Anywhere from three to six out of every 1000 children that are born will be diagnosed with autism during their lifetime.  This is an astronomical number, especially when you compare it to the number of children that were diagnosed with this disease several decades ago.  There are many different reasons why this may be the case but many people feel as if it is environmentally related.  It may also be that parents are more informed and able to diagnose these problems and bring them to the attention of their doctor.  Regardless of why the disease is happening, however, diagnosing autism is one of the most important parts in being able to deal with the disease successfully.

Unfortunately, there is neither a cause nor a cure that is known for this particular disease.  It affects so many people but there does not necessarily seem to be a rhyme or reason as to why it is occurring.  Diagnosing autism is often left up to the parents and as long as they are informed about the possible warning signs of this disease, they will be able to bring the problem to light early in the child’s life.  This will not only help the child to develop some skills that it needs throughout its lifetime, it will help the parents to be prepared for the work that is involved.

The problem with diagnosing autism is that there can be so many different symptoms that will tip the parents off to the fact that there is a problem.  Many children will also display several different symptoms of the disease.  These range anywhere from problems with social development through to a difficulty staying still or a problem with repetitive movements.  The main thing is that you should be charting your child’s development and anything that is out of the ordinary should be brought to your doctor’s attention.

If, however, you recognize that your child is having a problem with his speech or is not developing as other childrens his age are developing then this could be a warning sign of the problem.  It may also display itself in repetitive behavior such as rocking, hand flapping or compulsively lining up their toys.  Not every child will develop on the same level, whether they have autism or not.  But by diagnosing autism in a child early, you are providing them with a much better chance to live their life more fully.

It is a well-known fact that there is no cure for autism. Though it may be little harsh to open with such a bitter statement, the stark truth that the autism statistics can give us is nothing but that.

There are different types of therapies for autism and only a proper and correct diagnosis alone can help in identifying the level or the degree of the disorder so as to decide on the perfect treatment method.

When you look at the autism statistics, you will come to know that earlier the therapy is commenced, the better and effective are the results. It is highly recommended that the decided treatment should be administered well before the child reaches the age of two years or three years. And the autism statistics prove that when the treatment administered before the age of two or three years, the success rate has increased to a whopping figure of 36 %.

Increasing Occurrence at an Increasing Rate

The heart breaking truth revealed by the latest autism statistics is that the disorder is actually increasing at an increased rate and it has reached a level today which is six times more than the level prevailing in early 80s.

As a parent you will not have any hope about your autistic child unless you start the therapy at the earliest possible preferably before the age of two or three. And even at the instance of resorting to therapy at such an early stage, the success rate could only be 30 to 40 %.

Doctors opine that in an autistic child’s brain, the neurons make a wrong connection resulting in the child’s misinterpretation of the external stimulus. Any autism therapy aims in reducing this incidence of neurons making wrong connections there by leading to a stage where in any further damage to the brain or to the behavioural changes is arrested.

With a delay in commencing the therapy, the wrong connections or the wrong wiring done by the neurons will become permanent and the numbers will increase with every passing year of non-treatment. And your child may reach a stage where it is not possible for any treatment at all.

Unfortunately, the autism statistics reveal that only ten percent of the diagnosed children are recommended for therapies and among them only 3 to 4 percent of the children alone get treated for many obvious reasons.

The less percentage is not due to the ignorance or lethargy of the parents, but rather due to the high cost of the therapy that makes the parents wondering and driving away from the scene. The autism statistics indicate in clear terms that at least a minimum of 25 hours of treatment in a week is required for getting a minimum possible improvement.

Most of the parents find the costs highly prohibitive and the states also do not have funds to support such causes and to help the deserving child and the parents alike. Further, added to the existing problem of high costs, when it comes to the availability of quality professionals there is always a shortage for such specialists for administering the therapy and this also adds to the existing woes of the parents.

Due to the lack of cost effective alternative treatment, many parents of autistic child started taking up special training courses that can make them proficient in administering the required therapy all by themselves to their child.

