Autism Symptoms Checklist

                

 

Children suffering from Autism may not display all of the signs and symptoms in this Autism Symptoms Checklist, because they are all individuals. However if you suspect your child is showing any signs of Autism you should seek medical advice.Early signs of autism are usually diagnosed when the child is three years of age. However early signs can be detected. There is a great deal of research taking place at the moment into trying to diagnose Autism earlier in a child's development.the earlier signs of Autism are detected the sooner they can be treated.

CHECKLIST

1. Can I have eye to eye contact with my child. Most children with autism do not have eye to eye contact and tend to stare fixidely at one object.
2. Is my child interested in things around. A child with autism does not point at things or try to bring things to the attention of his/her parents.
3. Is my child deaf. Quite often these children will ignore people around and will not respond to their name .Thus giving the impression they are deaf.
4. Can my child communicate as well as other children the same age. An autistic child can have little or no verbal skills and does not try to overcome this by using mime or pointing at things.
5. Why does my child never smile. The autistic child does not smile or react to someone who smiles at them.
6. Why does my child scream for no reason. Another common sign of autism is when the child has wild tantrums for no apparent reason.
7. My child has no friends.There is little or no interaction with autism. The autistic child prefers to play alone.

There are many different signs and symptoms for autism. The above Autism Symptoms checklist is only a guide. Other signs and symptoms to look for are destructiveness,impulsive behaviour,mood swings,lack of attention restlessness,hyperactivity and fogetfulness.

How To Overcome Autism and Anxiety On Socialization

                

 

Children with autism are often misunderstood, especially when it comes to autism and anxiety on socialization and it?s not surprising that the most loving parents can make some mistakes.

The body of information about this condition is vast, but some of it is conflicting. This can leave even the best parents feeling confused and overwhelmed. One thing no parent wants to see is his or her child is suffering in any way. When it comes to autism and anxiety of socialization, there is some conflicting information out there about the children and what they might really want to accomplish.

For a long time it was thought that children with autism did not want to socialize. Some parents would feel bad about trying to get them to relate to other children their age, as it brought about a lot of frustration for the child. Autistics can lack many of the basic social skills needed to make and keep friends. They aren?t good with eye contact, initiating conversations, and relating to peoples emotions. Even some children who do not have this condition can have problems in these areas sometimes.

For a long time it was thought that autistic children did not seek out or did not want to develop these types of social relationships, and would rather be ?alone.? There have been many studies that have proven this theory to be false. They do want to relate, and sometimes they want this very badly, but they just don?t know how to go about it. This, as you can imagine, leads to enormous amounts of frustration for the child, and of course, for the parents. The anxiety that comes with this can be overwhelming and might cause setbacks.

People mistakenly think these children prefer to stay away from their peers because they show signs of preferring the company of adults they know, or they seem to show a preference to play by themselves. This isn?t necessarily a preference for many of them. They simply cannot handle the anxiety of trying to build and maintain relationships that they do not have the skills to hang on to.

Avoidance and withdrawal are their way of coping with the overwhelming anxiety of the situation. A child thrown into this situation without preamble or warning will suffer great anxiety and frustration. However, knowing how to proceed can be difficult for any parent. Sometimes, there are no easy answers.

Each child has to be evaluated individually. There are some great programs that help children with the basics of socialization before they are presented with actually trying it. Some children have severe problems, and the choice to put them into special educational classes does have drawbacks, but putting a low-functioning child into regular classes has huge drawbacks as well.

Though taking time to evaluate a child before making a decision will help, you can never really eliminate the effects of autism and anxiety on socialization for a child with this condition. You just have to keep up, readjust when needed, and give them all the support you can.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter for more information on http://www.essential-guide-to-autism.com/ autism and anxiety on socialization.In the newsletter you'll find out more about the signs and symptoms of autism.

What Is PDD Autism?

                

 

For a long time, many children with PDD (pervasive development disorders) went undiagnosed. These children were, for a time, labeled as shy, strange, or weird, when if fact they were suffering from a medical condition. PDD autism is something that has both new and old form, and some of the higher functioning children were the ones that were largely misunderstood. Thanks to new research and new information, some of these children can now go on to lead what would appear to be a ?normal? life.

The word normal is subjective, as what is normal for one child is not for another. Some with higher functioning PDD can often blend in with what is considered ?normal,? but at the same time, they believe that they are who they are because of their autism, and there are some who say they would not change that.

