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Many of us love to receive hugs and to give them. For the autistic child, hugs can actually hurt, or be extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant. But it doesn’t have to be. There are ways you can hug your child, that will please them instead.

Before you reach out your arms to wrap them around your child, you need to understand some basic things. And to keep in mind, every child is different, and what works for one, may not necessarily work for another. With a little patience you will discover what works best for your child.

First, know that what feels good to you, the warmth, the tightness, the comfort of a hug, doesn’t feel the same for them. It can feel anything but. The autistic child does not understand the hug, what it happening to them, or that you are simply looking to show them a little love.

Secondly, a lot of children with autism find pressure to be comforting, but it has to be on their own terms. That is why things like pressure mats, or beanbag blankets can be so effective in helping them calm down or overcome stressful situations. They have full control over how much pressure is being applied. When hugging your child, let them guide you into how much pressure is okay, and do not over step it, as this will only cause them distress, which is obviously not what your hug is intended to do.

Remember that their senses some times do not work the same way as yours. What you find comforting, they may find overwhelming. What you find to help, could hinder or hurt them. You need to let them guide you in the hug.

Another way you may find to ease their discomfort is to hug them after they are wrapped in their own blanket. This way they already have control of the pressure, and there is a barrier between you and them.

You could also start the hugging process by having them do therapy with what’s called a hugging machine. Once they have reached a level of comfort with receiving a hug from the machine, you may be able to hug them without issues.

Hugging can be a great way to say I love you. It can also be a very difficult thing to do with your autistic child. Allowing them to lead you, and show you what they can handle and cope with, will go a long way to making the hug enjoyable for all.

Autism – to label or not to label, that is the question. Have you been to your doctor about your child and been made to feel as if you were banging your head off a brick wall? Or quite possibly you have been told that a speech delay is common in boys and perhaps mom or dad is just being a bit too neurotic about it? If you have been down this route then you are certainly not alone. In Ireland the consensus now among many in the medical profession is that there is not really an increase in the number of autistic children out there but instead us parents are concocting the symptoms to claim state benefits by unjustly labeling our children.

If you have already been told by a number of people that your child is Autistic and more importantly if you the child’s parent who knows this part of you better than anyone else has an instinctual inner feeling that something is not right then chances are your suspicions are rarely unfounded. Recently a more enlightened member of the medical profession reiterated this fact to me, she said that a concerned mother or father who is ignored by their doctor is doing a great injustice to the child in question. So if you already have an innate belief that your child is different or has issues that need to be addressed then in most cases you are valid in your concerns.

A concerned parent does not want their child to be labeled as Autistic but if their the child does actually have autism then the sooner that this is recognized, faced and addressed the quicker it can be acted on and the better the outcome for everyone in the long run. Any one in the field of psychology, social care or child care will reiterate how important early intervention is for the child on the Autistic Spectrum. But this is practically impossible to access if you are still being told to wait and see, give the child a chance, you are just being neurotic, paranoid and that the child may still talk or perform other social skills when they are ready.

The best course of action on how to proceed in the diagnosis and treatment of Autism is not always easy to figure out. It is undoubtedly an emotionally fraught experience that will leave you drained and confused. However the knowledge on how to best deal with this unpredicted dilemma is best answered by those who are actually on the Autistic Spectrum. The general consensus among people with autism tends to be that if you are autistic then you feel already labeled before any official diagnosis is made or any official autistic title is bestowed upon you. Many children who went through childhood with undiagnosed autism will tell you that they already felt clearly different and were perceived in school and throughout life as being weird, a freak or rather eccentric unless they were told why they behaved the way they did and received the help they needed at a young age.

Experts in the fields of psychology and psychiatry say that ideally Early Intervention for the Autistic child should begin at the age of two. This gives the child the best possible chance of acquiring the skills necessary to interact with the outside world effectively and thus save them from a life time of low self esteem, a lack of confidence in themselves and a myriad of other common complications such as social anxiety issues, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and anti social behavioral. So consequently being labeled as autistic is a release, a blessing, an awakening and being given an official diagnosis frees the autistic person rather than hindering them.

