Communicating, education, and language: what do the three of these words have in common? Although these are the challenges kids with autism are forced to deal with daily, they are more brilliant than we will ever be. Autism creates a personality difference we don’t know how to react to or understand, but we can learn and help ourselves walk in their shoes. There are many steps that can be taken in order to diagnose anyone with autism. A person has to know what autism is in order to diagnose it.
Autism is a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts (Google Dictionary). Those with autism show different experiences
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Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism.
Autism-related costs average $60,000 a year per family (Magro).
Now, we can help those with autism grow and take all the steps needed in order to do what’s best for them. Also, the steps will help us understand them. There are a couple steps that need to be taken in order to diagnose ASD. The first step is screening and weekly check-ups. The children that have siblings with ASD must get the check-ups 18-24 months. Those who show some developmental problems during the screening process will be referred for another stage of evaluation. The second step for diagnosing ASD is getting evaluated by a team of doctors who have a wide variety of specialties.
The doctor's team may include a developmental pediatrician—a doctor who has special training in child development; a child psychologist and/or child psychiatrist—a doctor who knows about brain development and behavior; a speech-language pathologist—a health professional who has special training in communication difficulties. An evaluation includes a cognitive level or thinking skills, language abilities, age-appropriate skills needed to complete daily activities independently, such as eating, dressing, and toileting. They also need to take hearing tests and blood tests; this step will determine whether or not they need to be recommended to a help plan treatment