However, because they want to interact with those who do not have PDD, they do have to adjust. If PDD is identified early enough, there are many positive programs that can help these children to overcome some communication and socialization problems that are common with these autistic conditions.

The common characteristics of a child with PDD center around communication problems. These range in severity from not talking at all to having an extensive vocabulary. Some autistic children never speak, and prefer to use hand motions for communication. Others have problems with basic communication, but they can learn to use words to talk to the rest of the world. Those with large vocabularies may have problems because they often say the wrong things, and at times will take every word at the most literal sense, which can lead to confusion and problems with conversations.

Others PDD characteristics are to do with social settings. They want to interact with their peers, but they have many problems doing so. They are often thought to be painfully shy at first. They lack the skills to build the relationships that many of us take for granted. Some of this comes from communication barriers, and also from a lack of understanding.

They lack the ability to get and hold eye contact, and often say the wrong things. This can be very painful for them, and after a few attempts to make friends with their peers, they often show a preference to play alone. This is because the anxiety of peer relationships is too much for them, and they find more peace by being alone.

Quite often, PDD autism is noticed by age three. This is not true for all children, but holds true for a majority. Other signs are repetitive motions and play, tantrums that result from the tiniest disruption of their daily routine, occasional aggressive behavior (probably as a result of failed communication), and being too sensitive or not sensitive enough to outside stimulation. All children with PDD will have different symptoms and different levels of function. Early diagnosis is a great help, and can lead to a better quality of life on down the road for many with PDD.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter for more information on autism. In the newsletter you'll find out more about the signs and symptoms of autism.

Combating Visual Perceptual Disorders In Autism

                

 

Visual perceptions can affect a number of kids that have autism and you should not assume that all autistic children are affected in a certain way since autism can cause unique type of symptoms in different child.

Do your best to match the most accurate remedies according to the signs that is shown in your child.

With the case of visual perception, there are methods available out there for your child to use which can effectively improve their condition. Those approaches let them view the world in a new light thus making learning and understanding of situations smoother than before.

At the same time, utilizing those tactics can possibly control behavioral issues that are associated with autism.

People who have their sensory easily overwhelmed and distorted are also common among the population that are not suffering from autism. This characteristic have brought about many studies on it and over the years there are multiple treatment options that is being made available.

For autistic individuals, they usually discover that the sensory overload that are generated by lights, colors, contrast, shapes and patterns is simply too unbearable and this is the reason why you see them acting out or totally isolating themselves in general.

Complication of the sensory could be due to a genetic condition and what autism did is to naturally enhance it.

What this mean is that if the parents have problem with reading or been treated previously for visual perceptive issues, then the child would almost certainly need help too.

One practical way of treating visual-perceptual disorders is by using the Irlen Method. In a nutshell, this process takes color and then use it to achieve a better harmonized surrounding.

Helen Irlen had pioneered the studies of visual perception and is credited with the discovery of Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) or also known as Irlen Syndrome.

Have you ever heard of suggestions that improve the speed and technique of your reading by placing a color filter over the page? If you do, then you will comprehend better what the Irlen Method can achieve.

Studies have shown that this method does work. The result can be seen exceptionally well if your autistic child's level of reading is at the intermediate stage.

The idea is to use the color filters and then evaluate whether there is any improvement in reading speed and comprehension. The wave length of lights that are causing discomfort must be eliminated.

Sensitivity to the wrong light or color can lead to fatigue, strain and an environment with higher distortion. Offending colors can be filtered by observing for any positive changes and then implementing the color that works with the individual at all time.

Please keep in mind that the technique require a bit of trial and error effort since you need to determine which color is the one that is is blocking the undesirable light.

Different child will respond differently to the various colors.

The usage of these color filters will usually take place throughout their life. Yearly evaluation is needed to determine the effectiveness of the colors because fading colors means fading benefit.

Other than reading, you may apply it to copying, handwriting or during usage of computer.

Another thing to take note is that your autistic child would probably appreciate the usage of the color filters during the entire day instead of only when reading. There are glasses designed especially for this purpose by having colored lenses.

Beside the filters and lenses, you can also consider using colored light bulbs within the surrounding of an autistic persons who have visual perception condition. A wonderful application to this is when your child is too young with limited language capability thus by observing for any difference in behavior could mean an indication of a problem.

An important aspect to remember here is that an individual with visual perception disorder will prefer and feel more comfortable with indirect natural lighting or incandescent lighting. Avoid fluorescent lightning and maintain a dimly lit room instead of bright.

