Archive for the 'autism' Category

In dealing with autism, as in other disorders, a number of treatment options are available including educational, behavioral, biomedical, nutritional and sensory choices. For patients who are not rich enough or for those who have no medical insurance the cost of treatment is forbidding and can drain their purse empty. You have to monitor carefully the effect of treatment overtime to ensure that the child receives the best treatment and attention. Find out which treatment works and which does not and avoid paying for the ineffective methods and pay for treatments that create a positive difference.

Before treatment, first, evaluate the abilities of the autistic person. A number of services, organizations like Autism Research Institute offer a check list of evaluation points focusing on behavior and illness as linked with autism. Autistic persons are likely to have increasing functionality as they mature. So some positive effects in the person’s life are the result of the natural growth process. After about two months fill out the check list once again and compare it to the first. If there is a sharp increase in a positive way in the person’s behavior it may be due to treatment.

Begin only one treatment at a time. Don’t do the mistake of trying every thing at a time when good and bad effects causes out and you will not know which treatment has produced the positive effect and which does not work. Fast studies can guide you but they will not be helpful as autism is an extremely complicated disorder. A few treatments are new and have only short term effects. It is a process of trial and error and two months is sufficient to study the differences with in an autistic individual. Discontinue the treatment method if no positive improvement is noticed and go in for a treatment that works.

Don’t forget that you need not wait for two months to decide on the continuance of the treatment. If the side effects of the treatment are unbearable and affect the life of the patient, the treatment may be discontinued. You have to just monitor the methods continuously. Treatments may not work after a time when autistic children mature and grow just like every one else. Consult the doctor before you try anything new to be as safe and healthy as possible.

While parents of autistic children have plenty of information to deal with them and their different behavior, there is no such information or tools to manage a sibling who is autistic. The situation for the brothers and sisters of the autistic child is very stressful. The following tips can help children to deal with an autistic sibling.

At times, parents, in their involvement with the future and change of the autistic child forget that their other children too must deal with the situation. They may feel the new situation acutely, be jealous of the autistic child and feel neglected. Their friends may also tease them about having an autistic brother or sister which will cause stress. Thus behavioral problems may crop up; the sibling may act out and become a “problem child” to get the attention. The sibling may even try to hurt the autistic brother or sister to take him away from family ambience.

But that is only an occasional happening. The presence of an autistic sibling compels one to “grow up” and be responsible. A strong emotional attachment may develop and a keen longing to keep him or her safe in all circumstances. Living with an autistic sibling may teach one to be more open about another person’s difference. The company with an autistic sibling is a life enriching experience of emotional and mental strength and tolerance for others in life.

Find a support group to manage your autistic brother or sister. Resources should be available at the local chapter of the Autism society of America. This is very important as the siblings should not feel lonely and isolated in the new situation. Always try to increase family instruction. A family day or night a week should be ear marked when all children spend time with parents or other family members and partake of their day or week experiences and any problems.

The best thing is to neglect some aspect of your life and ask them for a moment of their time. That will be the best solution. It is the bounden duty of all parents to cater to and understand the needs of their children whether they autistic or normal. It is proper and healthy communication that helps the family run smoothly without any hitches.

Musical therapy, the latest method for autistic patients is beyond any discussion options. It can effect wonderful improvement in temperament and learning skills on the part of autistic patients. Music links the nonverbal part of our brain and becomes the perfect therapy for disorders that cause trouble in communication like autism. You can reach on this innovative method of treatment for help in autism if you have not succeeded in the past.

Combined with learning social skills musical therapy is effective. Music is a soft and non threatening medium for patients and music can be employed in playing a number of games that improve the patient’s social and behavioral skills. If an eye contact is maintained and encouraged while singing or using instruments they need to get close to the face, musical therapy can make the autistic person break social barriers.