But, this is not the correct approach for the problem and cannot be an answer to the crisis. If the autism statistics need to show improvement in an overall scenario, then states should provide better support in real terms to counter the disorder effectively.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Statistics

It is quite possible to see autistic children showing extraordinary genius act and excel in areas such as music, science, show a great affinity to numbers and in solving arithmetic problems with ease. Further, it was observed that such type of autism seems to affect boys more than girls for unknown reasons.

The syndrome of extraordinary power in grasping things, especially numbers and science subjects, is termed as “the little professor syndrome”. This condition or the syndrome is also known as “asperger autism”.

The great medical practitioner Hans Asperger was responsible for identifying this type of malady amongst children in the year 1944, and the whole medical world took cognisance of the good work and accepted to open a special autism branch for this category.

Recognising Autism as a Neurological Disorder

Hans Asperger through his various well-studied symptoms established that autism is indeed a neurological problem rather than considering it as an mental retardation. It was the hard work done by Hans Asperger that made the medical world name the high-functioning autism as asperger autism.

Hans Asperger through his many research studies established that asperger autism and other general autism are a result of malfunctioning genes that has been inherited from the family history. For many decades parents of autism child were thinking that their lifestyle has resulted in their child’s autism but the fact is that it is far from the reason thought and the actual reason lies deep in the genes held by the fore-fathers in the family history.

There are no external factors that can influence autism in a person and there are no specific causes that can trigger asperger autism or any other general autism. In a more plain language to enable understanding, autism is a condition where in the neurons in the affected person’s brain make false connections leading to misinterpretation of the incoming signals from various parts of the body. Any misinterpretation will lead to wrong action not appropriate to the situation, and it is like a wrong bulb lighting up when a switch is turned on.

Autism in children normally shows up as a non-response to the outside world and such children fail to laugh or smile to a joke, indifferent to pain and appetite, and are usually stay away from all human interactive aspects such as talking, touching, hugging, etc.

Children with asperger autism will normally be calm and never be talkative and do not show any conspicuous behavior such as smiling to your jokes. Further, these children also do things that any normal person may not do in normal circumstances such as smiling in solitude, abnormal gesticulations, etc.

Children with asperger autism normally show unusual extra intelligence, and are normally show a very great affinity to numbers. Further, children affected by asperger autism are very adept in solving mathematical problems, even complicated ones that may pose a challenge to others.

Asperger autism patients under normal circumstances seek for books on their own and try to read and understand. They also show very great interests in learning things and are capable of learning complex matters in no time.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Neurological Disorder

Autism is considered as a neurological disorder that results in impairment of social skills and abnormalities in behaviour and interest patterns. So far scientists could not arrive at the correct cause for autism and they are also not successful in finding an effective cure. There are many opinions about the cause of autism - namely genetics, environment factors or both. The only known symptom is that autism occurs or affects children before the age of three. .

How to Identify Symptoms at a tender Age of Three

If a person is diagnosed with autism, it is not a sudden development and he/she would have been afflicted with the disorder well before the age of three in their childhood. Only for such reason it has been emphasised all along to study child autism so that we can understand the disorder early and start the possible treatment.

Child autism is a typical disorder that afflicts children in their infancy state itself. Normal babies generally smile and stare into the eyes of adults including parents. They also freely interact and mingle with people and are playful all the times. But the scenario is not similar in case of child autism.

Autistic children avoid looking at the eyes of other people including their parents and show preference towards inanimate objects rather than human faces. They also show disliking to interaction and never prefer comforting gestures such as touch and hugging.

Child autism makes the afflicted child to withdraw from the external world and they start living in their own world and that too in solitude. Autistic children will be indifferent to gestures such as hugging or touching and will not respond to any external stimulus. If a child is afflicted with child autism, then the child may not be able to stand any loud noise or any bad odour.

