Autism - Signs, Symptoms, Treatments, Resources, Support for Autism

This is a question that every parent of an Autistic child will ask at some point. The answer is no. There is no cure for Autism. While you may see ads for books, or products that promise a cure for Autism, they are misleading you. Autism has no cure. There are lots of treatments that can make living with Autism easier. Here are some of the treatments that help with Autism. Therapies There are several types of therapies that can help with the treatment of Autism. Occupational, physical, behavioral, speech, music, sensory, drug, play, and many other types of therapy can make a big difference in the life of an Autistic child. The therapies will not cure your child's Autism. They will just help teach them different ways of coping with it. Alternative Treatments Natural and alternative treatments are on the rise. These can include the use of herbs instead of prescription medications. The herbs do not have the side effects found in traditional medicines. Vitamin and mineral supplements a...

Potty training a normal, healthy child can be hard work. What do you do when that child is Autistic? Maybe they do not even understand what it means to use the potty. Here are some helpful suggestion when potty training and Autistic child. 1. Make sure the child is ready to be potty trained. Just because all the books says they need to be trained at two does not mean your Autistic child has the ability to do so. Do they know when they are wet or have a dirty diaper? Do they have a dry diaper all night? 2. Does your Autistic child have the skills to undress and redress. If not this can making potty training harder unless you intend to let them run around naked for the next few months. This can also make for a lot of time spent scrubbing carpets. It is best to wait to potty train until your child can easily undress and redress them selves. 3. Use a reward system when potty training. If they use the potty, or attempt to use it give them some type of reward. This can be a treat or a toy. M...

Studies have shown that there is an increase in the number of children that have been diagnosed with autism. Until now, doctors have not yet found a cure to this illness which is why some parents want to experiment with alternative forms of treatment and one example is acupuncture. Acupuncture is a holistic approach in treating and preventing certain diseases. Its main tool are very thin needles that are inserted to targeted points in the body. The body has about 400 of them linked through a system known as meridians or pathways. Once these are stimulated, these are supposed to create balance in the body. Autism on the other hand is a brain disorder that is long term. This disease is characterized by deficits in language, social communication and cognition. Children who are diagnosed with this illness may also suffer from secondary problems such as aggression, irritability, stereotypes, hyperactivity, negativism, volatile emotions, temper tantrums, short attention span and obsessive-co...

The Gluten free diet consists of removing any foods from your Autistic child's diet that contain Gluten. This can seem hard at first because so many foods do have Gluten in them. Gluten is found in most prepared foods. Foods containing wheat, barley ,oats, or rye need to be eliminated from the diet. Gluten can also be found in some vinegars and sauces. Artificial flavorings often contain Gluten. When using the Gluten free diet you have to be careful and read all labels on foods. Gluten can be in foods you would not think of, like spices. The theory behind removing Gluten from an Autistic child's diet is that when the child eats a food with Gluten it causes their body to react differently than a child without Autism. The Gluten free diet can be expensive to follow. Most Gluten free products are sold in specialty, or health stores. These stores usually charge a much higher price. Some major grocery stores are now carrying Gluten free products. You can find Gluten free flour, pa...

Daily life with an Autistic child can be a challenge to say the least. What should you do if you are traveling for vacation, or another purpose? Lets look at some things a parent can do when traveling with their Autistic child. 1. Plan ahead. If at all possible plan trips far in advance. This gives you time to talk with your child and get them used to the idea of traveling. You can explain to them where they will be going, and some of the things they will be doing while away. 2. Bring items from home that your Autistic child likes. Bring their favorite toys. Bring along their pillow and blanket they use each night. Try and keep as many items that are familiar to your child with you while traveling. This can help your child to relax in their new environment. 3. Bring all their necessary medications. You do not want to be away from home and not have their medicine. Get the prescriptions refilled before the trip to make sure you do not run out. 4. Try and keep a schedule while traveling....

Aspergers is a form of Autism. People with Aspergers syndrome are on the higher end of the spectrum. They usually have normal language skills. Their main problem is dealing with people socially. Usually these problems are first noticed when a child begins school. The child can have all the signs of Aspergers, or only a few. Here are some of the common signs of Aspergers syndrome. 1. Have a hard time talking to other kids. Kids with Aspergers syndrome have a hard time going up to someone and starting a conversation. 2. Speak in words that are very advanced for their age. The Asperger's child may use words that adults would use. 3. Have trouble understanding when someone is joking, or being sarcastic. Children with Aspergers have a hard time understanding tones of people's voices. They tend to take everything said seriously. 4. Have very limited interests. A child with Aspergers syndrome may only want to focus on one thing. They may take a liking to puzzles, and only want to do ...