The best and the most significant and singular help of musical therapy for autistic children and adults are in the development of speech skills. Music is the means to link the verbal and nonverbal functions of the brain. Speech problems of autistic children include humming, grunting, making non work noises, blabbing nonsensical phrases or cries. A few others can use phrases and sentences and communicate but without any emotion. Autistic people are noted for monotone voices. However skilled the autistic person might be in speech he can take part in musical therapy by clapping rhythms, humming along or doing simple echoing songs.

Commonly considered specifically good in music, a few have a perfect pitch and other autistic persons can plan a particular instrument very well with a little instruction. Though the autistic child is not a genius in music he has musical abilities greater than his other skills. So a musical therapist can utilize music as a link to this kind of learning with other kinds of learning not merely as speech development and social behavior development but as a means of communicating emotions and develop memory.

Musical therapy, with a combination of all other techniques really can work wonders for autistic children and adults. Music can teach to children how to communicate in nonverbal ways in an easy through trained professionals. Do more research on musical therapy option to offer another option in treating autism?

Self injury is painful and dangerous and one wonders why any person should indulge in that act. This dangerous practice is prevalent in autistic children to a great extent. Many theories are in vogue for the existence of this practice and a few methods are also available to wean away children from this harmful practice.

Their inability to communicate through language like others frustrates the autistic persons as they are not understood and do not get what they need or want. This frustration, impossible for communication through word, manifests as self injury and banging their heads or biting themselves. Self injury is also means of drawing the attention of others. The autistic child frustration and the need for attention go hand in hand. For instance, by scratching one self until one bleeds the autistic child draws the immediate attention of others who try to understand what the person really wants.

Frustration and attention theory has been in vogue for quite some time. Studies in recent times have indicated that self injury can have a biochemical component that relieves one of some pain and frustration through the release of endorphins or “happy hormones” into the system. The autistic child, thus, forgets his pain and frustration temporarily. It is believed that frequent self injury on the part of the autistic child mask or cover up through endorphins all the pain and frustration linked with such behavior. It becomes an addictive action.

Some professional suggest ignoring the self injurious behavior of the autistic child as an acceptable method of treatment. Others suggest drugs and communication therapy provide the autistic child with another method of communication. There are drugs that stop the additive behavior of releasing endorphins into the system. Nutritional solutions are also available. Vitamin B6 and calcium are helpful to families with an autistic child.

For family members, training on how to communicate with an autistic child is extremely important. Normal persons are used to communicate through easily recognizable words or body language. But communicating with an autistic child needs a completely different process. Solutions for both the child and the family with leanings for self injury should be found to overcome this distressing practice.

There are medicine options galore available to control autistic symptoms as in the case of any other illness, disease or disorder. Autism can never be cured through medication but can only be controlled to a certain extent. Each drug has its own advantages and disadvantages and side effects. The doctor will prescribe effective drugs to treat autism. But autism differs from person to person and hence you should be very careful in using these drugs and watch how the body reacts to the treatment.

Safety of the drug is the first consideration. A few cannot be used in children and people under a certain weight. Ensure proper dosage of the drug and find how it is administered (pills, injection or liquids). This is important if you are not comfortable with certain methods like injecting yourself or your child. Examine how safe the drug is to people who do not suffer from autism. See that the drug is not lethal in case it falls into the hand of children. Also find out what you should do in case it falls in for the wrong hands.

More a comprehensive idea of the side effects of the drugs you are using. The drugs can control aggression responsiveness, hyperactivity and other autistic tendencies while at the same time cause sedation nausea and dizziness. Think thousand times before starting a treatment lest you will have bottles of pills to counter act the effects of others. Don’t forget that medications that have long term effects. Will you and your child be slave of the drug? Will you be tolerate how will it affect the body over the time? It is the doctor who should answer these questions before you start any medication.

You can research on these drugs at your local library or on the internet. Journals and health care magazines are up to date and reliable. But there is altered information on the World Wide Web. So be cautious about following the advice before consulting the doctor. He will also be able to offer the literature about the medication options for autistic patients. Researches are on the many choices before making any decisions for the betterment of your health.

