The Severity of Autistic Disorder - Case Study Example

Running Head: Autistic Disorder Autistic Disorder [Institute’s Autistic Disorder For decades, autistic disorder continues to baffle psychologists. There is severity attached to both, its symptoms and the social impairment it causes. However, medicine and psychology have both been unsuccessful in determining either a cause or a treatment for the disorder. There are however, a few popular treatments, which are often successful in helping the patients. Apart from these, there are community resources such as the Autism Society of America (ASA), which provide support for autistic patients and their loved ones. A rare disorder, autism affects around five in every ten thousand people. The patients are, from a young age, unable to interact socially. Not only do they lack the ability to understand how other people feel, they are devoid of communication skills. These attributes leads to many autistic people never having interacted mentally or socially with another human being their whole lives. Another important characteristic of autistic people is that they indulge themselves in simple, but repetitive behaviors and interests. A common example is the repetitive behavior of stacking objects recurrently (Bower, 1986). The diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR) requires the presence of each of these three characteristics in order for a formal diagnosis of autistic disorder. This disorder is detectable when the patient is at a very young age, since the inability to interact socially is apparent from a very young age. In addition, autistic disorder possesses a significant co morbidity rate with intellectual disability (Bradley, 2004). Due to all these reasons, a diagnosed patient is considered severely impaired, as he or she is incapable of spending any aspect of their social lives normally. There are, however, numerous differential diagnoses present for this disorder. Several of the diagnostic symptoms of autism coincide with the ones found in other disorders that children suffer from since birth. One instance of autism is when it occurs with a learning disorder. There is often a fine line separating learning disorder with autism and learning disorder without autism, since both share the characteristics of the child not being able to communicate properly. In addition, mental retardation is easy to confuse with autism at early stages. Mentally retarded children have a delayed learning process and take time to learn to communicate. It is therefore easy to confuse their condition with that of an autistic child. However, as psychologists have discovered, traits like lack of imitation and low social relatedness point towards autism. Another differential diagnosis is that of language disorder. Children with this disorder face receptive language problems, which hinders with their ability to communicate. Apart from this, they have inadequate imaginative play skills and a subsequent social impairment from other children. It is, thus, easy to see why this disorder is can so easily be mistaken for autistic disorder (Baird, Gillian and Slonims, 2003). There are also other developmental disorders, which share characteristics with autism. Clumsiness, for instance, is a key characteristic of Asperger’s syndrome, and is common in autism spectrum disorder. Similar is the case with the characteristic or lack of coordination found in patients of developmental coordination disorder, as it can also sometimes lead to confusion between this and autism, considering that they share this feature. Other disorders, such as epilepsy, Rett syndrome and neurodegenerative disorder are also differential diagnoses for autism (Baird, Gillian and Slonims, 2003). Considering how wide this range of differential diagnoses is, doctors should be very careful while diagnosing the young patients, as the differences in treatment can be slight but holding significant implications for the patients. There are various treatments administered for autism. None of them, however, is successful in curing the disorder. Each treatment, at best helps the patient cope with the severity of the disorder. There are several pharmacologic as well as several psychological treatments used today. The pharmacologic treatments help the patient control the symptoms of this disorder, while psychological treatments teach the patient to interact socially in a more effective manner. It is not possible to be a positive that a drug therapy administered to a patient will be successful, since the biological causes of autism remain undiscovered. However, some medical treatments have known to help patients. Neuroleptics or anti-psychotic drugs are one of the oldest treatments administered to autistic patients to date. They are popular for their effectiveness in patients of schizophrenia, as well as their success in alleviating severe anxiety, agitation, and aggression in non-schizophrenic patients. Until the mid 1970s, similar symptoms indicated autism to be a subset of schizophrenia. Therefore, psychologists predicted the same medications to be effective or both disorders. Additionally, the neuroleptics are also effective blockers of dopamine. A related theory, the ‘Dopamine Theory’ about autism claimed that the symptoms could be traced down to excessive dopamine levels, this treatment