Autism Getting into Alarming Proportions

A recent study reveals that one in every 166 American children is autistic and that point out the need for us to know more about child autism. It should be your endeavour to study the maximum extent possible about autism as the same can help you in helping the autistic children.

Many of the autism afflicted children are in fact happy about their child autism, and they also do not want to have any cure for the reason that autism gives them an opportunity to develop courage and learn to live with the life’s various odds.

Evading Autism Cure

The disturbing truth about the child autism could be that there is no definite cure for autism. However, with certain intensive therapy coupled with specialised schooling, an autistic child can develop sufficient social skills necessary for taking care of the self-needs.

Some times autistic children might behave very normally and at the same time they also show unruly behaviour or totally withdraw from the outer world on many occasions. This can also be taken as a classic symptom of child autism. Autistic children also exhibit uncontrolled gesticulations and even certain behaviours such as screaming and crying.

With all the available resources and information, we are not any where near a perfect awareness about autism, and we aren’t closer to a cure either. However, with a good awareness, understanding, patience and love, we can make a difference in the autistic child’s life and help them to lead a near normal life.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Cure

First let us understand that Autism and Chelation are two different entities. When your blood or your organs accumulate toxic heavy metals or toxins in short, then the toxin will be drawn out through an administered binding agent that binds with the toxins and flush them out; and this process is known as Chelation. The process of chelation is very useful for treating lead poisoning and similar complications.

Autism is considered as a neurological disorder and is seen to afflict children and results in impairment of social interaction, difficulty in speech and expressions and the autistic person or the child will engage in repetitive gesticulations.

Majority of these symptoms are generally identified when the children are less than three years old. In recent times chelation has been recommended for treating autism disorder and for the sake of clarity and to differentiate we will use the terminology “chelation autism” to refer to this treatment.

How Chelation Autism Could Help

Till today the medical world is yet to give us the exact cause for autism in people. It is only known that the condition is identified even at birth, and anything beyond this is all only assumptions. Today autistic disorder is considered as a chronic condition resulting from genetic reasons and aggravated by environmental factors.

In one of the findings it was observed that the autistic people are not able to assimilate mercury in their body and hence the theory of high level of mercury in one’s body causing autism came into being.

Only here the Chelation autism enters into the picture and assist in removing the toxic mercury from the body using chelating agents. It was thought that removal of mercury from the body could assist in reducing few of the autism-related symptoms.

The theory of autism caused by a high level of mercury in one’s blood also hold water when you consider the increasing incidence of mercury in our atmosphere and in our body and also due to the usage of thimerson, a mercuric compound, used for preserving the childhood vaccines.

But the critics say that today’s experts and pediatricians were able to diagnose autism correctly and precisely with the help of sophisticated diagnostic tools and proven scientific methods and all the earlier cases of autism went undetected or undiagnosed for want of such sophisticated tools and techniques.

Toxic Properties of Mercury

In case of mercury toxicity, you will have dilated pupils, sweat profusely on your hands and feet, and exhibit violent knee jerks. You may also have esotropia condition meaning that one of your eyes will be focussed on one subject and the other eye turning inward (sort of a squint eye) and will develop increased heart rates and rashes all over the body.

You can get your blood, urine and even hair tested for presence of mercury in your body. Even in high toxic levels, it will be difficult for the doctors to ascertain the mercury level through such tests, and hence you must subject yourself to a series of tests. Further, even if you get rid of your mercuric toxicity from your blood, hair and urine, the toxic effects will continue to be present in the brain.

Now people believe that this trace amount of mercury absorbed by the brain is causing autism in children. So chelation autism is a must for the brain to get rid of the mercury for curing autism. Medicines such as DMPS (2,3-dimercaptopropane sulfonate) and DMSA (meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid) are used in chelation autism.

Out of the two, the DMPS has not been tested on children and hence not recommended for treating children. The other DMSA can be used for chelation autism and the FDA has also certified use of DMSA in children for curing lead and mercury poisoning.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Chelation

Autism is a neurological development disorder that sets in impairment in social skills and communication abilities in the affected person. The afflicted person will also show OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and prefer to get into solitude.

