Autism, types, and example

Autism spectrum disorder is a disease that has the characteristics of difficulty in speech and behavior. Autism (ASD) disorder is usually identified at a young age. Children with ASD disorder have difficulty making eye contact, cannot recognize facial expressions, and have difficulty carrying out conversations.

Such patients with ASD disorder have repetitive movements and hobbies like hand flapping and the arrangement of objects in specific patterns. The symptoms of autism symptoms are that they face difficulty with light and sound, along with a sense of touch.

Autism in its Early Stages

You must recognize the early indicators of autism.

The following are some early indications of autism to look out for in your child:

• Complete lack of social smile at six months, complete lack of babbling, pointing, or meaningful motions by 12 months,
• Inability to communicate in one’s own words by the age of 16 months
• A complete lack of or minimal eye contact
• A lack of presenting items or sharing interests
• An unusual or extraordinary attachment to a specific object or toy
• A lack of response to sound, voices, or their name
• A loss of the skills mentioned above at any time

As soon as these autism symptoms are dominant in the child, it is suggested to consult a pediatrician.

Types of Autism Spectrum Disorder

There are three types of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Autistic disorder:

This is a severe kind of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism symptoms include considerable communication and social interaction deficits, as well as repetitive habits and hobbies. People with autism disorder may struggle with the following:

• Making eye contact
• Recognizing facial emotions
• Holding a conversation
• Interpreting social cues
• Sharing interests
• Creating and sustaining connections
• Imaginative play
• Adapting to change

They may also engage in the following repetitive habits and activities:

• Hand flapping
• Rocking
• Object lined up
• Repeating words or phrases
• Echolalia (repeating what others say)
• Pay intense attention to a specific issue.

Some therapies that are suggested for autism spectrum disorder, such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis are used to treat this disease. The other symptoms of AD are that the youngster may struggle to make eye contact or understand facial expressions, because of which they may face difficulty interacting with people and building relationships. A child with autistic disorder may struggle to communicate. Such children cannot communicate properly and cannot understand the sayings of others. This can make expressing their needs and desires challenging.

A youngster with autistic disorder may demonstrate repeated actions and interests such as flapping hands, rocking back and forth, or arranging things in a certain order.

They experience emotions, ideas, and dreams. If provided with help, they can also live a productive life.

Asperger’s syndrome:

The appearance of a child with Asperger’s syndrome is illustrated in this example. A child with this syndrome may struggle to understand and respond to social cues. For instance, such a child may not be able to understand the timing of making eye contact or reading the emotions of others. As a result of this, building and sustaining connections may become difficult. Such patients may also face difficulty communicating with others.

Furthermore, the child with autistic disorder may not be able to understand what others are saying to him/her. He/she may also not be able to clearly express himself/herself. Children with Asperger’s syndrome also commonly exhibit repetitive habits and interests. They may express noteworthy interest in certain things. They have feelings, ideas, and dreams which can be materialized with true help. Furthermore:

There is no universal autism treatment rather each child is treated according to his/her environment.

If a child is found with Asperger’s syndrome, you should consult the doctor as early as possible. It is because; early identification and treatment can influence the life of the child significantly.

Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS):

Common features

• Emotional and social
• Inadequate social skills
• Have difficulty interacting meaningfully.
• Aversion to making eye contact.
• Does not appear to want to share activities with others.
• Prefers solitude.
• May desire to make friends but is unsure how.
• Lacks awareness of situations from the perspective of another person – social empathy.
• Difficulty comprehending those other individuals have views, objectives, and intentions that govern their behavior.
• Difficulty sharing and/or taking turns with classmates.
• Difficulty distinguishing between known and unknown people.
• In an attempt to be social, maybe unintentionally aggressive.
• Views others as tools or equipment to be used to open doors, get food, be carried by, or lean on.

Common issues that people with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) face include:

• A lack of grasp of social interaction conventions.
• Immature play abilities and interests.
• Resistant to change and extremely regimented in routine.
• Ineffective nonverbal communication.
• Lack of comprehension of instructions, queries, and/or jokes.
• Problems with fine and gross motor abilities.
• Difficulties gaining access to the school curriculum.
• Poor conversational skills, with the tendency to talk too much or too little.
• Poor ‘listening’ abilities despite normal hearing.
• Ignores the fact that others are not interested in what they are saying.
• Has difficulty understanding others’ nonverbal clues (such as facial expressions, gestures, and/or body movements) or the standards of social behavior.

Occupational Therapy procedures and activities 

• Increasing abilities:

Developing a progressively broader variety of skill areas.

• Social stories:

Providing ideas and information on the production of social stories.

• School transition:

Advocating for and professionally assisting the transition to school, as needed, and liaising with teachers.

• Behaviour management:

Teaching families to use a consistent approach to managing behavior. For example, if the child discover that every time they are given a direction, the same response is expected, or that every time they react in a certain way, the same consequence follows, they will learn the appropriate behavior much faster.

• Structure and routine:

Assisting families in giving structure and routine so that the child understands what is going to happen and what is expected of the child. This gives the child time to prepare for the event and figure out how to act correctly.

• Visual signals can be utilized at home as autism treatment and in preschool/school to alleviate anxiety about task expectations, encourage routine, and introduce new or different tasks.

• Sensory processing:

the autism treatment can be facilitated by improving the child’s sensory processing so that they can demonstrate their skills in a wider range of contexts.

• Forewarning:

Giving parents and instructors advance notice of a change in routine and training them on appropriate tactics to use in other surroundings.