Autism is a neurological condition that affects the developmental abilities of children. Such children find it difficult to communicate and interact with others, show odd patterns of behavior, interest and activities.

While these characteristics differ from individual to individual, the autistic child is in his own world of imagination and dream. He may act violently at time and certain other cases, the same child can adjust, adapt and accommodate according to the social environment.

Early treatment offers the best result for the autistic child. The moment the child exhibits unusual and odd patterns of behavior, delay in growth development for his age, and disability in communicating and interacting with others, autism should be diagnosed and treated.

Some treatments include dieting, physiotherapy, counseling, medication and working with language skills. As results are different for every child discussion is on regarding which treatment gives the desired result. In Applied Behavioral Analysis a person is employed to work on one with the individual for 40 hours a week which is costly.

There is Intensive Behavioral Intervention in one on one or in small groups. Parents should fully examine the results of these options before choosing a particular method. Parents are encouraged to believe in their instincts and proceed thoughtfully by the Autism society of America. In cases of severe autism parent cannot choose easily and quickly as this may lead to dramatic changes in the life of the child.

In treating autism no single idea can cover all bases. All parents and caregivers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their children. They will adapt many ideas to create a special program of their own. It needs always tremendous determination to stay focused, with persistent. Much patience is needed as results will come slowly and surely. Added to the educational and behavioral remedies, some indirect medical options are now available to reduce the impact of autism. In certain cases dieting, inclusion of minerals and vitamins has helped.

As there are no proven treatments to cure autism today, parents can choose their own means and follow any reasonable option medically sound. They can share their success with others. Children with autism progress greatly with focused individualized attention in a proper manner.

As a parent of an autistic child you have certain basic rights and you are expected to know what they are. American constitution protects every one of its citizens and there are special laws to protect autistic persons and those with other disabilities. There special laws protect you and you can live and enjoy better opportunities irrespective of your disability, race, gender and ethnicity. This is the first step towards creating a more tolerant world.

The first law you should be acquainted with is IDEA or The Individuals with Disabilities Act. This act covers children of age 3 to 21 and provides them special educational programs they require. I.D.E.A entitles the parents to involve themselves with education decisions about their children made by the school. I.D.E.A assesses the child in the best way through a private professional. The child, finally, has the lawful right of free education according to his/her skill level. If your school has no such program it should be found or created for you at no cost to you.

Be familiar with the American Disabilities Act which prohibits discrimination under disability in the workforce and with stat and local government, public accommodations, the United States Congress, Public Transportation, and telecommunications. In other words, if you are autistic but posses the skills to do a particular job, you cannot be refused simply because you are autistic.

Other laws for autism provide people with constitutional equality to others. One law allows them the right to vote and insists on the provision of accommodation for them. Another law prohibits people to deny housing on the basis of autism. There are other laws that provide equal rights in all other aspects of life and you should know all about these if your autistic child is in a health care institution.

Knowledge of the laws and its application for you and the autistic child ensures the upholding of justice. Any of your questions should be answered by the local law officials and supply material to answer your own questions. Don’t forget that ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse for any one and you have to advocate your own cause and that of the autistic person o that mistreatment is avoided.

The effects of autism are different for different children and it is extremely difficult to find the specific treatment the child needs to cope with the symptoms. Visual perception affects a few autistic children. Some standard methods can be used to assist improvement in visual perception and the child will be able to see the world clearly. Learning and comprehension care become easier and control some behavioral problems.

The main problem with autistic children is sensory overloading and distortion though the same problems affect people who are not autistic. As a result of this many treatment options are now available. For autistic children, the sensory overload of the world due to light, colors, contrast shapes and patterns is too much to handle that result in a shut down in general. At times it can be a genetic problem augmented by autism. If the parents have a problem in reading are treated for visual problems, the child surely requires help.

