Autism Spectrum Disorder - Research Paper Example

Nov 8th There are many psychological disorders that many people suffer, which they may not even be aware and may be devastated in their future life. Autism spectrum is one of the disorder that begins at the age of about thirty six months and represents a definitive disability in the neurodevelopment of an individual. The characteristic features of the disorder are impairments especially in the social interactions, verbal communication skills as well as general interests in some activities. This could be dangerous especially when not recognized at the early stages as a child may develop adverse complications especially when it is already too late. Rodriguez defines this disorder as a psychological disease which leads to different impairments in the cognitive, social and the communication abilities of children (5) The disorder is classified into three main categories include; the main austic disorder, asperger’s syndrome and then the main autism. Normally at the age of five when the child is just about to establish itself in the social world, the reality comes to dawn. The child will not be able to form proper listening skills and will always be disinterested in friends mostly known as aloofness and the inability to socialize, and will choose to watch television or listen to music as repetitively as a defence mechanism. Mostly, they will have less ability to play around with other children,have some difficulties with eye contact and they will seem not to enjoy being with others, Rodriguez, Maria (6). In the communication domain, they will show the inability to speak naturally without the use of gestures or produce some funny sounds to signify what they want to say. According to Worth, Sarah (3) such impairments eventually result to things like lack of social interaction where the child likes to be isolated rather than being in the presence of others because they can not easily comprehend the nature of making and living with friends. In addition, other children will not be able to think of what they are saying as they have problems comprehending the nature of the language such as cracking jokes as well as using metaphors. This same child will have challenges in imagination, and putting their thoughts together which makes them have some disprovable resistance to any change in their social life ( Worth 3). The child will also show some problems in hearing due to poor developed sensory skills, will also not feel pain, and demonstrate some cases of being clumsy in what they do. Scientists have researched on the causes of the disorder, and it has come to the attention that they have not yet come up with the best answer. What is exceptionally well known is that the disorder is not as a result of poor parenting or dirty water or even poor feeding habits. According to Sicile-Kira the only way to know the causes of the disorder is through research; therefore, parents are encouraged to keep an eye on the latest updates and understand them (33). It is advisable that parents should monitor the behaviour of their children as they learn the research findings. They have to relate these findings with the behaviour of the child so that they can know whether their child is in the process of developing the disorder, and with this, they will the take precautions as first as possible. The problem is if they delay in finding the information and the child gets to the final stages of the disorder, the child will have litle chances of living a normal life. It is evident that the disorder affects children especially before they reach the age of their late child hood, as they are particularly prone to the disorder since at this period, the child undergoes various body developments. Bernier and Gerdits provide a comprehensive statistic on the infection of the disorder over the years; where the number tremendously increased since the year 1998 up to 2007, as the increase of affected children was by 100,000 every year (187). Basing on this information, it is clear that many children are exposed to this disorder up to the year 2012. The cognitive disability is exceedingly common with about 70% of people with autism are reported to be suffering from it. In also worthy noting at this point that, the disorder is much more common in men than in women .The only thing that might save children, and reduced the number significantly could be the parents awareness and scientific developments with regards to treating this disorder. With regards to the methods of treating this disorder, it is vital to note that for any treatment to be administered in any child, the symptoms must have been identified otherwise; the curing efforts will be rendered useless. Hollander ( 231) asserts there has not yet been developed any pharmacological treatment for this disorder; however, mostly psychiatrists and pediatrics are used to take care of this disorder especially to those who have developed serious symptoms through administering therapies. He further explains that there are psychotropic medications that treat the problem especially with regards to managing behaviour and some other conditions such as seizures. Hollander (231) again explains that there are SRIs such as the clomipramine, fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine among others which are used to treat the disorder. He further establishes that, these medications are effective in treating this Maladie and that parents should seek advice once they notice their children have symptoms associated with autism. There are significant lessons that a person can learn form this paper that are immensely helpful in reducing the infection of the disorder and treating it. One of them is that, the disorder affects children during their developing stages. Secondly, autism disorder has no known cause and therefore, parents should know the development stages of children and note whether their children are progressing well. Moreover, parents should learn from this paper that they have always to keep an eye on the updates of the research carried to know if there are other new symptoms that may have come up. Another lesson is that, seeking medical advice will help save the life of the child because proper remedies will be given to the child before the disorder hits its final stages. Parents should also learn that this is not a hereditary disorder because research has shown that mothers carry normal pregnancies and give birth to normal children. They get the disorder as they develop day by day into grown ups meaning that it is hard to notice the disorder without proper skills on the symptoms. This means that parents should be keen and stop thinking of the disorder as a natural thing or a myth, and this will help effectively treat and reduce the disorder. Works Cited Bernier, A & Gerdts, J. Autism Spectrum disorders: A Reference Handbook. Carlifonia, USA: Greenwood publishing Group. 2010.Print. Hollander, Eric, Autism Spectrum disorders. New York, USA: Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2003.Print. Rodriguez, Maria, Autism Spectrum disorders. Minneapolis, USA: Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 2011. Print. Sicile-Kira, Chantal, Autism Spectrum disorders: The complete Guide. New York, USA: The Berkley Publishing Group. 2004. Print. Worth, Sarah. Autism Spectrum disorders. New York, USA: Continuum International Publishing Group. 2005. Print. Read More