendship Teenagers And Asd
Being a teenager isnt easy. But it can be even harder for a teen on the autism spectrum particularly when it comes to friendship.
Furthermore, the hallmarks of an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis are impairments in social skills and language abilities. Yet these are the very tools so necessary to make teen friends. Teenage conversations go beyond what is spoken. They rely on more subtle forms of language, such as body language, facial expressions, and speech inflections. They demand the ability to take anothers perspective and to interpret and reason about others thoughts and emotions. Difficulty picking up on these social cues can lead to social missteps, misunderstandings, and potentially rejection, isolation, and bullying.
Co-occurring conditions common for people on the spectrum may further complicate friendships in teenagers. In particular, anxiety can make it difficult for your teen to try to make friends, particularly if he or she has had trouble in the past. Unexpected behaviors may make peers wary of getting to know your teen.
Your child may benefit from counseling to learn social skills, overcome anxiety, and learn to regulate his or her behaviors. But aside from having a really good behavior plan and Individualized Education Program and filling the week with social skills groups, what can your teen do to develop friendships?
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How Is Autism Treated
There is no cure for ASD. Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to remedy specific symptoms and can substantially improve those symptoms. The ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that meet the specific needs of the individual. Most health care professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better.
Educational/behavioral interventions: Early behavioral/educational interventions have been very successful in many children with ASD. In these interventions therapists use highly structured and intensive skill-oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills, such as applied behavioral analysis, which encourages positive behaviors and discourages negative ones. In addition, family counseling for the parents and siblings of children with ASD often helps families cope with the particular challenges of living with a child with ASD.
Using A Care Binder To Stay Organized
Parents: In caring for your child with special health needs, you may get information and paperwork from many sources. A Care Binder can help you organize the most important information in a central place and share key information with members of your childs care team.
Young adults: You may get information and paperwork from many sources related to your health and care. A Care Binder can help you organize the most important information in a central place and share key information with members of your healthcare team.
At the end of this article is a link to where you can download Care page templates. Look through the pages and print those that you think will be helpful.
What is a Care Binder?
A Care Binder is an organizing tool for families who have children with special health care needs. Use a Care Binder to keep track of important information about your childs health and care.
How can a Care Binder help me?
In caring for your child with special health needs, you may get information and paperwork from many sources. A Care Binder helps you organize the most important information in a central place. A Care Binder makes it easier for you to find and share key information with others who are part of your childs care team.
Use your Care Binder to:
- Track changes in your childs medicines or treatments
- List telephone numbers for health care providers and community organizations
- Prepare for appointments
- File information about your childs health history
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Family Questions To Ask When Determining Driving Readiness
This list of questions was developed by autism and driving safety researchers at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia to assist families of autistic teens and young adults who are considering learning to drive. We recommend discussing these questions as a family and with your team of support professionals, including your physician*:
Do you feel your teen/young adult consistently demonstrates good judgment and maturity at school, around peers, and at home? Is your teen/young adult receptive to constructive criticism and instruction? Does your teen/young adult demonstrate knowledge of the rules of the road and other skills taught in driver education classes? If not, is specialized instruction or a driving assessment needed? Is your teen/young adult agreeable to practicing driving with a skilled adult prior to driving independently? If so, is there an adult willing and able to serve in this important role?o Previous research showed that autistic teens/young adults were more likely to be licensed when they had a parent who had previously taught a teen to drive. Have you prepared your child to acquire independent life skills in diverse domains, including: personal hygiene, health, food preparation, housekeeping, and transportation?
LEARNING TO DRIVEIf your child is ready to begin drivers education and parent-supervised practice, CHOP experts recommend that families:
At What Age Does Autism Appear
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.
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The Role Of The Pediatric Physical Therapist For Children On The Autism Spectrum
The role of pediatric physical therapy is to help children who have difficulty with functional movement, poor balance, and challenges moving through their environment successfully. Some children on the autism spectrum have low muscle tone, some have poor balance, others may not be well-coordinated, and still others may have a combination of all of the above. These are all areas that a physical therapist can address. After an assessment, the physical therapist will design and implement a program that will help to improve the individual childs areas of need and increase overall function and participation.
