Types of Autism

Autism is a complex neurological development disorder involving impaired communication ability and associated behavioral disabilities. This disorder affects the social, intellectual and motor functioning, as well as the inability to use the sensory senses effectively, which in turn affects the behavior as a whole. In short, this devastating condition affects the total functioning of a child. It is believed that autism occurs due to genetic mutations, but it is still not clear how this happens. Autistic behavior includes repetition of particular body movements, resistance to changes in any pattern, excessive attachment to either people or objects and aggressiveness or regressiveness in personal or social interactions.

Autism symptoms usually begin to appear during the first three years of life, even though some children may be affected from birth. Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. Autism has nothing to do with ethnic or social backgrounds or parenting styles. Autism is a spectrum disorder, which means that every individual does not carry the same symptoms and levels of autism. It varies from child to child.

Characteristics of Autism

Autism is diagnosed after the medical practitioner observes the child's behavior and development. Some common indicators include:

• Behavioral Patterns: Repetitive and complete preoccupation with bodily movements like spinning objects, walking, finger flicking, resistance to change in a routine, etc, high sensitivity to sensory stimuli such as touch, taste, noise or light. Avoids eye contact and at times, responds inappropriately, either with words or noises. Sometimes, the child will have difficulty in sleeping and controlling emotions, which leads to aggressive behavior towards self and others.
• Communication Disabilities: Social interactions are hampered due to poorly developed speech patterns and little understanding about the purpose of language. The child is socially aloof and as time passes, tends to withdraw from most social environments.
• Underdeveloped Motor Skills: Resistance to learning and interactive play, even among their own age group is common. They develop minimal imitative skills and have imaginations that they find difficult to express.

Early Symptoms of Autism

As autistic symptoms develop between 3 to 10 years, a watchful eye for a few characteristics, will go a long way in early diagnosis. However, a doctor would be the best person to determine and distinguish autistic symptoms from other behavioral disorders.

• Delayed or poor speech and responses.
• Feeding difficulties; poor chewing or suckling reflexes.
• Extreme variations in emotional behavior.
• Unconcerned and unsure about the surrounding environment.
• Sudden changes from normal to regressive behaviors.

Types of Autism

Autism is a spectrum disorder, characterized by limited social and communication skills. The following are the five types of autism as defined by the Autism Society of America, that can help in the diagnosis of autism:

Asperger's Syndrome: This type of disorder is characterized by deficiencies in social interaction and difficulties in accepting any changes in daily routine. Language skills are less impaired as compared to other disorders. A child suffering from this type of autism is less sensitive to pain, but cannot handle sudden exposure to loud noise or bright lights. Since they have average or above average intelligence, he/she is capable of doing well academically.

Autistic Disorder: This type is also known as true autism or childhood autism, as it mostly develops in the initial three years of life. In most cases, the affected child lacks speaking abilities and relies only on non-verbal communication, which results in extreme social withdrawal and aloofness. The child shows complete lack of affection and willingness to establish communication.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder: This type includes different types of disorders and not a specific one. The severity could range from mild to extreme disability and is generally diagnosed within the first 5 years of age. Effective verbal and non-verbal skills are limited, resulting in poor communication.

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder: The symptoms of this disorder are exhibited when a child is between 3 to 4 years of age, after the initial, normal development till the age of two. Then there is sudden regression in communication, language, social and motor skills. There is a loss of all previously acquired skills and the child begins to withdraw from all social surroundings.

Rett Syndrome: This type of pervasive developmental disorder, often mistaken for autism, is relatively rare and primarily affects women or the girl child and is exhibited by poor head size growth. Rett syndrome is caused by a mutation in the sequence of a single gene. Loss of muscle control, resulting in problems in walking and eye movement, is the first visible sign of this disorder. Motor skills are severely hampered and interfere with every body movement, leading to the development of stereotyped and repetitive hand and leg movements.

Autism Treatments

As of today, autism has no cure and since severity of autism varies from individual to individual, there is no one treatment that fits all. Following are the different methods of treatment:

• Medication: Drugs can only help in controlling the symptoms of autism. Vitamins, nutrient supplements, antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs have shown positive results in treating cases of autism.
• Communication Therapy: This therapy helps to initiate language and non verbal development. Speech therapy and social interaction is often used to help the affected person to overcome emotional barriers of communication. Social stories are used to help the autistic person to understand events and other's reactions, feelings, reasoning and viewpoint.
• Behavior Therapy: This therapy helps to modify repetitive, inappropriate and aggressive behavior. It is done to help the autistic person acquire the skills required to function in any surrounding. Various methods are used, either together or separately, for treatment. Applied behavior analysis is a theory based on the belief that breaking down a skill into several steps and then teaching the autistic child, rewarding him each time he is able to perform a step will help the autistic child to learn by imitation and incentive. Sensory integration therapy focuses on sensory stimulation through exposure to different tastes, sounds or textures. Another method used is play therapy, where emotional development is focused on. It usually involves a role play between an adult and a child and seeks to expand social skills and social interaction.

Dealing with a child diagnosed with autism is an overwhelming experience, that brings with it insecurities and uncertainties for both, the parent and the child. Although not curable, early diagnosis and intervention can considerably help the child with autism to function better and improve his/her life.