ASD: Bigger and More Impactful Than We Think Essay Example

the mother of the child has taken certain drugs during pregnancy, as these could affect the baby’s development and lead to ASD. Another factor that could occur during pregnancy is whether or not the mother was exposed to Rubella, or German Measles (World Book). Meanwhile, after pregnancy, there are many factors that could be triggered once the baby is born and starts growing. One example is stimuli in the brain over or underproducing while the brain is developing at any given time. This production error can cause one of the main symptoms of ASD: hyper or hyposensitivity.

Hypersensitivity is when any one of the senses is amplified, meaning that certain touches or sounds could become too extreme for the child. Even the clothes on their back could feel unbearably extreme. Meanwhile, hyposensitivity is the opposite; the sense’s messages to the brain are nullified or even removed entirely, so the child may not be able to feel or hear anything at all. The child might touch a hot stove and not feel anything at all, being unaware that they’re seriously hurting themselves. Stimuli could also impact the balance between the sizes of areas in the brain. Difficulties caused by these unusual size balances especially displayed themselves in an experiment where “...scientists showed [the individuals] an image of a large letter S formed by the arrangement of many smaller capitalized letter Hs. The individual with ASD often identified only the individual Hs and not the overall S pattern, while people with no ASD saw both the individual Hs and the S pattern.” (Rodriguez 54) Abnormal head size at any point in a child’s development is a giveaway of

the possibility of ASD (Rodriguez 21).

Another similarity between most ASD children is a lack of Purkinje cells in their body, which contribute to motor control (World Book). ASD could also be inherited by family members, including parents, grandparents, or even aunts and uncles. Additional proposed causes of ASD included vaccines and gluten. Some believed that vaccines caused brain damage which eventually leads to ASD. Others believed that gluten leaked through the gut wall and into the bloodstream, flowing up to the brain and causing damage. Neither of these theories has evidence, and are considered incorrect by scientists and neurologists (Rodriguez 58). The causes of ASD are still widely debated, and as of now, scientists still have yet to find more links between ASD and children. Early ASD: Birth and Symptoms The earliest symptoms of ASD begin around the ages that a child would normally be socializing or responding to sounds, such as loud noises or their own name. Rather than responding to actions being done around them, children with ASD will prefer to be alone, performing their own routine instead of mimicking others.

One common sign of a healthy child is smiling in response to others smiling around them, meanwhile, a child with ASD would not do this (Mayo Clinic). Parents and family are usually the first to notice these symptoms. A diagnosis of autism could be given to a child if their more significant behaviors fall into three categories. The first of these three categories is the inability to socialize properly. This is specified as the inability to start or carry out a conversation, and seem to disregard or have the inability to understand people’s

feelings or facial expressions. The second category is the inability to communicate at all. This is counted if the child remains quiet around the ages where babies and toddlers should be starting to babble or say their first words. Around the time of the diagnosis, the child may say little to no clear phrases, may be mute altogether, or “may be delayed but eventually develop language as late as age five to nine years. Some children may learn to use communication systems such as pictures or American Sign Language,” (Infobase).

The third and final category contains two behaviors: the obsession with certain hobbies or objects, and the obsession of performing the same routine every day. Routines such as washing hands or setting the table may be repeated excessively. The child may babble commonly heard phrases without understanding what they mean. This is called echolalia (Rodriguez 65). As a result of the presence of ASD, a child may have abnormal intelligence levels for their age. This level will be a representation of how “high” and “low” they are on the spectrum. In a word, children’s symptoms can range from child to child, and the behaviors as a result of ASD could range in severity, variety, and frequency. Not Just Autism: Other Disorders on the Spectrum The word “autism” could refer to a lot of different definitions, however, the most specific of these definitions sometimes doesn’t describe children who have received a diagnosis of autism.

There is an entire spectrum of autistic disorders, with low functioning and high functioning ends. The most accurate definition of autism refers to the disorder on the lower end of the spectrum. If a

child were to have autism, they would essentially exhibit behaviors from all three diagnosis behavioral categories. More specific characteristics of a child with autism include low functionality, meaning that they’re usually not able to do work on their own, and low intelligence level, meaning that they have problems learning and can’t learn skills which other children their age would know. However, on the higher end of the spectrum is a disorder less known of: Asperger Syndrome. Asperger Syndrome could be characterized as the opposite of autism, despite being a form of the disorder. Children with Asperger Syndrome will only display the first and third of the diagnosis behavioral categories, meaning that they will have no trouble communicating at all, but will still have trouble socializing and have a certain obsession. They will be high-functioning, meaning that they are perfectly capable of working on their own, and their intelligence levels are usually higher than average (Mayo Clinic).