Though there are many disagreements and disputes, one school of thought doing its rounds denotes to the possibility of link between vaccines and autism. One detailed study claims that only after the introduction and administration of the MMR (mumps, measles, rubella) vaccine there was an increased occurrence of autism in people.

But in case of any controversy, it is always better to look at all possible angles and get as much information as possible before making a conclusion. When it comes to the controversial debate over vaccines and autism, there are two claims namely the claim of increased cases and the proven results of possible relationship between vaccines and autism are to be taken into account.

The Claim of Increased Autism Cases

When you look into the statistical data provided by the State of California you can come to a conclusion that the relation between vaccines and autism is indeed a possibility. The report clearly points out the possibility of vaccines causing autism due to the reason that the autism cased registered an increase after the introduction and administration of MMR vaccines. However, one has to take into consideration of other factors also that happened during the time frame within which the study was conducted.

For instance, the increase in population also might have contributed to the increase in autism cases among children. In addition to it, the improved diagnostic tools would have resulted in diagnosing more cases, which would have gone undiagnosed otherwise.

Further, again the increased level of autism awareness among the general public would have led to a situation making all the parents got their children diagnosed and ending up with many cases of autism which might have gone undiagnosed earlier.

Outcome of Various Studies

Right from the year 1970, various studies were undertaken to find out the relation and the correlation between vaccines and autism and all these studies were undertaken with various variables such as various locations, various research tools, various age groups etc.

Out of many such studies undertaken, one study was conducted on to know the incidence of autism before and after MMR use. Interestingly, the study revealed that there is no correlation or increase after the usage of MMR vaccine.

A yet another study that aimed towards studying the direct effects of vaccine itself in triggering autism in children revealed that there is no evidence to put the blame on the MMR vaccine. One more study that concentrated on the age of the autistic children found that the MMR vaccine is not responsible for autism irrespective of its administration before or after the age of 18 months.

What is the Conclusion

Out of many studies conducted to know the relation between vaccines and autism, few studies in fact suggest that there is indeed a relation between vaccines and autism. One of the studies revealed that administration of MMR vaccine resulted in a viral infection of digestive system that indirectly triggered autism in children.

Unfortunately, there are no two studies that confirm one single conclusion and that makes researchers wonder at the efficacy of the tools used in the studies. So far only one study has revealed that MMR vaccine is capable of causing developmental disorder in children. However, it did not throw much light on the development of viral infection of the digestive system.

To summarise, the debate or the controversy is yet to find a logical end.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Vaccines

Behavioral analysis is a complex process applied to find out a person’s personality and it is a difficult one. The difficulty parameter mentioned here doesn’t indicate that the process in impossible or futile.

When it comes to autism, diagnosing autism is not an easy task, and the behavioural science tools can be successfully applied for such diagnosis. In recent years many more successful behavioural analysis methods were employed in studying and for diagnosing of autism and people were able to get precise results.

Before any one could start a treatment schedule, it is important for the person to get the autism condition diagnosed properly. As said earlier, diagnosing autism is not an easy task due to the absence of any standard medical tests that can find out autism in a person with one sitting. Diagnosing of autism is a time consuming process and a laborious one due to the involvement of mental attitudes.

How Autism can be Diagnosed Successfully

Autism being a behavioural disorder, applying methods of any a behavioural science would be very proper for diagnosing autism and for precise results. In the process a well trained behavioural practitioner or a professional will observe the suspected autistic child over a period of time and record all the observations made about the behaviour patterns and interests of the child.

The professional then makes use of the documented data to arrive at a conclusion whether or not the child is afflicted with autism. Though this process is a tedious and time consuming one, the method is regarded as a best one with a higher level of accuracy. The impaired communication abilities of the autistic child also compounds the problem in diagnosis and the diagnosing expert has to do it all alone duly by observing the reactions of the child very carefully.

