We all have our “Leave me alone” days, where we feel better when not around people. As for our children, sometimes they are hyped, excited, and energetic, other times, they just tend to love loneliness more. It’s hard to tell why somebody is being gloomy or quieter than ever, since our moods rely on so many things, like the weather, the problems we face, the people we deal with, and the situations we find ourselves in every day. But, how to differentiate if your child is developing autism or just is being quiet?
What Is Autism?
It’s a neurological disorder that affects children’s growth, especially their emotional one. An autistic child has difficulty developing emotional interactions with others, moreover, linguistic problems, and sometimes even movement issues, in addition to noise and light sensitivity.
Types of Autism
Previously autism had five different types, which are: Traditional Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, which are all now under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), except for Rett Syndrome that is still handled differently due to its genetic background.
Despite the percentage of those who have intellectual disability and autism, it’s not proven to be related to each other at all. Autism displays the most difficulty in communicating and interacting with others without showing any intellectual disability, while people with intellectual disability are capable of developing emotional connections even if it’s hard and disturbing sometimes.
Also, statistics have shown that the percentage of autism is 1 to every 59 people in the world, and it’s four times more common for males than females. It also shows that the percentage of autistic people has increased in the last century due to the medical development of discovering and recognizing the neurosurgical disease.
Reasons & Symptoms
There are no known medical reasons behind autism yet, doctors have not discovered a genetic relation as well, except for Rett Syndrome. As for the symptoms, doctors have noticed that some symptoms can appear when your children turn two, for example:
Communications and Relations Difficulties: One of the great symptoms that distinguish autistic people is how they avoid eye contact, hugs, and kisses. They also show a tendency of loneliness and playing alone. Behavior experts have discovered that autistic people can’t recognize tone of voices, facial expressions, and communication attributes in general.
Repetitive Behaviors & Activities: The things that happen inside an autistic child’s mind is not easy for normal people like us to understand. But, doctors and behavior experts have dedicated their lives to notice these types of studies. They all noticed that autistic kids repeat a certain move in one way or another, it could be shaking their heads, or swinging all day, as a way of calming themselves. Also, they tend to emotionally attach with any non-human object, for example a doll, or a toy. They also tend to have some behaviors and activities that are unusual, like the tendency to eat a certain meal every single day. Some autistic kids might have some kind of phobia towards a certain smell, taste, or a texture.
Treatment
Behavior experts use Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) in order to enhance the linguistic and social skills of the autistic children in order for them to communicate better in society. It also helps with improving their visual and physical communication in general, in addition to minimizing the aggressive actions that some autistic children act occasionally. ABA is tailored for each child in a different way than the other to fit their different needs.