Any disability is a life altering experience and on interviewing a man in his thirties with ADHD AND dyslexia which remained undiagnosed until recently I asked him, if you had been labeled as having ADHD and dyslexia when you were four or five, would it have devastated you or would it have been a huge relief? He said he would have hugged the bearer of this news and said now I know why I am different and I am going to get the help that I need. A label only appears to really matter to those people who are not on the autistic spectrum. For those people that are autistic then they have already acquired internal labels and scars that have clearly set them apart from the general population whether they have ever been given an official diagnosis or not.

Embrace your autistic child they are no less a person they are just on a different path to you, their mind is wired differently but nevertheless they will always be your child and never let pride, ignorance or bad advice stop you from helping this person from reaching their true potential. We can all achieve our goals in life no matter which path we have to travel on to get there.

“I cannot ‘come back’ and defend myself. I cannot respond to others. This is scary, beyond scary. It is terrifying. Sometimes the words seem to be accessible, but as I open my mouth they disappear. In the presence of another, I instantly forget what I was going to say. This happens over and over. I want to talk, but I forget what to talk about. It feels like I am a blank slate. It petrifies me. People on the ‘outside’ expect me to talk. What am I going to do? Sometimes I watch very carefully to see what would be a good answer and give them back what they want. I am good at this. I feel this is the only way to survive. Survival is becoming my middle name. Who would ever understand that I am a blank slate? When I am alone I am not blank, but in the presence of others, I am. I am a blank slate walking around in a person’s body. Please help me. This is too much for me to know. Who will listen to my burden?“

Let us make sense out of this autistic child’s experience. We can only deduce what is going on within him. He seems to be telling us he has no ability to respond to others and this scares him very much. He says to wants to talk, but in the presence of others, he goes blank. By himself, he is not blank, can form ideas, and probably has feelings. Finally, he feels burdened by this experience and there is a sense of hopelessness and desperation in his writing. We can understand this experience as a lack of freewill and control over his environment.

This child is describing the experience of not being able to express himself as he sees others do. It is a tortuous experience, which he seems to lack the ability to change on his own. I believe it is important to note that this phenomenon is probably going on with others with autism spectrum disorders as well. He is describing how relationships cause him tremendous anxiety and cause him to collapse. He is not ‘falling apart’ because he wants to, but because of his anxiety when in relationship to others.

How can we help this child who seems to collapse when in relationship to people?

Some steps that may be helpful for the child with autism and yourself are

1) recognize that he has the potential to communicate, but the presence of another makes him feel too anxious and he ‘goes blank’ or forgets what is on his mind,

2) he is not going blank because he is willful or difficult,

3) help him to understand that you understand his predicament,

4) help him to become more comfortable with others including you. Until his anxiety is under control he will continue to go blank and finally

5) give him the time and space to talk. Create opportunities for the two of you to dialogue.

Anxiety is something that people on the spectrum are always trying to manage. We need to put ourselves in their shoes. If they lack self-agency and dissociate in the presence of others, which creates an inability to communicate their needs than their daily existence will be one of coping and anxiety management. People in general remain anxious when they do not have a way to self-regulate. ‘Typical’ people talk about their problems with others and hopefully find new solutions to manage a given situation or their anxiety in general. Because people with autism do not have the ability to communicate their feelings, we have to find other methods to help them to self-regulate.

What can we specifically do to help the individual with autism who is anxious? There is not an easy answer, but some thoughts to consider:

1) talking about anxiety in general may be helpful. If the child is nonverbal, speak about how he might be anxious doing the specific thing he is doing. If he does have words, ask him either how he is feeling or interpret what his anxiety might be like. Let him respond to you. It is important to not expect that he will be able to speak about his anxiety, but at least allow this to be part of the discussion between the two of you. By doing this he is acknowledged for how he is feeling and hopefully in turn feels understood,

2) make room for the discussion of anxiety as part of the dialogue,

3) let him have the time he needs to warm up to new situations and not be pressured to comply to others’ time frames and

4) work on developing a relationship with him that allows for mutuality, dialogue and direct expression of feelings.

