Among the disorders that cause emotional problems and communication problems, Autism is a prominent one. This is an ailment that can make the victims perceive their surrounding to be full of chaos. They tend to feel that their world has no meaning or order and any logical boundaries. As a result they turn a social recluse and confine themselves into a secluded world. This can be mild or severe depending upon the person’s level of complications.

If the person suffers from a mild case of the disorder, he or she can work and function like any other human being. On the contrary, if the case is serious, it may render the person to be unable to lead a normal life. Since the symptoms and the severity can be varied, the conditions are classified under the group called autistic spectrum disorders. Autism is a disease which is prevalent more in the boys than girls. But when a girl child acquires the ailment it can be a severe one and most of the times it is incurable.

Autism Causes

The medical community has not been able to find a specific reason behind Autism as well asautistic spectrum disorders. According to the researchers this is a genetic disease. It has been speculated that when some genes act together in a particular way, autism takes place. A sibling of an autistic patient has 75% possibility of developing the ailment.

This hints at a chance of inherited development. In many cases, after the detection of autism in a child, the parents have confirmed that they had the same set of problems. Certain environmental factors can also affect the development of the brain, both after and before birth and they may lead to these disorders. There are some contradictory opinions regarding the chances of MMR vaccination increasing the risk of the disease. However nothing has been proved in this regard.

Autism Symptoms

There are three major symptoms of this disorder. As a matter of fact, people suffering from autism find it difficult to socialize and to mix with others. They rarely make friends and can not relate to other people in the society. They suffer from a lack of imaginative power or any form of creativity. Role-playing games or any activity that needs use of imagination does not stir them.

They also face problems with oral and non-oral communication. They fail to understand the subtle nuances of voice and tone, gestures and facial expressions. These types of behavioral problems can affect the family members adversely. Some babies may suffer from speech deficiency as they grow up with the disease. An autistic child can not maintain eye contact with a person. He or she may become a loner and spend the time alone.

It is significant to note that the babies who show autistic tendency often seem to be normal at first and in the first year he/she may reach normal developmental milestones including learning to talk early. However as they become a toddler they do not develop social interaction skills and as a result often their speech might be lost.

Some of the common symptoms are as listed:

Autistic children are prone to Repetitive behavior. They infact resist any change of regular routine.

An autistic patient is obsessed with particular objects as well as be keen on certain routines.

An autistic child might often have a poor condition and cannot control his/her movement.

The absence of normal expressions of face and body language which is not apt are other characteristics of this routine.

A reluctance to indulge in imaginative play characterizes an autistic child.

However, some autistic children have been found to display exceptional capability in the spheres of mathematics, drawing or even playing a musical instrument. Many a famous person who has excelled in the field of music as well as art have been patients of autism.

Autism Treatment

The ways to treat a child suffering from autism can be varied. It could range from specialized speech or language therapy to education etc. There is no particular medicine that can cure the disease but the aforesaid therapies can be applied. If followed properly, they can go a long way in increasing the affected child’s potential. There are some disputes regarding the effectiveness of some therapies like specialized diet. While some adults show signs of improvement after the therapies, some go the opposite way. Besides, some of the therapies do not have any scientific proof of efficiency.

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