Autism spectrum disorder: diagnosis, prevalence, genetics, and treatments

¶ … autism spectrum disorder?

Five-year-old Lilly has never spoken aloud. She avoids eye contact with other children and her parents. She flaps her hands and despite not having any diagnosable physical problems walks in short, jerky steps. Lilly has autism.

Ten-year-old Jason is highly verbal. He has a vocabulary much larger than the average child his age and has a high IQ. However, Jason has no friends at school. Whenever he becomes really interested in something, whether it is baseball or racecars, he has difficulty talking about anything else. Jason is also on the autism spectrum.

Autism Defined

The challenges of identifying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) lie in the fact that it is a continuum. It is often said that "if you know one child with autism, you know one child with autism." The common symptoms of autism are problems with language and communication; impaired social interactions; repetitive behaviors, and an inability to pick up on social cues and mirror the behaviors of others (NIH, 2015).

Can it be treated?

Early intervention is critical. Because ASD is such a unique and varied disorder, treatment will also vary depending on the specific needs of the child.

Is Autism genetic?

There is a clear genetic component to autism, although scientists are not entirely sure of how this mechanism operates. "Identical twin studies show that if one twin is affected, there is up to a 90% chance the other twin will be affected" (NIH, 2015).

Treatments

Applied behavior analysis (ABA): Behaviors are broken down into small, manageable steps (PBS, 2009).

Occupational therapy: Support in dressing, bathing, and basic organizational tasks

Sensory integration therapy: To desensitize the individual to sound, touch, bright lights

Signs of Hope

Higher-than-average IQ and early behavioral intervention was found to be positively associated in a study of 34 people ages 8 to 21 diagnosed with autism before the age of five but who "no longer met criteria for the condition" (Szalavitz 2013).

Speech therapy can help even nonverbal children communicate through the use of assistive technology such as computers and using pictures and sign language