Can Children Grow Out of Autism - Essay Example

CAN CHILDREN GROW OUT OF AUTISIM? 2 Can Children Grow out of Autism? A Case study of my Cousin How His Life has been Transformed The topic of my I Search paper is an observation about my cousin who has Autism. I never fully understood what Autism was until I met him and interacted with him. My cousin was six years old and he has a complex development disability which affects the function of his brain. He has symptoms of moderate autistic disorders, in result, he has poor social skills; he prefers to communicate through signs, have some repetitive behavior, and never try to interact with others. There are several reasons why I chose the topic of Autism. First, I am studying education and I’m so interested in special education. Second, I have had occasion to develop a personal relationship with my cousin who is suffering from Autism. He was so difficult to deal with; he was so moody, sometimes he laughs and hums for no reason and sometimes screaming with close eyes and rocking himself. One day he was screaming, I tried to come close him slowly. I was singing when i was slowly moving toward him, he was aware of my movement. Indeed he slows down his voice little bit and star listening to my singing. I came close to him and hugged him. He stopped screaming and tried to imitate my singing voice. His mother was shocked, so do I. My observation promoted me to do some researches about Autism. I really found useful researches studies that help me to understand my cousin condition and what can I do to interact with him. CAN CHILDREN GROW OUT OF AUTISIM? 3 I started to look online for more explanation to what happened to my cousin when I hugged him and what make him engaged at that moment. I was thinking that autistic patient never grow out their obstacle, but what happened change my prospective significantly. I searched several sources and found out that children with autism can ‘grow out’ of this disease. However, the term ‘grow out’ was described differently in different sources. While some explained it as improvement in symptoms that expels the child from autistic criterion, others explained it as simply learning to live with it. In any case, I felt that a further search in this topic would help in not only reducing the stress that the care giving of an autistic child can cause to his family but also help my implement the enhancement of the factors responsible for improvement during my professional activities. Autism refers to a developmental disorder that renders a child with compromised social and communication skills. It is usually diagnosed at the around the age of three and is due to an abnormality in the development of the brain. There are several suspected causes of this disease including genetic susceptibility, diet, vaccines, mercury and lead poisoning and digestive tract problems that inhibit efficient nutrient absorption. Although none of these causes has been proven, the most important of these causes is considered to be genetic susceptibility. Autistic children are prone to develop anti-social habits such as severe and frequent mood swings, aggression, and inability to focus in terms of concentration as well as visual stimulus. They prefer to communicate through signs rather than language and are prone to repetitive actions and erratic behavior. CAN CHILDREN GROW OUT OF AUTISIM? 4 Over the passage of time, the incidence of children with autism has increased which is partly owed to increased ability to diagnose but not all of this increment can be held responsible for this ability. With the rise in number of autistic patients, the need to look into this disease and learn treatment methods has increased. I found out a lot of literature regarding this topic. Scientists have co-related several disorders like ADHD and Aspersger’s syndrome to autism and the improvement in autism is related to the improvement that comes in these disorders with the passage of time. Another important co-relation of autism is hearing disability which can improve overtime and what might be an effect of a hearing disorder might mimic the improvement in autism. This brings us to another reason which is misdiagnoses. Some of the patients of autism are misdiagnosed and improved in some delayed milestones can mimic improvement in autistic symptoms. Thus scientists agree that there is no such phenomenon as ‘growing out’ of autism. However, what was of most interest to me and possibly closest to the current reality in time is the fact that most autistic patients do not ‘grow out’ of their disease but learn to live with it (Naish, 2012). They adapt to their limited abilities and with the help of their family and instructors, the can learn skills that allow them to adjust in normal world such as regular schools. I came across this article and felt that this could very well be the ray of hope that my cousin and his family had been looking for. This article quoted all the facts and in the light of those facts, it stated that although most patients show some amount of improvement with age, it is only the ones with mild symptoms to begin with that are able to improve to the point where they can be expelled from the criterion of being autistic. Therefore, the most highly-optimal group of autistic patients for ‘growing out’ phenomenon is the one with mild symptoms whereas the high-functioning autistic patients have low hope of improvement. CAN CHILDREN GROW OUT OF AUTISIM? 5 The article told the story of an autistic boy who had been advised to be admitted into a school of special children due to autism but his mother turned things around by working vigorously with her son to learn communication skills that started with simply learning to sit on a stool in order to improve his ability to focus. From thereon, the remarkable improvement in the boy’s condition has led scientists to believe that while one third of all mildly autistic patients will eventually show only minor signs of autism in adulthood naturally, even the most severe of autistic patients can improve drastically if extensive amount of effort is put into their upbringing and care. Thus, my study of literature regarding the possibility of an autistic child being able to grow out of his disease has led me to the conclusion that no, autistic children cannot grow out of autism per say. They continue to show symptoms of autism well into adulthood and how far they show these symptoms depends on the severity of the symptoms at the start of the disease. I have also come to know that the improvement in these symptoms might actually be the improvement in an associated disease that can mask an improvement in autism or the patient might have been misdiagnosed. In any case, autism is a lifelong disability. However, the most important fact that I learnt from my search was that with the right amount of effort and dedication by the care-giver of an autistic patient, particularly his parents and instructor, not only can an autistic child be taught skills to compensate for his disability and overcome his social and communication barriers but can also be taught live with his disorder. Starting from the most basic of skills like sitting on a stool and walking on a straight line to mathematics and physical exercises, the right amount of love and effort can transform the life of autistic patients like my cousin. CAN CHILDREN GROW OUT OF AUTISIM? 6 Works Cited Naish, J. (2012, February 21). Can some children simply grow out of autism? One mother tells how her sons life has been transformed. Retrieved March 2013, from Mail Online: www.dailymail.co.uk Read More