Physical Therapy Areas of Intervention
- Gross Motor Skills using large muscles for sitting, standing, walking, running, etc.
- Balance/Coordination Skills involves the brain, bones, and muscles in a coordinated effort for smooth movement for example, as in climbing stairs, jumping, etc.
- Strengthening building muscle for support and endurance for example, to walk for a distance without becoming tired.
- Functional Mobility/Motor Planning moving through space, day to day, for independence and efficiency for example, to climb onto the rocking chair and make it rock back and forth.
The Importance of Motor Skills
What is the Goal of Physical Therapy for a Child on the Autism Spectrum?
Who Implements Treatment?
Where Does Treatment Occur?
What Does a Treatment Session Look Like?
How Often Can Treatment Occur?
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Sexuality Instruction For Tweens Teens And Young Adults
Sexuality can be a difficult subject to broach with your kids whether they are on the autism spectrum or not. It can be especially difficult to discuss if your child is on the autism spectrum. This is in part because children on the spectrum often prefer very clear, specific explanations and tend to see the world in literal terms. Meanwhile, parents are often accustomed to beating around the bush and using euphemisms to explain sexuality if they even have the talk at all
Regardless of your childs intellect, verbal ability, or school placement, it is critical that you put aside the awkwardness and discuss sexuality and related issues with your child. Your child may not have any other reliable way of receiving this information. Most typical adolescents get a great deal of information about sex from their peers. However, because children on the autism spectrum often dont read social cues well enough to get information about sex from their peers, parent involvement in this aspect of the childs life is extremely important.
Experts advise parents of children on the autism spectrum to teach topics of sexuality five years ahead of when the parents think their children need the information. One reason for this is that children on the spectrum learn from repetition. Starting early gives you and your child time to prepare for what lies ahead.
Sexuality topics for adolescents and young adults can be broken down into five groups:
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My Child Isnt Even 3 Years Old Yet And Was Just Diagnosed With Asd Now What
You need to attend to 3 things.
Education You do not need a medical diagnosis to be evaluated and receive Early Intervention services, but if your child has a diagnosis please seek these services out! This may mean another evaluation, this time an educational evaluation, which is free. Contact your local county education center to begin this process.
- Pennsylvania: CONNECT Helpline at 1-800-692-7288
- New Jersey: Regional System Point of Entry at 1-888-653-4463
- Delaware:
- Child Development Watch at 1-800-752-9393
- New Castle County at 302-283-7240
- Kent and Sussex Counties at 302-424-7300
If your child qualifies for Early Intervention services, you will help to create an Individualized Family Service Plan that will specify the services your child will receive.
Read more about education for children under the age of 3 in the CAR Autism Roadmap. Visit the Education page and use the filters on the left side of the screen to choose Age Birth to 3. In particular, you may want to begin with the following articles:
Read more about behavioral health on the CAR Autism Roadmap. Visit the Healthcare & Treatment page and use the filters on the left hand side of the screen to choose Specific Therapies Behavior.
The following articles within the CAR Autism Roadmap may be helpful to you:
The rest is optional!
What Research Is Being Done
The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. The NINDS is a component of the National Institutes of Health , the leading supporter of biomedical research in the world. NINDS and several other NIH Institutes and Centers support research on autism spectrum disorder.
Nearly 20 years ago the NIH formed the Autism Coordinating Committee to enhance the quality, pace, and coordination of efforts at the NIH to find a cure for autism. The NIH/ACC has been instrumental in promoting research to understand and advance ASD. The NIH/ACC also participates in the broader Federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee , composed of representatives from various U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agencies, the Department of Education, and other governmental organizations, as well as public members, including individuals with ASD and representatives of patient advocacy organizations. One responsibility of the IACC is to develop a strategic plan for ASD research, which guides research programs supported by NIH and other participating organizations.