There is no one therapy that does it all. And, to complicate it further, like most "mental" problems", it's not simple to diagnose. In the younger ages, it's easily confused with mental retardation, or brain damage. What are the known causes of autism? Perhaps the best known today is the usage of mercury ( thimeroserol) in infant and childhood vaccines. Only in the past few years was this practice discontinued. So, we've literally poisoned millions of children with good intent! Protecting them from dangerous childhood diseases has caused much worse problems. Another well known cause of autism is food sensitivity and allergy. Virtually every known mental problem may be caused by a normally harmless allergen - a simple food that has been " recognized" by that person's immune system as " dangerous". This seems to be caused by what is called "leaky gut syndrome". A major theory in this cause is that the malnourishment ...

The massage therapy is a well-loved session of many. Celebrities, public officials, workers, students, and people from all walks of life succumb to their cravings to experience the soothing effect that massage promotes. Imagine a day of hard work, stress, and pressure. Wouldn't it feel so nice to be subjected to the therapeutic human touch? However, it has been found out that massage doesn't only benefit the normal individuals. Studies show how helpful and therapeutic it can be to the autistic children. This may be new to you but it is a fact. After all, these children also deserve the best that life may offer. Autism Explained Autism is a kind of brain disorder which normally gets tracked when the child is aged 2. The symptoms become recognizable at such a tender age basically because he falls short in developing the language along with the pertinent social interaction skills. Children should be able to start saying a few words and socializing. If they don't, then ther...

If you want to know what an autistic child looks like, look at your own child or grandchild. Look at the children who live next door to you and take a glimpse at every child you walk past on the street. These could very well be the faces of autism. There is no visible indication that a child is affected by this disturbing neurological disorder. Autism is the king of all tricksters. I know this to be true because whenever my husband and I take our son to the store or doctor’s office, the looks of disgust we receive in response to his unruly behavior never let up. Unless we inform someone, and we always have to, no one has a clue that he is autistic. When our ten requests for Darius to “settle down” won’t get through to him, when he is climbing on chairs or is having a screaming fit, people continue to stare through us with questions of, “Why won’t they do something about him?” or “If that were my child I’d really handle him.” From time to time, I find myself getting upset about the glar...

"AUTISM YESTERDAY" Autism is Reversible from JB Handley on Vimeo . Autism Yesterday is a documentary film that explores an emerging truth many parents are discovering: Autism is a reversible condition through a process known as "biomedical intervention". Through the eyes of five families and their recovering children, Autism Yesterday chronicles heart-wrenching stories of despair, hope, and recovery. This 30-minute documentary shares the remarkable story of children recovering from autism -- perhaps the most important health issue of our time.

Self-stimulatory behaviors are valuable because they tell you how your child takes in information. If your child likes to burrow down inside the cushions of the couch, be held or hugged a lot, enjoys massage, etc., you can assume that he is motivated by information he receives proprioceptively. If your child likes to vocalize, listen to music, or bang things together next to his ear, you can assume he is motivated by information he receives auditorially. These behaviors can be used as a way to explore the individual's preferred sensory channels for receiving information from the world. With this information we may identify preferred sensory experiences around which we can develop more "mainstream" leisure activities that our children will also come to view as "leisure." For example, if a child enjoys the visual sensation of lights we can find age-appropriate toys that might be motivating to him. In addition to familiar toys such as Lite-Brite, consider lava lamp...

Chromosome 5 Found To Be a Significant Link to Autism Disorder If you’re like the majority of the population you’re not exactly a master at all of the technical terms that are thrown about in studies of various treatments for Autism. Whenever I do any kind of article reading, I’m sure to have my search engine open and ready to go, in order to find the “lay-man’s terms” for different words and medical jargon. Truth be told, it’s a lot A new study of chromosomes has found a connection between chromosome 5 and Autism. Great, right? But, what does it all mean? What’s a Chromosome? The need-to-know basics Chromosomes are found in the cell nucleus and consist of long chains of nucleic acids coated with protein. Each chromosome contains hundreds or thousands of the genes that form our hereditary blueprint. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 total. Each parent contributes 1 chromosome to each pair. Each chromosome has genes that determine almost every detail about us as a person. For e...

There are many symptoms that an individual with autism may experience; however, one of the most frustrating and hard to understand is what has recently been named Theory of Mind. Within the last few decades, this problem has been more thoroughly discussed and studied, but it is still largely a mystery. Because of Theory of Mind problems, social interactions are even more strenuous for autistic individuals. Theory of Mind causes these social behavior difficulties in almost every aspect, from playgroups as children to the social world as adults. The concept behind Theory of Mind is that autistic people fail to recognize that other people in the world have different ways of looking at things. Although an autistic person may not be egocentric, he or she probably inherently assumes that everyone thinks, feels, and knows the same things he or she thinks, feels, and knows. Most autistic people have an inability to lie, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but is clearly unnatural. They don...