There are 4 main criteria that the above approach will benefit your child namely depth perception, social integration, education and their physical wellness.

Depth perception is improved when the right colors assist the child to establish how near or far they are from a certain object. Their world will turn more three-dimensional.

In the area of social integration, the autistic child will feel more relaxed. This will give them a conducive environment to clearly interpret expressions on the faces of people around them.

Uncomfortable feeling like light-headedness and headaches can be greatly reduced while reading and the child will feel more motivated during learning session.

All this contribute to them being less stressed out so that their physical well being can develop properly.

There are clinics and professionals all around the world that have been certified in the Irlen Method. Help your child deal better with their autism by carefully testing this method or any other technique and minimize their visual processing problems.

Danial Dawood is involved with various companies and individuals in the area of information management and unique learning resources. If you are struggling to find out more about autism and all you get are those that seems to be written for doctors, outdated and contains only part of the information, then you need to take a look at this complete guide for autism.

Develop a workable plan and put your mind at ease, visit here for more info.

Autism Cause - So, What Exactly Causes Autism Anyway?

                

 

This is a question that has been asked by many people for many years, particularly of late, since the number of autistic children seems to be at an all time high. There have been many research studies conducted to try to find the exact cause of autism, and while there are several theories, none have been proven, as of yet.

Currently, medical researchers are thinking that autism may be caused by a genetic trait, or marker, and there are studies being conducted to try to prove this. It is complicated, because scientists think that autism is caused by several genes, that mix together to cause autism. If you have one child that is already been diagnosed as being autistic, you have about an eight percent chance of other children being autistic as well.

Autism is also seen in children who already have other medical problems, so researchers are also looking at those links as well. Babies or children who have PKU, and don?t get proper medical treatment, have a higher chance of later developing autism, as well as those diagnosed with rubella, toxoplasmosis, or cytomegalovirus, otherwise known as CMV. Not to say that you should panic if your child is diagnosed with one of these conditions, but some children with autism have had these problems as well.

At one time, researchers and physicians also thought that autism could be brought on by severe emotional trauma, such as seeing a horrific accident, neglect, or anything traumatic happening early in a child?s life. Since there was no definitive proof of these theories, they have since been retracted.

Many autistic children who have been tested have been found to have high levels of mercury in their blood, which is one reason why so many believed that childhood vaccines were to blame. Exposure to mercury during early childhood has been linked to many other disorders, such as slow development, Attention Deficit Disorder, and slow language development. The theory is that if exposure to metals such as mercury can cause these neurological issues, then it very well could cause autism too. It is possible to be exposed to metal in your food and water that you consume common pesticides, and other chemicals used around the home.

Other studies have also shown possible linked between the immune system and autism as well. There are some treatment trials being done focusing on boosting the immune system to help lessen the effects and symptoms caused by autism, so that an autistic person or child can function normally.

Still other theories point to food allergies playing a role in autism, but like the many other theories, none have been verified. Still others think that autism may be caused by poor eating habits, or parents not ensuring that their children get the nutrients their bodies need, but that theory has no supporting evidence at the moment, although there have been some autistic patients who have shown improvement when given vitamin therapy.

Basically, what all this means is that no one to this point really knows the exact cause of autism. There are many ideas and theories, but none that have been proven. In the end, we may never really know what the exact cause of autism is; it may end up being a combination of things. That may not give parents a lot of hope for the future, but it is all we really have at this time, unsupported theories and maybes.

If you enjoyed reading about Autism Cause, and want to read more about Autism, visit http://www.autism.healthanddiettips.com/

 

Autism Vaccine? - Could My Child's Autism Have Been Caused by a Vaccine?

                

 

It is a sad but true fact; many more children are being diagnosed with autism each year. Autism comes in many different forms, but regardless of the symptoms it causes; it is a very serious and life-altering disorder, both for the parents or caregivers of the child, and obviously, the child itself. Some of the children who have autism don?t develop social skills as they should, and have a hard time interacting with other people, adults and children. Some autistic children have difficulty with repetitive behaviors, and others even have language problems, affecting the way they communicate. Some people only have mild cases of autism, and are able to fully function in modern society, while others require constant care for the rest of their lives. Many doctors and researchers have theorized that there is a significant link between autism and vaccines, but currently there is no hard evidence to prove such a link.