The symptoms of Asperger Syndrome are milder than those of autism, but still noticeable if observed closely (Rodriguez 66). A child could be diagnosed to have autism, Asperger Syndrome, or anywhere in between depending on the severity of their symptoms. If the child exhibits symptoms of autism but doesn’t fall into all three categories, then they will be diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). There are a few more disorders and syndromes which fall on the spectrum but are considered much rarer than those on the two ends of the spectrum. One of these, Rett disorder, mostly occurs in girls. They have trouble moving because of a lack of Purkinje cells, especially in their hands, and

their intelligence levels are lower than average.

A notably extraordinary but rare disorder on the spectrum is Savant Syndrome. A savant is diagnosed with autism or Asperger Syndrome, but they differ from others on the spectrum by possessing an extraordinary talent in areas such as mathematics, science, music, or art. One of the few females with Savant Syndrome, Brittany Maier, has perfect pitch in music, being able to identify scale notes within seconds of hearing them, and being able to reproduce musical pieces perfectly on the piano. Savant Syndrome was named after the French verb Savior, meaning “to know” (Rodriguez 41). The last of these disorders is Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD), where a child develops perfectly normal, but then loses their skills by the age of 10. Children suddenly become quieter and begin to exhibit autistic symptoms in early childhood (Mayo Clinic). The autism spectrum is less of a spectrum and more of a diverse plane of disorders, where children could land anywhere between two or more disorders. This makes symptoms very easy to mix up and diagnosis is very complicated.

It’s Bigger Than You Think Earlier in the 1960s, Asperger Syndrome was not considered a form of autism, so ASD was considered rare and nothing much to worry about. However, recently, neurologists have begun to regard Asperger Syndrome as a form of autism, creating a spike in the numbers of people impacted by it (World Book). Some very old statistics state that ASD currently affects every 6 in 1,000 children, making it sound common already. On the other hand, the most recent statistics conclude that ASD affects every 1 in 59 children, whether it runs in

their family or if they have it themselves. This amounts to 1.7% of the world’s population. There has been a recent spike in the numbers of people impacted by ASD which did not relate to the addition of Asperger Syndrome, which scientists are still investigating (World Book). Many of the main strategies of assisting a child with ASD involve early intervention, meaning getting the diagnosis and the right help early on. The word “early” refers to ages from 1-3 years of age.

However, it has been estimated that only 50% of children with ASD are properly diagnosed before kindergarten, making early intervention less and less possible with every year that the diagnosis of ASD does not happen (Infobase). Children with ASD usually need many therapies, from basic skills like saying names to tasks that would be complicated for them, such as understanding facial expressions and having a conversation. These skills seem simple and elementary to normally developed children, but on the other hand, these tasks could be very difficult for children with ASD. As well as having to cope with their own social and communication difficulties, children with ASD must also cope with the difficulties of other children who don’t understand their behaviors. Family members often have to explain to other people that their child has ASD in order to justify their strange behaviors. Siblings often need to inform friends that their sibling with ASD is in the house before they step inside.

The children with ASD themselves are sometimes aware of their own difficulties, however, they can’t express their knowledge. People, including family and friends, may talk about them in condescending or rude ways with them

in the room, not even considering that the child may understand what they’re doing. These things may make a child upset and angry, but they can’t express their feelings because of their difficulties. Even growing up, a child with ASD “can become increasingly aware of their difficulties in understanding others and in being understood, and as a result, may become anxious or depressed,” (Infobase). Overall, ASD makes a very big impact on the world, and its presence is undeniable in many children’s lives. Conclusion It’s undeniable that ASD makes a tremendous influence on the world. Children with ASD may be socially looked down upon, but people must know that their difficulties don’t make them idiots. Parents must know that their child’s early symptoms, such as their preference for loneliness, may be something more impactful than they believe.

Children with ASD aren’t just peculiar or strange, as people see them. Instead, they see the world in so many different ways, perceiving even the most basic objects or feelings in ways we can’t begin to comprehend. Because of this strange perspective, children may be scared or confused that nobody seems to understand them. They may understand their difficulties and feel as if nobody listens to them. They could become very confused adults in a society which looks at them as “dumb” or “weird.” However, this could change very easily. It can change if the parents of these children could understand their child’s difficulties and get them the help they need to adapt to a world which is always changing. It can change if the public could see people with ASD as people just like them. As said in

the previous paragraph, the realization of their own difficulties is a lot for children with ASD and their families to handle. In short, if the world could change its view of ASD to be an ugly tangle of problems, then it could change its views again to be ready to accept these children to a world not so full of confusion.