predicted success (Pharmacologic Treatment, 2002). And as the article, ‘Pharmacological Treatment Options for Autism,’ goes on to reveal, “Since the 1960s, there have been multiple controlled studies of neuroleptics in children and adolescents with autism, with the majority involving drugs like haloperidol (Haldol) and lesser numbers with thioridazine (Mellaril) and trifluoperizine (Stelazine). These neuroleptic agents were found to decrease hyperactivity, stereotypic behavior (self-stimulatory, simple, and complex movements), withdrawal, aggression, and temper outbursts, and facilitate learning in children with autism” (Pharmacologic Treatment, 2002). There are also, several non-pharmacologic therapies administered to patients with autistic disorder. These treatments belong to the categories of either neurological/sensory treatment, behavioral therapy, psychological therapy or a few others. Each therapy has a varied approach towards autism, but they all consequently aim to achieve the same goal, which is to teach the autistic individual to how to interact socially so that they may go on to live normal lives. The broadest of these categories is neurological/sensory therapies. These therapies aim to help the individual by paying attention to all three of the core symptoms. One therapy amongst these is Auditory Training. This is one of the most popular and often-employed therapies, is quite expensive. It involves getting the autistic patient accustomed to auditory sensations. The theory behind this is that once the individual is accustomed to such sensations, the therapy will desensitize him/her of them, and this will resultantly help avoid the triggering of behavioral disturbances (Park, 2008). The procedure of this therapy includes making the individual listen to a series of sounds, both high and low pitched. This helps to desensitize them to sound, and to decrease their vulnerability to behavior problems. Autistic individuals have used this therapy frequently and proved it both safe and effective. A similar therapy is the Sensory Integration therapy, which takes into account both, the sense of sound as well as the sense of touch. It again works by exposing patients to both sensations. Both these therapies, in a similar way, are able to control and manage the patient’s behavior by making them accustomed to sensations that previously served as stimuli (Slavik, 2007). It is advisable be keep in mind, however, that while these therapies help a patient interact socially, they do not help alleviate the symptoms associated with this disorder. Autism is a disorder which involves not only the patient, but also the caregiver, who is fully involved in helping the patient receive treatment as well a living a normal life. To facilitate both the autistic patient and the caregiver, there are many community resources available. One important example is the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), which is the parent organization of the Autistic Society of America (ASA). ASA was formed 1965, with the aim of spreading awareness about the disorder. It also aims to inform the general population about the several problems faced by the patients, their caregivers, and their mental health professionals. Finally, the society is available to all the affected parties in case they need information or help. Another such organization, amongst dozens, is Community Resources for People with Autism. This society aims to provide the patient and their families with education, information, training, and family support (Slavik, 2008). With this much facilitation available to the patients and their caregivers, the U.S. has come several steps closer to providing these people with normal lives. There is a growing support base for individuals affected by autism in the U.S. However, other countries all over the world are still devoid but in need of these community resources. Autism is a disorder prevalent all over the world, but without adequate awareness or support available in many countries (Newschaffer and Curran, 2003). It should therefore be encouraged that societies such as ASA and Community resources, extend their services to these countries, or that the governments or the responsible parties make similar resources available in these countries. References Baird, Gillian, Hilary, Cass, and Slonims, Vicky. (2003). “Diagnosis of Autism.” British Medical Journal. Vol. 327, No. 7413, pp. 488-493. Bower, Bruce. (1986). “Inside the Autistic Brain.” Science News. Vol. 130, No. 10, pp. 154-155. Bradley, E. A., Summers, J.A., Wood, H.L., & Bryson, S.E. (2004). Comparing rates of psychiatric and behaviour disorders in adolescents with young adults with severe intellectual disability with and without autism. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 34, 151-161. Newschaffer, Craig J. and Curran, Laura Kresch. (2003). “Autism: An Emerging Health Problem.” Public Health Reports (1974), Vol. 118, No. 5, pp. 393-399. Park, Melissa. (2008). “Making Scenes: Imaginative Practices of a Child with Autism in a Sensory Integration-Based Therapy Session.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Sep. 2008), pp. 234-256. “Pharmacologic Treatment Options for Autism” (2002). Goliath Business News. December 2002. Slavik, Sarah. (2007). “Nonpharmacologic Therapy”. US Pharm. 32(11):34-43. Read More