Charts

Warning Signs/Symptoms

Displays Indifference 

Joins in only if adult insists 

one sided interactions

No eye contact 

No Variety

Uses an adults hand always

Will not play with other children 

Talks about one topic (obsessions)

Lack of creative pretend play

Bizarre behavior

Inappropriate laughing and giggling

Copies words like a parrot

Likes to spin objects 

 Can do some things very well, and catches on quickly (tasks that involve no social involvement)

Social Approach- Ashely

Deficits in brain function dealing with social aspects is social cognition, in which the person fails to understand the internal mental states of other people and has difficulty making attributions of mental states to others and themselves (1).

Family:

·      Family members can also be invited to join various parent and family groups for information and support. In addition to experiencing overwhelming caregiver burdens, many parents of child with autism feel guilt, sorrow, anger, and stress; siblings may be affected in similar ways (1).

Attachment:

·      Multiple tests have been conducted looking at the attachment of autistic children with strangers, caregivers, and other key members in their lives. For example, Attachment in Autism and Other Developmental Disorders by Theodore Shapiro, Miriam Sherman, Gail Calamari, and Diane Koch stated, “Autistic and atypical children's manifested attachment behavior is not significantly different from the attachment behavior normal children display at a younger age” (4). Another example is the journal article Attachment behaviors in autistic children by Marian Sigman and Judy A. Ungerer which stated, “Within the autistic group, the children who showed an increase in attachment behaviors in response to separation and reunion demonstrated more advanced symbolic play skills than those autistic children who showed no change in attachment behaviors. One possible explanation may be that autistic children require more advanced levels of symbolic ability to form attachments to others than is necessary for the development of attachments in normal children” (5).

Household composition:

·      The family household composition is deeply affected for good and bad when raising an autistic child. The International Meeting for Autism Research stated, “Even as compared to families with children who had other functional limitations, having a child with autism still resulted in a 20 percent hit to the wallet, the study found. The reason: mothers of children with autism are less likely to work and when they are employed these moms tend to earn less than others, leaving many families with only one breadwinner” (3).

Traumatic events:

·      Autismspeaks.org on October 13, 2011 is holding a, “Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Traumatized Children and Their Families Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT), developed by Judith Cohen, Anthony Mannarino, and Esther Deblinger, is an empirically supported treatment for children and families exposed to traumatic life events. This two-day training will provide an intensive review of all of the TF-CBT treatment components, with a specific focus on clinical implementation strategies” (2).

Support networks:

·      The Autism Support Network, “Connects families and individuals touched by ASD with each other, provides support and insight, and acts as a resource guide for education, treatments, strategies and therapies for autism. Through the Autism Support Network community of people helping people, we foster an exchange of knowledge and promote further understanding and serve as a platform for individual’s stories of success and challenge” (6).

Special Education:

•       All children with autism are entitled to an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Ancillary services such as speech or language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Continuous programming, including summer programming, is more effective than episodic intervention because children with autism often regress in the absence of services (1).

•       Interventions can be carried out through integrated peer groups, class wide interventions, adult social groups, and videotapes to help the clients perceive themselves as they try to gain new interactional skills (1).

Day to Day Autism Chart

Issues regarding the Spectrum- Kathy

Autism is the term used for a group of complex disorders of brain development. This is such a broad term and many different disorders fall under it. They include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. Because autism is such a huge umbrella for different developmental disorders, diagnosing it is often difficult to determine. There are different classifications of autism that share the same symptom so that diagnosing someone with one disorder is challenging. The challenge of classifying people with very unique symptoms and abilities is addressed by placing those with autism on a large spectrum. Their abilities and disabilities range from very disabled to highly skilled. Some have remarkable skills in visual arts, fine arts, and academic studies. Others on this same spectrum have significant disabilities and they are not able to live independently. We need remember that each person with autism do not have the same abilities and disabilities so when helping them cope with it, it is a challenge.    

Our lack of knowledge base also leads to gaps in properly understanding autism. Recently, scientists have discovered that there is no one cause of autism, but there are different factors that put children at risk of becoming autistic. These factors help us to better understand each individual and what may have caused them to get autism.

Because there is a discrepancy between the different lenses their opinions and conclusions differ which makes it difficult to come to a consensus. This complicates what we understand and know because there is no one right answer of how autism is caused. We might only see one side of things while not seeing the other contributing factors. 

Current Issues in Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is one of the fastest growing disability categories. It is also one of the most challenging.

It is estimated that from one in 500 to one in 166 children have autism, and it affects boys at a 4-to-1 ratio over girls.

The recent explosion in the number of children diagnosed with autism has spurred interest in its cause. Theories include genetics, environmental factors such as pesticides, infections, hormone imbalance, and mercury in vaccines.

Multiple approaches exist for the treatment of autism. Educational treatments often address communication and behavior, and one of the most widely accepted is applied behavior analysis. However, there are other strategies that have helped some students but are disputed in the field. Additional educational methods exist that have helped some children with autism but have not been validated by large-scale studies. 

Other treatments for autism include biomedical and dietary approaches. These approaches, too, have proponents and detractors.

Here is a link to more issues regarding or dealing with Autism: 

http://www.harryhong.com/index_files/AutismIssues.htm

Familial Issues

A child’s autism diagnosis affects every member of the family in different ways. Parents/caregivers must now place their primary focus on helping their child with ASD, which may put stress on their marriage, other children, work, finances, and personal relationships and responsibilities. Parents now have to shift much of their resources of time and money towards providing treatment and interventions for their child, to the exclusion of other priorities. The needs of a child with ASD complicates familial relationships, especially with siblings. However, parents can help their family by informing their other children about autismand the complications it introduces, understanding the challenges siblings face and helping them cope, and involving members of the extended family to create a network of help and understanding (Understanding Autism for Dummies, 2006). Finding time for prayer and attending a place of worship also helps many families handle the challenges of autism and provides a safe, inclusive environment for both the child and family