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Source: Autism 101: What We Know Today



The editors at Guide to Nursing Degrees decided to research the topic of: Autism 101: What We Know Today Despite growing awareness and advances in treatment, this fast-growing developmental disorder has enormous personal, family, and economic impact - and no known cure.

- 1 in 50 children have an autism spectrum disorder

- At 10-17% annual growth in cases, it's the fastest-growing developmental disability

- Effects 1 to 1.5 million Americans

- Symptoms appear by age 3

- 5x more prevalent in males

- $60 billion in annual costs, $3.2 million over an individual's lifespan

- No known cure, but early treatment can help

- Surge in cases may be due to better diagnosis, wider awareness, and broader definitions Autism Spectrum

- Autistic disorder - impairments of social interaction, communication and play, and restricted or repetitive interests and activities

- Asperger's disorder - social interaction impairments and repetitive behavior, but usually without significant language delay

- Atypical autism - core autistic behaviors are present, but the criteria for autistic disorder are not fully met Signs of Autism

- Impaired social interaction and communication

- Restricted and repetitive behavior, such as stacking or lining up objects Symptoms of autistic disorder children age 1-3

- no babbling or pointing by age 1

- no single words by 16 months or two-word phrases by age 2

- no response to name

- loss of language or social skills

- poor eye contact

- excessive lining up of toys or objects

- no smiling or social responsiveness Autism and Adulthood

- Increasingly, parents are seeking help as their child transitions to late teenage and adult years

- Challenges include education, living arrangements, supervised day care, and more

- Young adults may qualify academically for college, but can't cope with other aspects of college life "Adults face discrimination that comes from a lack of understanding about autism. The tolerance that is extended to children with autism is often lacking." - Pamela Dixon Thomas, PhD, LP, psychologist with the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) Science of Autism

- Neurodevelopmental disorder

- Strong basis in genetic mutation

- Evidence for environmental causes such as vaccines, foods, and heavy metals is anecdotal, but extensive studies are underway Autism and the Family

- Marital stress: 80% divorce rate in families with children who have autism

- Lack of rest due to difficulty in finding child care

- Challenges involving diagnosis, services, adolescence, and post high school

- Siblings may develop a greater sense of responsibility, or may feel resentment at the extra attention the child with autism receives "Having a child with Autism can mess with your head: You feel like you can move mountains for them yet you're powerless at the same time." - Stuart Duncan Treatment

- Educational/behavioral interventions targeting social and language skills and family counseling for parents and siblings of children with autism

- Medications including those to treat anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive behavior; in severe cases, antipsychotic medications Controversial treatments

- Chelation - attempts to eliminate metals such as mercury from the body (a potentially hazardous medical procedure)

- DAN! (Defeat Autism Now) - includes nutritional supplements, gluten-free diet, treatment for allergies and intestinal bacterial/yeast overgrowth "When living with a neurological condition (or with a loved one who has one), it can be very easy to focus on the challenges and limitations. But in my life, I have found that focusing on abilities, finding new ways to adapt, have been crucial to my successes in life. Seeking those solutions can even be seen as a form of creativity." - Lynne Soraya (nom de plume for a writer with Asperger's Syndrome) Significant Findings from Recent Studies

- High-quality early intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can do more than improve behaviors, it can improve brain function.

- Being nonverbal at age 4 does not mean children with autism will never speak. According to research, most will, in fact, learn to use words, with half learning to speak fluently.

- Though autism tends to be life long, some children with ASD make so much progress that they no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. High quality early-intervention may be key. Timeline

- 1943 - Dr. Leo Kanner publishes a paper about a condition he calls "early infantile autism"

- 1966 - A British Study estimates the rate of autism in at .04%

- 1967 - Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim promotes a theory that "refrigerator mothers" cause autism

- 1977 - Studies of twins reveal autism as a largely genetic disorder

- 1980 - "Infantile autism" listed as a distinct disorder in the DSM

- 1987 - Psychologist Ivar Lovaas publishes a study showing positive effects of intensive therapy

- 1988 - "Rain Main," starring Dustin Hoffman as an autistic savant

- 1991 - At federal prompting, schools begin identifying and serving autistic students

- 1994 - Asperger's disorder is recognized, expanding the autism spectrum to include milder cases

- 1997 - National Institutes of Health Autism Coordinating Committee launches

- 1998 - A Lancet study suggests that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism (later debunked)

- 1999 - California reports 12,000 autism cases, an increase of more than 200% in a decade

- 2005 -Autism Speaks founded - now the world's largest autism advocacy group

- 2007 - Autism Centers for Excellence launches, coordinated by the NIH/ACC

- 2009 - The CDC estimates that 1 in 110 children have autism spectrum disorders, up from 1 in 150 in 2007 Sources

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversies_in_autism#cite_note-Newschaffer-2

- http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

- http://autism.about.com/od/alternativetreatmens/f/dandoc.htm

- http://timelines.latimes.com/autism-history/

- http://www.autism-society.org/about-autism/facts-and-statistics.html

- http://autismcollege.com/library/47/the-affects-of-autism-in-families-and-in-partner-relationships

- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-diary

- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geraldine-dawson-/autism-awareness-day_b_2979117.html

- http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/p0329_autism_disorder.html

- http://www.stuartduncan.name/quotes/

- http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/29/autism-rises-more-u-s-children-than-ever-have-autism-is-the-increase-real/

- http://www.cddh.monash.org/assets/fs-autism.pdf

- http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/090208p12.shtml



