About Autism
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that typically appears during the first three years of one's life, impacting development in all areas, especially social interaction and communication skills. There are many children who have never smiled and reached out to their parents.
About Autism
We stand in the midst of a portentous epidemic, which has claimed the minds of hundreds of thousands of young children. The incidence of Autism is on an alarming rise. A recent CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) study from the United States says 1 in 55 children comes under the Autism spectrum, which now surpasses both childhood cancer and Down’s syndrome. A new study in South Korea says 1 in 38 children is in the spectrum. The nonavailability of an India-specific prevalence study doesn’t mean that the disorder is rare. Lack of necessary awareness about the condition in the general population and medical community prevents most of those children from being diagnosed and receiving the services they need. To date, there has been little relief for children and adults who continue to suffer from this diverse range of disorders.
Autism is a complex developmental disorder that typically appears during the first three years of life, impacting development in all areas, especially social interaction and communication skills. There are many children who have never smiled and reached out to their parents. There are many children who recoil at the human touch, as if from an electric shock. There are children who are fixated for hours on an object, seemingly oblivious to the world around them, children who seemed lost beyond measure. As for the aetiology of Autism is concerned many causes have been proposed from vaccines, genes, certain infections, environmental pollution and maternal conditions.
The biological profile of Autism is complex, which extends beyond brain dysfunction. Autism is both multi-factorial, involving many causes, and multi-systemic, involving many parts of the body, not just the brain. Hence, we should guard against the tendency to embrace a tunnel vision perspective on this complex disorder.
It’s being observed in several studies among people in the Autism spectrum that it's the co-morbid conditions which are making the picture look severe and if they can be given proper attention, the condition is much more easily manageable for the individuals in the spectrum and the caregivers.
Awareness about various facets of Autism including heavy metal toxicity, dietary allergies and sensitivity, immune system dysfunction, auto–immune issues, sluggish liver function, nutritional deficiencies, sensory integration issues, difficulty in language processing and speech, problems related to attention, concentration and memory are essential for the effective intervention of this ominous condition.
Sudden changes in behaviour, aggression, loss of acquired skills, covering ears with hands, irritability, teeth grinding, walking on toes, oppositional behaviour, self-injurious behaviour, repetitive rocking, chewing on clothes or other objects are some of the behaviour's which may indicate an underlying co-morbidity.