Autism effects every child differently, so it is difficult to find the exact treatments your child needs to cope with his or her symptoms. One thing that effects some autistic children (though, not all) is problems with visual perception. By using some standardized methods to help improve visual perception, you can give your child the ability to see the world more clearly, making learning and comprehension easier and possibly curbing some behavior problems as well. Autistic children mainly have problems with sensory overload and distortion. These are some of the same problems many people not suffering from the disorder develop, and so many treatment options have become available. Individuals with autism often find, however, that the sensory overload of the world due to light, colors, contrast, shapes, and patterns, is too much to handle, causing them to act out or shut down in general. This is sometimes a genetic condition that is simply enhanced by the autism, so if the child’s paren...

Brain - copyright Wellcome Trust Brain cell communication may be unbalanced Regions of the brain may not communicate with each other as efficiently as they should in people with autism, research suggests. US scientists used sophisticated scans to examine connections in the cerebral cortex - the part of the brain that deals with complex thought. They found evidence of abnormal patterns of brain cell connection in people with autism. The research was presented at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. In some parts of the cortex brain cells made too many connections, and in other parts not enough. Lead researcher Dr Michael Murias, from the University of Washington, said: "Our findings indicate adults with autism show differences in coordinated neural activity, which implies poor internal communication between the parts of the brain." The researchers analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) scans from 36 adults, half of who had autism. The EEGs, which measure the activity of h...

Source: Yahoo News WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a $5.9 million study in six states to try to find the causes of autism. The study, the next of the agency's promised initiatives to look more closely at the disorder, would look for factors that may put children at risk for autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities, the CDC said. It said 2,700 children aged 2 to 5 and their parents would take part in the five-year study. Researchers will look for infections or abnormal responses to infections in the child or parents, genetic factors, the mother's reproductive history, hormone levels, potential gastrointestinal problems in the child and other factors. "We hope this national study will help us learn more about the characteristics of children with ASDs, factors associated with developmental delays, and how genes and the environment may affect child development," said Dr. Jose Cordero, directo...

Source: Yahoo News By Lisa Richwine WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A schizophrenia drug from Johnson & Johnson won U.S. approval as the first medicine to treat symptoms of autism in children and adolescents, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The FDA said Risperdal could be used to treat irritability, including aggression, deliberate self-injury and temper tantrums. Autism is a term used to describe a broad range of symptoms, from repetitive behaviors to trouble with language and sometimes mental retardation. Risperdal is already Johnson & Johnson's biggest-selling product, with 2005 global sales of about $3.5 billion. The FDA said it based the new approval on two eight-week studies in 156 autistic patients ages 5 to 16 who took Risperdal or a placebo. Ninety-percent of them were between the ages of 5 to 12. Patients treated with Risperdal had improved scores on two scales measuring behavioral symptoms, the FDA said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention es...

Source: NIH News Well Siblings Share Some of the Same Behavioral, Neural Features The brain’s fear hub likely becomes abnormally small in the most severely socially impaired males with autism spectrum disorders (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/autismmenu.cfm), researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institute on Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered. Teens and young men who were slowest at distinguishing emotional from neutral expressions and gazed at eyes least — indicators of social impairment — had a smaller than normal amygdala, an almond-shaped danger-detector deep in the brain. The researchers also linked such amygdala shrinkage to impaired nonverbal social behavior in early childhood. The new findings suggest that social fear in autism may initially trigger a hyperactive, abnormally enlarged amygdala, which eventually gives way to a toxic adaptation that kills amygdala...

Source: BBC News Increased rainfall, or something linked to it, may be connected to the development of autism, scientists say. The theory is based on child health and weather records from three US states, but has been given an icy reception by UK experts. The US study found autism rates were higher among children whose states experienced higher rainfall in their first three years. The work appears in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The rising rate of autism - up, by some measures, from one in 2,500 to one in 150 - has been attributed mainly to improvements in the way doctors are able to recognise the disorder. However, scientists from Cornell University say this does not exclude a factor which may be independently increasing the number of children growing up with the condition. They calculated average annual rainfall for California, Oregon and Washington State between 1987 and 1999, then looked at autism prevalence rates in the children growing up during this period. ...

Source: WTKR By Alan Mozes MONDAY, Dec. 1 (Health Day News) -- Parents of autistic children are more likely to see their sons or daughter's special health needs go unmet, a new government report shows. Data from the National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs also indicated that when compared with families that have kids with other special emotional or physical needs, parents caring for autistic children face a significantly greater financial burden -- given that many must cut back their work schedule or quit their jobs altogether to care for their autistic child. "Families of kids with autism were impacted much more strongly by the condition than the other groups, across all indicators," said study author Michael D. Kogan, director of the office of data and program development with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, based in Rockville, Md. Kogan and his colleagues publish the findings in the Dec...