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Causes Of Aspergers Syndrome
In the past, people believed that developmental disorders emerged due to parents being distant and unemotional towards their children. However, this has been proven not to be true. It was found out that these disorders are caused by the functioning of the brain.
The causes of autism spectrum disorders, and Aspergers Syndrome, are still being investigated by researchers. With the advancement of technology, we took one step further to figuring out the causes of autism spectrum disorders.
Advanced brain imaging and MRIs indicated structural and functional differences in the brain. Therefore, abnormalities in the functioning of the brain are thought to be one of the causes of Aspergers Syndrome.
Also, genetics play a significant role in Aspergers Syndrome and autism spectrum disorders. Although the cause of Aspergers syndrome is not understood entirely, a strong genetic basis is known to affect the development of the disorder.
This means that the syndrome, like most autism spectrum disorders, tend to have genetic roots and run in families. In addition, more than one environmental factor, such as maternal diabetes, are thought to play a role in the development of all autism spectrum disorders.
Research found that Aspergers syndrome may be associated with other mental health problems. Such mental issues include depression and bipolar disorder. It is proven that the syndrome is not caused by emotional deprivation.
Intellectual Disability And Asd
Individuals with Intellectual Disability have deficits in intellectual and adaptive functioning, which are observed during development . Intellectual functioning includes the ability to reason, problem solve, plan, think abstractly, exercise judgment, and learn. Adaptive functioning refers to the skills needed to live in an independent and responsible manner, including communication, social skills, and self-help skills .
While Intellectual Disability used to be diagnosed solely by administration of an IQ test, current guidelines emphasize the need to use both clinical assessment and standardized testing. Specifically, to receive a diagnosis of Intellectual Disability, an individual must have an IQ score near to or below 70 as well as significant impairments in adaptive functioning compared to other same-age individuals.
About 1 percent of the general population is thought to have Intellectual Disability, and about 10% of individuals with Intellectual Disability also have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder or autistic traits. However, a much higher percentage of individuals on the autism spectrum have Intellectual Disability.
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Siblings Are People Too
If you have two children and one of them is on the autism spectrum, there is a very high likelihood you are just as concerned about your typically developing child as you are about your child with special needs. How do I make sure Andrew* gets the attention he needs when all my time seems to be devoted to Jimmy** ? How do I help Andrew understand Jimmys disability? Will Andrew resent having a brother on the autism spectrum?
These are all questions that parents ponder. As a sibling with a brother on the autism spectrum, I can tell you that these concerns are important.
There is huge variability within the Autism Spectrum Disorder experience. No two kids on the autism spectrum are the same. No two parents experience their childs ASD in the same way. No two siblings have the exact same childhood or exact same experiences with their special sibling. You are the expert on what works for your family and your family dynamic. The following remarks are simply some suggestions that may help you on your journey.
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My Child In Elementary School Was Just Diagnosed With Asd Now What
You need to attend to 3 things.
Education You do not need a formal medical diagnosis to receive special education services however, if you do have a report from a medical professional, bring it to school and use it to begin the process of obtaining services.
In order for your child to receive support in school, he or she will need an education evaluation . Contact your childs teacher, special education coordinator, counselor, and/or principal to begin this process. After your child is evaluated, he or she may be eligible for an Individualized Education Program or a 504 Plan. An IEP sets out the services and supports deemed necessary for a student with a disability to learn. Both an IEP and a 504 Plan can provide accommodations to help your child succeed in school.
Read more about education during elementary school in the CAR Autism Roadmap. Visit the Education page and use the filters on the left side of the screen to choose Age Elementary School. In particular, you may want to begin with the following articles:
Read more about behavioral health on the CAR Autism Roadmap. Visit the Healthcare & Treatment page and use the filters on the left hand side of the screen to choose Specific Therapies Behavior.
The following articles within the CAR Autism Roadmap may be helpful to you:
The rest is optional!
Take a breath and think about yourself and your family. How are you doing?
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