The number of autism cases has steadily grown over the years. The reason for this is unknown. What is known is the profound effects autism – and autism symptoms – can have on a person’s overall quality of life.

The exact cause of autism is unknown. Even so, there are many research units devoted to finding the links to its onset and development. Current research is examining the role of genetics and neurochemical imbalances on the development of autism, but environmental factors may also play a part.

Autism itself is hard to measure; its symptoms and scope varies greatly among individual patients. While some autistic patients experience mild communication issues, others experience aggression and hyperactivity. Intelligence levels also vary among patients, and it’s not rare for autistic patients to display measurable signs of above average intelligence.

As a developmental disability, autism has a direct impact on social interactions and communication, as well as imagination and expression. Detecting it can be a challenge in the first few months of a child’s life, but as the child grows its symptoms become more apparent.

Although there is no known cure for autism, its symptoms can be managed. Proper treatment is instrumental in countering autism’s more distressing effects.

Autism Detection
Typically, parents first note signs of autism in children of around 18 months old. The lack of interest in play is one of the more striking signs. Children with autism may disregard the following:

• Play Pretend
• Playing with other children
• Showing interest in activities
• Picking up or bringing over objects
• Games such as peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek

Naturally, there is no cause for alarm if a child dislikes or does not respond to some of these games. It is the pronounced disregard for playful interaction that may indicate a problem. If a child tends to be generally irresponsive to activities and games that most children enjoy, autism may be the cause. Autism affects how the child expresses and understands emotions, relates to others, and communicates.

The Role of Chiropractic Care
Traditionally, autistic patients relied solely on medication to relieve symptoms, such as aggression, in an attempt to cope with the disease. Chiropractic care, on the other hand, is a drug-free, holistic approach to treatment that focuses on improving the patient’s overall quality of life. In the case of autism, this is especially relevant, since the symptoms often present considerable distress to not only the patient but their family also.

Recent research has shown that spinal adjustments may help alleviate symptoms of autism. A study showed a positive correlation between upper cervical adjustments and autism symptom management. The study followed a 9-month period of chiropractic adjustments on 26 autistic children. Results showed improvement in response to stimuli, reflexes, range of neck motion, and a beneficial effect on other health conditions.

Many of the children stopped taking Ritalin, the stimulant commonly administered to autistic patients exhibiting symptoms. Overall, the study also showed improvement in bladder and bowel control, speech, eye contact, and attention span. The beneficial effect of these adjustments on autism was attributed to correction of a partial dislocation that influenced local neurological function and development.

An article examined research on the role of chiropractic care in the management of autistic children. Based on the assertion that healthy brain development depends on the healthy structure and movement of the spine, researchers looked at the role of spinal health in the development and possible treatment of autism. Abnormal spinal development is thus tied to a range of disorders, which include ADHD and autism.

Neurochemical communication responsible for inducing a sense of well being is seen to be linked with spinal biomechanics and its neurological pathways. Researchers then pinpointed the connection between neurobehavioral disorders to how the entire body communicates with the brain. The role of the spine is said to play a key role in the efficacy of this communication.

Chiropractic care, in the form of adjustments to nerve interference (known as vertebral subluxations) addresses the nervous system’s need for stimulation. Stimulation, in turn, helps the nervous system’s development and functioning.

Such findings indicate that chiropractic care may well help improve the overall quality of life of autistic patients, relieving some of its more distressing symptoms. It’s a step towards the ultimate goal of finding a cure.

It may be difficult at times for you to keep on going when your child is autistic. By accepting the distressing times, does not take any effort. It is easy to focus on the adverse times, or what you think is bad regarding your child with autism. It becomes frustrating and it may be a challenge to separate, how do you keep on going with your autistic child?
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The question is, how can you confront the hard times and be determined to delete the negative thoughts you have about the bad, and focus on the positive ones, when you have a child with the disorder of autism?