In Irene Method, an effective means, to treat visual perception disorders, color is employed to create a more harmonized world. You would have been familiar to this method of any one had suggested to. Use a color filter over the page to read better and quickly. This method is proven to be effective and you can test it with your autistic child and see if there is a difference in speed and understanding using color filters. The benefit for the child is throughout the day, not just in reading. Special glasses using color lenses have been made to solve this problem. Every child responds differently to every color. Only by trial and error we have to find out which color blocks the harmful light. Colored light bulbs can be used at home to help the autistic children with usual perception problems.

The four areas where this method mainly helps children are depth perception, social interaction, learning and physical health. The child can decide how far it is from an object and the world becomes more three dimensional facilitating depth perceptions. Social interaction increases as the child feels that it is in a calmer world and can see and more clearly interpret facial expressions. The color helps the child to learn while reading and over all it feels better with reduced headaches and dizziness. By testing or trying this technique for visual perception problems. The child can be helped to cope with autism and the world in a much better way.

A person’s life from school to work is one of the most major transitions. They are protected in high school or college and helped and looked after financially and otherwise by their parents. After school these ties are cut and the person has to bend for himself. For any one this transition is scary and especially for an autistic individual school life is spent with peers in a controlled environment. For autistic people the work force is a difficult concept as they have to confront new situations daily contrary to the comfort of a set of fixed living condition.

Autistic graduates, mainly, should learn how to deal with people in business world proper grooming which may have been a simple thing in high school or college. Proper grooming like brushing your teeth, wearing proper dress, using deodorant and combing your hair comes naturally to people while an autistic person is really in need of help as he does not realize what is appropriate or inappropriate. By this time or stage in life many autistic persons, after schooling, are mature and can be the assigned task without problems and avoid out bursts in many situations. A few persons are highly skilled in maths and music, learning a new job in the work force is not a problem. The problem is to relate others in a social situation.

People take advantage of autistic persons because of relationship problems. Autistic persons believe that all people are inherently good like themselves. Companies and business people, sadly, do not follow ethnical practices. Autistic people are shocked at this and do not know how to handle the situation. Others in the work force may not be capable of dealing with autism leading to bad relationships among employees. Employees should not only teach the autistic person their new job but properly direct others who work with them. Autistic individuals should be prepared for intolerance in the work force which is common.

In short autistic people should realize that there is going to be a major transition and transformation between school and college life and life in the work force. It will be very helpful for them to seek help in the transition from therapists, family members or mentors. Going from school to work is not easy but hard work and motivation will bring success to any one autistic or not.

To plan a family vacation with children is not an easy thing at the end it can be a rewarding experience and it cannot be any different with the autistic child. The only thing is that you must be prepared for what ever life throws your way. Vacation, to an autistic child can either scary or confusing or a great educational experience with traces of wonderful memories the entire family can enjoy.

At the outset select a location according to the needs of the autistic child. If the child is sensitive to sound don’t go to the amusement park which is not the best for the child. Small beaches and camping make for quieter vacations. The location you chose should be enjoyable for all plans out your days once you are there. You may want to see attractions very early or late in the day to avoid crowd or you may want to go on vacation in the off season so as not to disrupt children’s school work. The autistic child is more comfortable in these situations as it will not be nervous, as in crowded places and you will have peace of mind. The distance of the chosen location from home, the mode of transport and if an airport is involved the security for the child have to be considered in advance.

While the location should be enjoyable for all, it should offer learning and social interaction chances for the autistic child. For example a child that dislikes touch sensations may enjoy the soft sands of the beach and the waves can give a different kind of feeling for him. The beach is great outside place for the child to yell without disturbing others. Non response children may benefit from a museum where they can ask questions and you too can.

People on vacation at your selected spot would not have dealt with autism before. Understand their ignorance but at the same time do not allow your child to be treated unfairly. Understand the child’s constitutional laws and compromise with them for example if a restaurant refuses to serve food offer the autistic child created a scene the previous night, explain the situation and ask if you can take food to go. Don’t be rude to people. Ignore all staring, snide comments, mean looks and concentrate on having a nice time with your family.