Autism

AUTISM

A modern-day bane

This is the story of Little Aryan who is the only child of his parents. Aryan had celebrated his 5^th birthday but something was missing in him. Aryan was nowhere around in that sphere. It not started suddenly for him, it had started from his starting days of childhood. Aryan started to speak after the age of 2 and half years.

At this point of time his mother sensed something is missing and his parents consulted their personal doctor, but he took it in a casual manner and told them it is a normal difference in development. He advised them to enrol Aryan in playgroup school and by the age of five, he will be normal.

But things have not changed, and his class teacher told them that your ward is not responding to the roll calls and having little interests in things and so on. After this alarming call, his parents searched and consulted a local psychiatrist. After examining Aryan, the psychiatrist told his parents that he was suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Here the question arises what an Autism is?

Autism is a neurobiological disorder presenting from early childhood characterized by great difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.

Little Aryan showed several of the signs of the conditions like:

1) He was intermittent in his eye contact.

2) He did not respond to his name.

3) When he wanted something, he did not ask for it nor did he point rather took his parents to what he desired or just helped himself.

4) He showed little interest in other interest.

5) He didn’t really participate in the reciprocal games of childhood.

The psychiatrist whom Aryan’s parents consulted informed them that Aryan would need multiple interventions to develop various capabilities. His difficulty with sleeping and inability to point at objects were due o differences in his sensory motor development.

Occupational therapy would help to improve these and Aryan had to go with speech therapy to improve his communication skills and his ability to mingle with others.

After 10 months hard work done by the team of an occupational therapist, a speech therapist and a development educator who have worked for three hours a day in five days a week.

Autism Quick Facts:
1)The incidence of Autism is on the rise. According to reports, from USA one in every 60 children          has Autism.
2)Clinical data from India indicates a similar rate even if we don’t have the exact epidemiological         figures.
3)Autism is a lifelong condition that has no straight medical cure.
4)Researches which were done recently indicates that intensive early intervention provides the best       possible outcome for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
5)While every child may not have trajectory like Aryan’s the right intervention will help optimize          each child’s potential.
6)It is now possible to identify warning signs in babies as young as six months. 

Article Source:

Deepa Bhat Nair

www.thebetterindia.com

Picture Source:
amongsthumans.com
huffingtonpost.com