Is There Any Other Procedure

There are few more methods which one can use for diagnosing autism. The future still holds promise that many more tools will be discovered for autism diagnosis and the invented tools or methods will be so easy and precise that will make today’s behavioural analysis redundant. However, till today, the behavioural science methods employed for diagnosing autism seems to be working fine.

Reasons for Relying on Behavioral Analysis

Autism being a behavioural disorder involving complex thought processes and psychological maladies, there is no standard medical test procedure that can reveal the autistic condition in a person. The entire complication resides in one’s brain and the function of the brain is very abstract involving complex thought and response processes.

To make the point little more clear, when you consider the liver as an organ, the functioning of liver can be easily assessed through x-rays or sonography or even by the hormone secreted by liver. In the case of brain, all the output will be in an abstract form and such conditions cannot be observed through a microscope or through any other instruments. Hence for diagnosing autism behavioural science methods are applied as standard test procedures.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Diagnosing

An autism awareness bracelet is capable of bringing in a lot of favourable responses and good things for the autistic children. It can serve as a first step in getting the needed attention and for getting the necessary help and the bracelet can also bring about awareness amongst the general public about autism.

Awareness Symbols getting the Wrath from Critics

Let us not discuss much on this subject, as critics are there in every nook and corner to turn down or to mock at various social awareness programmes. Critics will generally oppose to wearing of an autism awareness bracelet and make attempts to diminish the very purpose of the idea of bringing in awareness amongst the general public.

What ever may be the said and done, ribbons and bracelets have come a long way in exhibiting and bringing in the needed support for causes of many social interests and issues. Only a few will turn down or look down at the idea, but such awareness programmes have become very effective in the recent past.

Critics wearing such items turn to be a bunch of unwanted logs rather than providing a meaningful criticism for improving and for betterment of the whole scenario. There is no reason why some people should deplore the use of an autism awareness bracelet when any helpful gestures can see a world of healthy children without autism at all.

Advantages of Autism Awareness Bracelet

Due to the absence of awareness amongst the general public, many conditions including the autism may not get the required attention from the public. People do not know the depth and scope of the many debilitating conditions and hence they are not in a position to understand and extend a helping hand. Though one cannot look at such situation as a fault, it can only be related to the absence of awareness among the people.

Wearing an autism awareness bracelet can be resorted to for bringing in awareness amongst the public towards autism. An autism awareness bracelet is sure to bring in a public consciousness and in the process help can flow in from the understanding individuals. Creating a public awareness is not an easy task, but it is not an impossible task.

People become very curious about new and odd things, and this curiosity can be made use for propagating awareness. Through an autism awareness bracelet, people can be made to know about the presence of autism and the related sufferings and difficulties and such awareness can set in motion a helping tendency. An autism awareness bracelet by itself cannot provide a cure for autism but can inculcate awareness among the people with helping tendencies.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Awareness, Bracelet

Autism is considered as a neurological disorder than can cause impairment in communication abilities, social interaction and varied patterns of behaviour and in areas of interest in people.

The word autism originated from the Greek word meaning “self” and as of today the exact cause for autism is not known. However, few researchers and medical experts have found striking similarities in certain genes in people who are autistic. Only a series of general and psychiatric tests alone can find out whether the person is suffering from autism or not.

Living Happily with Autism

Autistic people exhibit classic symptoms of impairment in social interaction and are slow in language learning. In the recent past autism cases have shown an increasing trend and nobody was able to find out the exact reasons for occurrence of autism.

It may be a surprising news to you if you know that autistic people are in fact happy about their condition and take this opportunity to exhibit their courage and conviction to fight the condition so as to lead a near normal life.

There are treatments that can cure autism and it was established that many of the autistic children could have better communication abilities with proper training and intense tailor made therapies. In fact autistic children can be made to lead a near normal life and socialise freely with others through proper schooling and other related treatments.

