自閉症

Autism (自閉症)

Introduction

A group of unfortunate children have severe emotional disturbance. They are labeled as hard-to-manage group. They have impaired interaction patterns. Such children may suffer from a disorder - Autism. (自閉症)

Cause

Autism is one of the pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) which is believed the disorder is come from some neurological problems. However, no clear neurological sign yet defines the syndrome.

Characteristics

based on the American Psychiatric Association (1994)

Social Interaction Impairment:

1. Markedly impaired awareness of others.

2. Lack of social and emotional reciprocity.

3. Rarely seeking comfort of affection.

4. Failure to develop age-appropriate peer relationship.

5. Absent or impaired imitation.

Communication Problem:

1. Delay and absence of the spoken language.

2. Abnormal non-verbal communication.

3. Stereotyped and repetitive use of language.

4. Failure to use emotional or social cues to regulate communication.

5. Markedly impairment at imaginative play.

6. Abnormal use of stress, tone and pith in speech (if any).

Limited pattern of Behavior, Interest and Activity

1. Insistence to the sameness

2. Interest in non-functional routine or rituals.

3. Stereotyped boy movement.

4. Markedly restricted range of interests.

5. Persistent preoccupation of certain parts of the object.

• Moreover, about 80% of autistic children have retardation on intelligence and adaptive skills, nearly half of them do not develop speech at all.
• The above delays and abnormal functioning occurs prior to age 3 in social development , language used for communication and plays.

Effects on Daily life

Autistic children have impaired interaction pattern. They are very hard to play or learn things from others. They are not always being accepted by other peers because of their abnormal behaviors. A lot of time and patience are needed to train such child

Reference

Paul, R. (1995) Language Disorders from Infancy and Adolescence. Mosby: YearBook

Note : All material in this page is just for reference only. For more information, please consult medical professionals or clinical psychologists.