Parent(s), caregiver(s), by allowing your mind to process negative thoughts, regarding the many issues you have concerning your child, will be put into force. Those thoughts will reject the many positive thoughts, that will bring healthy power, to enable you to keep on going when you have an autistic child. You must keep on going with your child, no matter how many challenges and difficult valleys there may be.

I have experienced for myself, if I find my mind full of fear and doubt it produces many negative thoughts. Everyone around me seems to have a negative attitude and nothing seems to get accomplished. I find it difficult to keep on going.

You may be feeling defeated, hurt, rejected, because you are feeling, you are not able to keep on going with all of the responsibilities you have, that are involved to manage or take care of your child. You may feel you are not able to face another day, because the pain is so deep and you fear another let down. You have lost hope and do not have the strength to keep on going when you have an autistic child. I know, I have been there and felt that pain.

Most battles are fought in your mind every day. When you feel the battle is too difficult and want to give up because your child is autistic, you must choose to resist those negative thoughts you have and rise above those dilemmas you are currently facing, so you can keep on going.

There will be difficult battles that will be raging in your mind. But, do not give up, keep on going. I have found for myself, when I choose to quit or give up, I do not gain ground. Nothing seems to work, problems become out of balance. You may have moments, days, months, of extremely difficult periods when you do not want to keep on going. Do not be a quitter, do not adapt to the “give up” spirit.

Take a reality check on yourself and check to see what you are facing or experiencing with your child who has autism. This could be done by including the whole family and having discussions about the subject matter.

There will be times when the battle with your child who has autism will seem endless. It is easy to quit. That takes no effort. To keep on going when it becomes a challenge with your autistic child, takes effort and courage. You can do it!

You as parent(s), caregiver(s), must reprogram your mind not to be discouraged even though the process is slow. Be persistent and learn to change your thinking when it is difficult to keep on going with your child who has the disorder of autism. Never quit!

One of the most common misunderstandings, when it comes to concepts associated with ABA, is the idea of negative reinforcement. This may not be surprising considering the widespread notoriety of positive reinforcement and the natural assumption that they are opposites. Many individuals I have met, who are doing their best to navigate the sometimes complex world of ABA, have insisted that they are actually practicing negative reinforcement when confronted with behavioral challenges. Typically, the conversation includes something to the effect of, “I just couldn’t get him to stop doing that, so I used negative reinforcement and sent him to bed without dessert.” While removing a reinforcer can be a powerful way to effect behavioral change, this is not an example of negative reinforcement.

Negative Reinforcement is defined as removing an aversive stimulus in response to a behavior which then leads to an increase in the likelihood that the behavior will occur again. Let’s break that down – first you need to be removing an aversive or undesirable situation. In the example above, the individual is sent to bed early, which is most likely removing a positive stimulus, i.e. staying up and having dessert. Therefore, that consequence is actually punishing a behavior. This is not necessarily bad or wrong, since the situation and the individual’s history should determine the best course of action to take. The second part of the definition, “…leads to an increase in the likelihood…” involves whatever behavior you want to see more of. Remember that any discussion of reinforcement involves the goal of increasing a behavior not diminishing one (which would be a punisher). Again, in the example above, the statement, “I just couldn’t get him to stop…” infers that he is seeking to reduce a particular behavior, not increase one.

So then, what is negative reinforcement? One of the most common examples of this is the practice of having an individual stand up at the dinner table if they, for instance, don’t eat all of their vegetables. When they do, they can sit back down or be excused. Here, you are seeking to increase a behavior, i.e. eating vegetables, by removing the aversive stimulus of standing up. Notice how the parent created the undesirable situation and is subsequently allowing the individuall to remove it by completing the task. This is important because it allows the desired behavior of eating the vegetables, to be completed as opposed to punishment which often removes the individual from the situation. Ideally, the individual will quickly realize that life is better when they are eating their vegetables and will able to sit down. This is good but the way to gauge if this is an effective technique is to see if they eat their vegetables tomorrow as well. After all, the goal is to increase the behavior, not produce it each time through the use of negative reinforcement.