The stark truth is that autism doesn’t have any cure and once afflicted, only management practices alone can make life better. Many adults and children who have been affected by autism have taken their autistic condition in their strides and are leading a normal life.

Studying the Symptoms of Autism

The symptoms of autism can easily be observed in the childhood stage itself. Children afflicted by autism will not socialise and interact freely and avoid eye contact. You can easily find out the difference in behaviour of an autistic child from that of normal child not afflicted by autism.

Children with autism always prefer to be in solitude and will be very indifferent to caring gestures such as hugging, etc. Few children afflicted by autism may even prefer to be alone and never be in need of any attention at all.

Once the children afflicted by autism grow old, they draw themselves away from the general public, including their beloved parents.

Though one theory suggests that autistic children are emotionally attached to their parents, another school of thought say that it is not so and autistic children never exhibit their attachment to their parents. It will be a heart-breaking situation for many of the parents who have autistic children as their children constantly distant themselves from them.

In many situations, autistic children will show uncontrolled behaviour and such acts are exhibited in the form of yelling or crying. Few even go to an extent of kicking at the imaginary friends or objects and the children growing with autism show aggressive behaviour such as self-injury or withdrawing from the surrounding situations in their adulthood.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Symptoms

With an additional 25,000 new cases of autism getting reported every year, the number of autism affected children is also increasing and a study says that 1 in every 150 children is affected by autism.

Further, autism while affecting children, doesn’t restrict with any particular ethnic group and is known to affect all people from all walks of life. Today due to increase in the autism cases, there is an urgent need for autism awareness also for better management of autism affects children and grown-ups.

Persons affected by autism will have impaired speech and other social interaction and might behave abnormally or might show inappropriate responses. In case of severity many persons will have severe impairment in their speech and will not be able to take care of themselves.

For the purpose of inculcating autism awareness amongst the general public the National Autism Society in the year 1972 declared the month of April every year as National Autism Awareness month.

Diagnosing Autism in its Early Stage

Efforts to increase autism awareness make pediatricians and the parents alike in understanding or finding the otherwise elusive symptoms in small children. During the month of April every year, there will be television shows and information in magazines about autism news and the matter will be discussed thread bare to inculcate a better understanding of symptoms of autism in children.

One can find the earlier symptoms of autism even in an age of three and hence it is very difficult to diagnose the symptoms of autism, as almost all the symptoms are of behavioural in nature. Further, autism being considered as a spectrum disorder, the symptoms also vary in the scale of severity and with other people.

What could be done towards Treating Autism

Best results can be achieved if the autism is diagnosed earlier and treatments are started without any delay. Autism awareness plays a very vital role in early diagnosis and helps people and family members to coordinate in treatment schedules and for better understanding the cause and effect of autism. Spread of the awareness can also help the society at large in devising meaningful and helpful communities for dealing with autism.

The interests or the behaviour meted out by the society or the community towards the autism-affected persons also plays an effective role during the treatment. Persons who come under high spectrum autism, despite their efficiency in doing all the schoolwork, get bullied due to their odd behaviour.

Increasing autism awareness can make such situation less burdensome for the autistic persons as the persons around them understand about the situation and help and take the strange behaviours as normal.

Sorting out the Issues

Any increase in autism awareness will certainly broaden the scope for studying or including all the related issues. An autism-affected person will exhibit various disorders covering the entire body and are prone to many other related problems.

Besides the conspicuous impairment in speech and other behavioural maladies, researches are being conducted to study the issues relating to dietary habits, role of any toxic materials like mercury, and other environmental issues so as to understand better about autism. Only a better autism awareness can bring in a better support and in understanding autism to its fullest possible level.

There are many agencies other than the National Autism Society that help in inculcating autism awareness among the general public. One such agency is the Center for Disease Control, Department of Education, and it should be your endeavour to increase your knowledge base about autism and create greater autism awareness.

Technorati Tags: Autism, Autism Awareness