There have been several research studies done over the years, trying to determine the exact cause of autism, but to date, no one has been able to definitively prove that autism is caused by childhood vaccinations. In fact, at one time autism was believed to be linked specifically to the measles vaccine, and a study was conducted in 1997 to verify that fact. Just the opposite was proved, evidence was found that clearly proved that there was no way that autism could be caused by the measles vaccine, not was it to blame for any other type of neurological disorder or malady.

Another study was done in 1998, trying again to prove a link between common childhood vaccines and autism, but no links were found. This study did claim to find proof that some intestinal deformities and developmental delays often began shortly after being vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, but this study came under fire in the medical community. One of the problems that this study came under fire for was the fact that the data was based only on 12 test subjects, and that none of them were healthy to begin with. When approached with this information, the researchers who were involved in the study retracted their claims, and the study was declared invalid.

Currently, although there is still a lot of suspicion surrounding the subject, there has been no concrete evidence found linking autism to childhood vaccines in any way. In fact, there are studies being conducted at this moment, trying to prove that autism is in fact caused by a genetic element, but it is still in process, and no results have been released as of yet.

Though many parents will research and hear about childhood immunizations and autism, the risks are far worse for your children if they receive no vaccines at all. There is no research to date that proves any kind of link between the two, so you shouldn?t really be concerned with it at this point. If you do have worries or fears about the vaccines, talk to your child?s pediatrician, or do some research on the subject. Just make certain that you also consider the illnesses and diseases that your child could be stricken with if he or she doesn?t get their immunizations, and then make an educated decision based on the information you have gathered. You can bet that as cautious as medical professionals are when it comes to children, if there was any real concern about a vaccine actually causing something as serious as autism, something would be done about it, and the vaccine would no longer be given.

If you enjoyed reading about Autism vaccine, and want to read more about Autism, visit http://www.autism.healthanddiettips.com/

 

Autism And Discipline ? It?s All About Consistency

                

 

Nearly all parents struggle to find the right way to discipline their children, and there are some families in which discipline is lax or even non-existent. However, when it comes to children with autism, discipline is not only important, it can be hard to implement. Parents must think of autism and discipline in different ways when thinking of how they want to approach this, and they must also be sure to ask for help if they think they are failing.

Three important things to remember when it comes to dealing with discipline for autistic children is be positive, be consistent, and to be timely.

It is recommended that most of the discipline for autistic children be positive. This means that the positive behaviors should be rewarded as much as possible and the negative ones should not be rewarded with a lot of attention. This is good advice for any child, but is very important for children with autism.

When children have bad moments, it is important for a parent to figure out why. They may just be acting out in a naughty manner, but they may also be experiencing tension or frustration.

If they are frustrated, this is an excellent time to remove them from the situation and to show them breathing or relaxation techniques they should use when they feel that way to help them calm down. It might take a while, but with some perseverance they may be able to learn to use them.

When it comes to mom and dad, discipline must be consistent. That means that the punishment should come immediately following the offense. If parents lack consistency they will lack control.

The same punishments should be used each time. If parents decide they want to use the 1-2-3 method, they have to use it every time and there has to be an outcome if they get to ?three?. You cannot count to two and then go back to one or the child will know they can get away with things.

If a time out is the punishment after ?three? is reached, this has to be enforced no matter what. If not you run the risk of losing control of the moment and the situation, and the child has learned nothing positive.

There should be no waiting for the other spouse to get home to deal with the problem or to reprimand bad behavior, as the child may be confused when they are being punished long after the event took place. Timing is essential.

However, it is important that both parents be equally involved in using discipline so that the child does not learn to act up in front of the parent that is known to pass the buck when these things happen.

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Each offense should be dealt with in the same manner, as this gives the child a clear picture of what will happen when they do something that they should not be doing. Any delayed punishments will not work with a child who has autism.

It is also important for parents to remain calm. Try to avoid yelling or out of control actions. If you?re feeling frustrated should walk away from the situation to calm down. Parenting is hard for any parent, but with the extra stress of autism, things can easily get out of control even for the best of parents.

Each child will learn about discipline in a different way, and as long as the punishments are just, immediate, and consistent, there should be some progress being made. Dealing with autism and discipline is never easy, but with practice, you can learn to cope.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter about autism and discipline and discover more on the signs and symptoms of autism.

Is There A Connection Between Folic Acid And Autism?