Communicating with children that have Asperger syndrome is not something that comes easily to most people. In fact, success requires understanding the underlying condition and how it affects the behavior of a child. By studying the underlying factors, and then putting this knowledge into play, you can have a better sense of how to relate to a child that has Asperger syndrome. Also, you will be more prepared for handling the social awkwardness and periodic tantrums.

Ultimately, success at building relationships with these children depends on showing them acceptance and tolerating any behavior that is not typical. By doing so, you will increase your rapport with the child and develop trust that will help the relationship past any difficult stages. Trust is the cornerstone of any relationship, and is especially important for developing positive interactions with children. Much of the psychological literature on Asperger syndrome or similar disorders is focused on developing such trust.

Also, you will need to understand the particular behaviors that make children with Asperger syndrome stand out from the crowd. Doing so will help you deal with such behaviors in your daily interactions. For example, because Asperger syndrome is on the autism spectrum, most children with the condition are easily over stimulated by their environment. Loud noises, crowds, and other chaotic stimuli can cause huge amounts of stress for the child. By watching for such factors and helping the child avoid such stress, you can help avoid emotional outbursts from the child.

Additionally, you should try your best to avoid changes in established routines. If you have plans with the child, stick to those plans instead of changing them at the last minute. Children with Asperger syndrome have a hard time adjusting to such changes. Changes to decorations in the home can also cause stress reactions. The child will feel much more comfortable in environments that are familiar.

A great way to strengthen your relationship with the child is to get in the habit of talking about their special interests. You will quickly realize the importance of this because the child will likely talk about these interests constantly. Asperger syndrome allows children to focus with much greater intensity than most people. Because of this, children with the condition develop very deep knowledge within their areas of interest. They are particularly good at categorizing things and analyzing systems. Therefore, many are collectors; bugs, baseball cards, trains, or anything else that is collectible will often be a key area of interest. Be sure to pay attention to these key interest areas as you are building your relationship.

Last of all, make sure that you deal with any emotional disturbances with patience and understanding. This is necessary because children with Asperger syndrome cannot always deal with negative emotions or stress in a positive way. Not paying attention to this essential factor could result in arguments and the destruction of trust that you have worked so hard to build. Avoid the urge to argue, and instead allow the child to calm down before talking about the issue.

Hopefully these tips for relating to children with Asperger syndrome will help you to build strong bonds and appreciate that the condition can be a gift as well as a challenge. Remember, the key to meeting your goals is to be understanding and patient. Also, do not forget to ask others for emotional encouragement if challenges arise.

There are people which convince themselves that if they cannot deal with something surely there must be highly trained specialists who can. These people believe that the specialist can take up where they leave off and fix what nobody can fix. With that theory in mind, they commit the child with Autism and go off to live their ‘normal’ lives.

One of the theories that so called experts have is that children with Autism can not assimilate or respond, basically they just mimic. This is very much like saying children with Autism are broken and can not be fixed.

Have you ever heard the saying, we learn by doing? Even average children, it is being discovered cannot learn unless they are first taught to mimic their parents. It seems all it is, is a different structured brain to do the job.

Another situation to look at is the person that lives a rather dull life, no crime, no arrests, and no tickets. Intelligence seems to be average on above, they marry, have children, and then one day in a normal length of life, they die. This person ends up on the autopsy table and it is discovered this person does not have a brain like everyone else, but instead has a lattice work brain.

Not noodle like or jelly like but like zigzags of tissue forming structure. ‘Potato chip brains’ is the term sometimes used by doctors. I wonder how much prejudice these people would have to endure if it were known beforehand. Again, it seems all it really is, is a different structured brain to do the same job.

No institution can give absolute one on one care and engagement the way a family can. Mainstreaming gives exposure, interaction, societal norms and function. The need for communication is met by family and school.

In school as well as the military it is found out what a person has an aptitude for doing. That is where you start. Children with Autism do not like change but we can many times figure out what they have an aptitude for.

