Overview
Since it can be challenging to identify useful information regarding autism, we thought it would be helpful to provide a brief overview. In this post, we cover an introduction to autism, diagnosis, signs, prevalence, causes, and treatment. We hope that it’s helpful as you begin your journey. Raising a child with autism is not easy, but we’re eager and excited to serve you in whatever capacity we can!
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a life-long neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by atypical brain development and delays and deficits in social skills, communication, and repetitive or stereotyped behavior. The severity of these deficits vary widely across the spectrum and manifest in a variety of ways.
For example, some individuals may not develop conversational speech, while others may develop highly sophisticated language at an early age. Other individuals with ASD may show highly limited play or leisure skills, engage in self-injurious behavior, display aggression towards others, show great difficulty learning through observation, or exhibit hyperactivity that interferes with learning and relationships. In addition to core symptoms, ASD can co-vary with many other challenges, mental health conditions, and medical conditions.
Accordingly, individuals with ASD across the spectrum have different strengths and challenges and require different levels of support based on the extent to which ASD adversely impacts their quality of life. Some adults with ASD may require extensive support in their daily lives, while others live entirely independently and may not even be aware they have ASD.
The economic costs of caring for Americans with ASD is staggering. For example, medical costs for children and adolescents with ASD have been estimated at 4.1 to 6.2 times more than children and adolescents without ASD. The costs associated with caring for someone with ASD can be reduced by getting them early access to high-quality services that remediate symptoms of ASD and increase independence and autonomy.
Diagnosis
ASD is a diagnosis given based on the diagnostic criteria in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). More information is available about the diagnostic criteria at the ASD webpage online at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A diagnosis is based on an interview process with the caregiver and observations of the child’s behavior conducted in a formal evaluation by a trained specialist such as a developmental pediatrician or child psychologist. There are no blood tests or genetic markers for ASD.
Children can be reliably identified as at-risk for ASD as early as 12 months old.
Researchers have developed standardized questionnaires useful for identifying ASD and assessing symptom severity, such as the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R), which you can access here. Early intervention is critical, so identifying ASD as early as possible is essential. If you have concerns about your child’s development, contact your child’s pediatrician immediately and request a referral to a specialist who can evaluate your child.
Signs of ASD
Signs of ASD can be detected as early as 12 months of age but become much more noticeable at ages 2 or 3 years. Common early signs of ASD include:
Lack of eye contact
Little or no emotional reciprocity
Little use of gestures such as pointing to request or direct attention
Absence of vocal imitation or the presence of repetitive speech sounds that seem out-of-context
Does not respond to their name being called
Marked preference for objects or lack of interest in other people
Hypersensitivity to certain sounds or textures
Highly picky eating or difficulty transitioning away from the bottle or pureed foods
Unusually strong attachments to specific objects
Highly restricted interests and limited play skills
Repetitive movements such as hand-flapping or rocking that don’t disappear over time
Prevalence
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimates 1 in 44 children 8 years old in the United States were identified with ASD in 2018. ASD is more prevalent in boys and often goes undetected or misdiagnosed in girls. The reasons for the steady increase in ASD prevalence over the last couple decades are unclear and there are many hypotheses. A variety of factors may be contributing, such as an actual increase in ASD incidence, changes in diagnostic practices and screening, or biases towards the diagnosis by physicians to help families access services covered by insurance.
Causes
The causes of ASD are unknown. Current research indicates that vaccines do not cause ASD. Scientists believe there are many variables involved in the development of ASD. Much research is underway to better understand the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors that give rise to ASD.
Treatment
Extensive research shows that early behavioral intervention based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) leads to the most significant positive outcomes later in life for individuals with ASD. Furthermore, ABA is the leading scientifically supported approach to the education and treatment of individuals with ASD and has been recognized as a safe and effective treatment by numerous major professional organizations such as Autism Speaks, and national agencies. Other treatments shown to be helpful include speech and language therapy, and occupational therapy.
It is very common for families of children with autism to enroll their child in a combination of ABA, speech, and occupational therapy, but the impact of combining these therapies on outcomes of children with ASD is not well understood in the scientific literature.
Unfortunately, parents are bombarded with ineffective and sometimes harmful fads or pseudoscience so-called “treatments” such as facilitated communication, with no scientific evidence to support their use. We encourage parents to talk with their Maraca Care Team to learn more about how to avoid being taken advantage of by proponents of pseudoscience.
As we said, we’re eager and ready to serve you in any way that we can. Receiving high-quality ABA therapy could be a game changer. Throughout our careers, we’ve seen numerous lives changed as a result of receiving treatment. We absolutely love watching our learners thrive and it’s their progress that makes us tick. Contact us to learn more!