What is autism?

Autism is also known as autism. The more rigorous medical name is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is a congenital disorder caused by the simultaneous action of genes and environmental factors. Sexual neurodevelopmental disorders vary greatly in severity and pattern of presentation. Autism usually begins in infancy and lasts throughout life, causing varying degrees of damage to an individual's social adaptive functions.

The core characteristics of autism are early-onset social communication difficulties, a narrow range of interests and repetitive behaviors. Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder mostly show the following characteristics:

(1) Language communication disorder

Language delay is also the main reason for early medical treatment for most children with autism. reason. The differences in language development levels among autistic children also fully reflect the characteristics of the spectrum, that is, the severity and performance characteristics of each child's language disorder are not completely consistent.

For example, some children’s language development lags behind, they start to speak late, and they cannot speak at the age of 3 to 4 years; some children have language regression or stagnation after normal language development; and some children have language ability, but The language lacks the nature of communication, and most of the language is meaningless. They like to talk to themselves, repeat stereotyped language, and imitate language. The language content is monotonous and difficult for the listener to understand. Although a few children with seemingly normal language ability express themselves fluently and have rich language accumulation, they even You can talk endlessly, but language communication is often self-centered and can only carry out one-way communication, and cannot carry out interactive dialogues like you and me.

(2) Social communication disorder

Social disorder is one of the core symptoms of autistic children. It is mainly characterized by a lack of communication skills and avoidance of eye contact when interacting with others, although hearing is normal. , but turns a deaf ear to the instructions given by parents and responds to names; likes to play alone, lacks interest in peers and their games, cannot participate in cooperative games, and has difficulty developing friendships; lacks a secure attachment relationship with close caregivers or caregivers, Lack of appropriate emotional responses to the departure and return of loved ones, and inability to share one's emotions with others; inability to point to objects, backward use of body language, and inability to nod or shake his head to express agreement or rejection, etc.

(3) Narrow interests and repetitive stereotyped behaviors

Mainly reflected in the lack of interest in activities and games that ordinary children love, and only the unusual obsession with toys and inanimate objects. and accompanied by stereotyped body movements. For example, they like to repeatedly spin in circles, smell smells, run back and forth, arrange toys and building blocks, wave their hands, and are abnormally attached to a certain type of rotating things, such as wheels, fans or other round objects; their thinking has varying degrees of obsessiveness and lack of flexibility. Degree, don't like change.

(4) Abnormalities in the perceptual system

Most children with autism have perceptual abnormalities, such as being particularly afraid of certain sounds or liking to hear certain sounds, or looking at something in a special way. Certain items overload the senses, causing oversensitivity or insensitivity to some common phenomena in life or contact with items. Common examples include insensitivity to pain, likes to rotate or shake the body for long periods of time without feeling discomfort, etc.

(5) Intellectual abnormality

The intelligence level of autistic children ranges from significantly low to extraordinary abilities. Patients with severe intellectual disabilities and gifted children with super high IQs are extremely A few, but most, children with autism have normal or near-normal intelligence. Some high-functioning autistic patients with normal or supernormal IQs are difficult to identify early and are easily overlooked, and are generally diagnosed late.

(6) Others

Most autistic children are also accompanied by different types of neuropathy or other accompanying symptoms that cannot be explained by autism. Common ones include Epilepsy, sensory integration disorders, ADHD, sleep disorders, etc.

The symptoms of autism begin in early childhood and will continue, but its specific manifestations may also be affected by life experience and family education. Some children have mild symptoms of autism and may It only appears in the later stages of growth. The main impact of autism on individuals is that it will cause varying degrees of damage to the individual's academic, work, social and social functions. The two extreme states of people on the spectrum are the inability to take care of themselves and the ability to live independently and integrate into society.

Because the cause of autism is unknown, there is currently no specific drug for autism treatment and can only rely on education and behavioral intervention. The support system for autistic people requires huge medical and educational costs, and parents of autistic children and their families have to bear a lot of financial and mental pressure. Helping people with severe autism achieve basic self-care, supporting people with mild autism to integrate into mainstream society, and improving the behavioral skills of some children with moderate and severe autism as much as possible to tap their potential. The main direction of disease intervention.

In the process of raising autistic children, parents need to do the following things:

(1) Early detection, early diagnosis, and early intervention

< p>From a neurodevelopmental perspective, the younger a child is, the stronger the brain plasticity, and scientific education and intervention methods are more likely to have a positive impact on their language, cognitive development, etc. Similarly, if the child has some problems If behaviors or bad living and behavioral habits are not corrected in time at a young age, it will become more and more difficult to improve in the future.

Moreover, the gap between children in early stages of development is not large. As long as children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder receive timely intervention, it is possible to narrow the gap with their peers.

Parents of young children should have a certain knowledge and understanding of their children’s development status, be familiar with developmental milestones, identify children’s developmental delays or abnormalities as early as possible, seek medical attention promptly when problems are discovered, and treat doctors’ opinions rationally. Diagnostic opinions and intervention recommendations. Early intervention means timely intervention. As long as the child's problem is identified, we must seize the moment and use scientific means to help the child recover as soon as possible.

(2) Adhere to social training as the core and treat other auxiliary treatment methods with caution

Based on the child's actual ability, adhere to individualized education and focus on the core of autism Disorders, focusing on basic social training, self-care, emotional management and solving problem behaviors. Regarding other auxiliary treatment methods, such as sensory integration training, fasting, nutritional supplements and other auxiliary treatment methods, it is necessary to establish a correct understanding. Only training and treatment methods that truly meet the child's rehabilitation needs can be effective, and the methods must be scientific. At the same time, it cannot replace core social training.

(3) Adjust your mentality and maintain a positive attitude towards life

With the long-term intervention of autistic children, parents’ mentality adjustment may also go through a long-term process, especially When faced with issues such as their children's schooling, employment, and placement, parents' mentality will also fluctuate as the actual situation changes. Whether they are new parents or old parents, they need to try to maintain a positive and healthy attitude, look at their children's obstacles rationally, and plan their children's future reasonably. We should not only pay attention to the children and their needs, but also pay attention to their own physical and mental health, and help their children and manage family life with a more calm attitude.