This is particularly true when you take into account that an obsession may be that same ‘aptitude’ that typical people show and look for. At this point what causes the problem whether chromosomes, genes, RNA, DNA is not known. What is more important is dealing with Autism itself.

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Consider a student who is first learning the alphabet. This is commonly done by pairing syllables to written letters and helping the student independently identify and associate these concepts with each other. As a teacher or a parent, how would you start this process? Would you lay out all the letters in the alphabet and ask them to find an F? Of course you wouldn’t! Most teachers would begin by isolating a single letter and just teaching to that concept, and then eventually move the student on. This is an example of reducing the amount of distractors. A distractor is anything which does not have to do with the current teaching element being addressed. Distractions are part of everyday life and are often part of the teaching process – but initially, many students will benefit from the removal of these distractors to allow them to be successful, gain confidence and be reinforced. Reducing the amount of distractors is the first step, but what if a student is still not successful?

If a student makes a mistake this implies a few things; he may not comprehend the material, he might not yet be independently able to complete the task and/or there could be behavioral challenges which are inhibiting his response. The ‘and/or’ in the previous sentence is important because students with autism and other learning challenges often have a complicated combination of challenges which may be affecting his/her responses. Let’s consider behavioral challenges. A student may respond incorrectly because; she could be prompt-dependent, i.e. doesn’t respond independently, she may be seeking attention since she has received more attention in the past for incorrect responses, she may be frustrated, distracted, hungry, excited, tired, bored or simply testing the teacher. Since there a lot of ‘may’s’ and ‘could be’s’ in a discussion on why a learner is not being successful – errorless teaching procedures reduce the chance that the previous myriad of possible variables will negatively effect the student’s response. By minimizing the chance that the student will respond incorrectly (at first) the teacher is building a foundation of correct responses for the student to draw from. This also allows the teacher to initially reinforce the student for these prompted responses which will help him associate learning with fun and enjoyable situations.

Students can be prompted by changing their environment, i.e. in the above example of distractor reduction, or by physically helping the student to respond correctly. Physically prompting, in respect to errorless teaching, would be accomplished by completing the desired response with the student by having them respond correctly. For example, when teaching to colors, a teacher could request, “Please point to red”. The student would be assisted by physically helping him point to the red item in an appropriate amount of time. The teacher would then reinforce that prompted response. Without this level of reinforcement, a student will be less likely to respond independently in the future when he/she is not being prompted. This form of prompting works well with certain activities but other skills like language and verbalization cannot be physically prompted in this manner. Here, repetition and the modeling of correct responses are more effective. Physically prompting a student is, of course, not sustainable in the long term because the goal of most skills is for a learner to independently complete an activity. At what point, though, does a teacher know when to stop or begin to stop prompting a student in this manner? After using errorless teaching procedures for an appropriate period of time, teachers can analyze the amount of progress being made by removing the prompt and making the exact same demand. Based on the student’s response without being helped, the teacher can then determine whether more teaching trials are required or the prompts can be faded. The process and extent to which these prompts are faded is completely dependent on the student and his un-prompted responses. Reinforcing future attempts and/or independent responses is extremely important in the student’s long-term success and ability to sustain and generalize these skills.

Learning a new language can sometimes be challenging. One way to help learn some of the names of everyday objects is to label the items in your room or house with the word in the other language. This is a form of errorless teaching since it (initially) eliminates the chance for incorrect responses. Not surprisingly, these items will not be labeled in such a manner when speaking with an individual using this other language; so these labels or prompts will have to eventually be removed. Prompts such as these can be difficult to fade if they become embedded in the learning process. Removing then as soon as possible, or systematically fading them over a relatively short period of time, will reduce your dependency on them and allow you to more independently recall the names. One way to begin to fade a prompt such as this is to cover a letter or part of the word with tape. When you are comfortable here you would cover more and more of the word until it is completely unreadable. These and other forms of errorless teaching procedures can be very helpful to all learners – but they are especially beneficial for students on the autism spectrum. The key points with all errorless teaching methods are; the subsequent fading of these prompts, providing adequate reinforcement and the goal of independence.

