The Causes, diagnosis and treatment of autistic Disorder

Autism is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females. It is estimated that three to six out of every 1,000 children in the United States have autism, and the number of diagnosed cases is rising. It is still not clear whether this is due to better detection and reporting of autism, a real increase in the number of cases, or both.

Common Signs of Autism:

There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling. The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child.

As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement. They may also fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people.

Autistic children have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they cannot understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and do not watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging.

These children may not know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking. They have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.

Those born with the disorder appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood.

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