In brief
- Lifelong developmental disability or disorder
- Affects communication and social abilities of an individual
- Affects how people make sense of the world around them
- It is a spectrum condition, because people with autism share certain difficulties and their conditions will affect them in different ways
- Autism Spectrum Disorder is any group of neurological disorders that lead to impaired Language communication and social skills
Causes of Autism
The University of Florida intense genetic research has not established any primary genetic causes for autism.
It affirms however that:
- Autism has a strong genetic basis even though only few genes that contribute to this genetic basis have been established.
- about 85-90% of children with ASD have no identifiable causation. In fact, these children are physically well-developed and do not have any known medical or metabolic problems.
- >As many as 10-20% of autistic children however may have identifiable genetic conditions that usually requires specialized genetic testing in order to identify them
Prevalence:
- 1/64 children (current sources from the western world, No statistics on Rwanda
- 4:1 - Male; Female
Treatment or educating autistic Children
-ASD treatment can be divided into two parts:
- Treatment of core symptoms: Behavioral, developmental &Educational needs
- Therapies that include occupational, physical and speech & language
- Behavioral training management:
- Sensory integration
- Applied behavioral Analysis
- Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH)
- Community Support & parent training
- Medicines: Anxiety, Hyperactivity, depression and obsessive compulsive behavior
Early intervention is very crucial