AUTISM

Autism starts before a child turns to three years. It is a disorder in the brain development which weakens the social interaction and communication. Autism causes restricted and repetitive behavior. Autism is a hereditary disorder even though the genetics of autism are complex and it is unclear which genes are responsible. Autism is associated with agents which cause birth defects in rare cases. Other possible causes of autism are childhood vaccines which are controversial and the vaccine hypotheses lack convincing scientific evidence. According to the experts out of 1000 children 3-6 children will have autism. Male are four times more to have autism than females.

Symptoms

The occurrence of autism is not known and it affects many parts of the brain. In the first two years of the child’s life, parents usually notice the signs of autism. Autism is characterized by three distinctive behaviors. The autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and non verbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. There is a reduced sensitivity of pain, but are more sensitive to sound, touch or other sensory stimulation. These reactions may contribute to the behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged. There is no cure for autism but treatment can help. The early behavioral and cognitive interference can help them to develop self-care, social and communication. An infant with autism may be non responsive to people or focus intently on one item by excluding others for a long period of time. With this disorder few children live independently after reaching adulthood and some of them become successful. Some people believe that autism is a condition than a disorder.

Autism children have speech problems, they might not look in to the eyes when talk to them. Before they can pay attention they may have to line up their pencils, these children will say the same sentence again and again. To tell that they are happy they flap their arms or they might hurt themselves if they are not. Some people never learn to talk. They lack empathy. The autistic children cannot interpret the thoughts and feelings of others and also cannot understand the tone of voice and facial expressions. The autistic people have different symptoms and because this it is known as spectrum disorder. The milder version of this disorder is Asperger syndrome. The disorder lasts throughout a person’s life time. Autism shares numerous signs with Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder. Asperger’s syndrome does not have any delay in the language development. Autistic children are at a higher risk for some co-existing conditions such as fragile X syndrome which causes mental retardation, tuberous sclerosis in which the tumors grow on the brain, epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, disabilities in learning and attention deficit disorder. By the time autistic children reach adulthood about 20 to 30% of children develop epilepsy for the reasons unknown. Also schizophrenic people may show some autistic-like behavior but the symptoms do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. The Schizophrenic people also have hallucinations and delusions which are not found in autism.

Diagnose

Based on the IQ autism is sometimes divided in to the low, medium and high functioning autism. The child affected by autism will show less attention to social stimuli, smile and look at others less often and very rarely respond to their own name. The severity and symptoms of autism may go unrecognized mainly in mildly affected children or when it is covered by more weakening handicaps. Doctors depend on a group of behaviors for diagnosing autism. These behaviors are:

(1) Unable to make friends with peers
(2) Unable to initiate or to continue a conversation with others.
(3) Absence of imaginative and social play.
(4) Unusual, typecast, repetitive use of language.
(5) Preoccupation with certain subjects or objects.
(6) Rigid devotion to certain routines or rituals.

With help of a questionnaire or any other screening instrument doctors assemble information about the child’s development and behavior. Some screening depends on the parent observations and some others on a combination of parent and doctor observations. If there is an indication or possibility of autism, the doctors will ask for more comprehensive evaluation. As autism is a complex disorder a combined evaluation is needed with a multidisciplinary team including psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist and other expert in diagnosing the children with ASDs. Girls with autism may be suffering from Rett syndrome, a sex-linked genetic disorder described by social withdrawal, deteriorated language skills and hand wringing.

Treatment

Autism cannot be cured. But according to the experts the earlier intervention can make them to cope up with the day-to-day life. Structured and skill oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Counseling for parents and siblings of autistic children can help the families to cope with the challenges of living with an autistic child. To handle symptoms of anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorder doctors often prescribe anti depressant medications. To treat severe behavioral problems anti-psychotic medicines are used. With one or more of the anticonvulsant drugs seizures can be treated. To reduce impulsivity and hyperactivity stimulant drugs are some times used effectively.