Child Autism Case Study

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Autism in Children

Autism in Children

A Review of the Literature. Case Studies

According to International Classification of Diseases -10, Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of disorders characterized by three core difficulties: difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors with an apparently normal language and cognitive development. ASD include autism, Asperger syndrome (AS), pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-nos), as well as childhood disintegrative disorder and Rett syndrome. All disorders differ with regard to symptom severity and early development of language, cognitive and social behavior. However, all five disorders

ASD include autism, Asperger syndrome (AS), pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-nos), as well as childhood disintegrative disorder and Rett syndrome.

Symptoms

Individuals with autism show impairments in all three areas and an abnormal development before age of 3 years. PDD-nos is diagnosed in individuals who meet autism criteria, but show a late age of onset, or in individuals who show severe and pervasive impairment in one or two of the three core areas with or without cognitive or language delay.

ASD can be associated with intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances. Some persons with ASD excel in visual skills, music, math and art. The symptoms of children with ASD will fall within a set, with some individuals showing mild symptoms and others having much more severe

However, the most obvious signs of autism and symptoms of autism tend to emerge between 2 and 3 years of age. Early signs and symptoms involve no back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions by 9 months; no babbling or back-and-forth gestures (e.g. pointing) by 12 months; or any loss of babbling, speech or social skills at any age. Autism is an innate contact disorder. Normally, infants early after birth orientate towards the human face and voice and respond to voices and facial expression. Autistic children cannot interpret another person’s face and do not imitate as automatically. This is the reason why later in life they are not able to share attention and experiences with others. Much experience is missed that way. Early learning is usually passed from person to person by imitation. The basis of socialization is contact and imitation. Autistic children have difficulty in seeing another person’s perspective, in understanding the thoughts and intentions of others. There are researchers who believe the basic cause of this is a difficulty in shifting attention. The same attention-shifting difficulty would also lead to the ritualistic behaviors and the difficulties in managing change; difficulty in interrupting one activity and changing to another. The central point is that the autistic child does not automatically look for the meaning of