                

 

The numbers of those who are diagnosed with autism is on the rise, and researchers are struggling to come up with the reasons why this is happening. To date, a cure for autism has not been found, and even more troubling is that fact that there seems to be no concrete reason why this happens to some children. There are many theories out there, including one that suggests there is a link between folic acid and autism.

The problem with this theory is that folic acid is something that most women are told they must take while they are pregnant. It is well known that a lack of this during pregnancy can cause a variety of birth defects including conditions like Spina Bifida. Women have been encouraged to get as much folic acid as they can to help prevent serious birth defects. The good news is that this seems to be working and birth defects have significantly decreased, but at the same time, can this excess be a possible cause of autism?

Many women get the extra folic acid they need from foods that have been fortified with it, or from taking supplements. Folic acid is found naturally in fruits and vegetables, however as there are a great number of people who don?t eat enough of these foods, items such as flour, cereals and grain products are fortified with folic acid by the manufacturers.

Though it is established that people don?t get enough, there is some thought that some are getting too much, and this might be the cause of autism in some children. It might not be a problem for everyone, but the theory is that too much folic acid can cause chromosomal changes within a growing baby.

Because of the warnings about what a lack of folic acid can do, some foods are now being supplemented with folic acid. A smart pregnant woman will take advantage of these if she thinks she is not getting enough. However, because so many foods are being supplemented, and some doctors recommend an extra helping of folic acid, there can be too much in the system.

Besides the theory that an overabundance of folic acid can cause a change in chromosomes, another theory states that it can also cause brain cells to grow too rapidly, enlarging the brain. This then cuts down on the room within the brain for proper connections between cells to grow.

More research is needed to establish whether there is a strong link between autism and folic acid, however, the possibility might scare some women into not getting enough folic acid. If they do this, they are putting their child in danger by way of increasing their chances for birth defects.

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If you are concerned about your intake of folic acid and autism talk to your doctor about your fears. They should be able to recommend what you should be eating and how much folic acid you need for a healthy pregnancy.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter about folic acid and autism and discover more on the signs and symptoms of autism.

Parenting Autism- Getting Past the Sadness

                

 

It's very common for a parent of an autistic child to sometimes feel quite sad about his or her child's autism. After all, every parent wants his or her child to be accepted, to live a happy life, and to make all of their dreams a reality. In fact, you may have experienced an overwhelming feeling of sadness upon hearing of your child's autism, as our society has long held the idea that your child's condition is tragic and incurable.

But I invite you to look at things in a different way. Perhaps you can look at your child as not tragic or incurable, but rather, as unique and remarkable.

In our society, people who are different are often seen as unfortunate, sad cases. But if you think about it, your child is probably a pretty amazing person. His autism is actually a part of who he is, and he's probably not sad about it at all, unless society has convinced him otherwise.

Imagine if our society held autism up as an incredibly marvelous thing. In that case, most of us would be pretty happy about our child's autism, right? Our child would still be autistic, but our perception of what that means would be different, and so would our resulting emotional response.

In either case, society is telling us how we should feel- happy or unhappy. But in reality, no one else can dictate your feelings, unless you allow it. You truly decide how you feel from moment to moment. You decide if you're going to buy someone else's idea about how you should feel. And yes, you can decide to be happy or unhappy, despite what everyone has told you. You can decide to be happy now, without waiting till your child is recovered. I'm not talking about denial, where you're pushing down feelings and pretending they're not there. I'm actually talking about making the decision to be truly happy.

That doesn't mean that you give up on hoping and trying for more. If you can hope and work for your child's best outcome without making your happiness dependent upon it, and if you fully accept your child as he is now, even with his autism, then your child will feel that acceptance and positive expectation, and will respond by believing in himself.

No matter how many gloom and doom predictions others make about your child, you ultimately decide what you believe. Making the decision to fully accept your child and to be happy now, while trying for the best possible outcome will give your child what he needs- lots of learning opportunities in an accepting and loving environment.
Sandra Sinclair is a parent of a child with PDD-NOS. She is author of ?Newly Diagnosed Autism Spectrum?- A free mini-course with 7 clear steps you can take to help your child. http://www.autismvoice.com/blog/7StepstoHelpChildrenwithAutism

Managing Tantrums In Autism Spectrum Disorders When Consistency

                

 

When dealing with tantrums and difficult behaviors in autism spectrum disorders, using behavioral approaches alone can sometimes fail. What is the missing piece to managing these behaviors that a behavioral approach alone may not address?

To start, we need to look at the reasons for behavior. According to behavioral approaches, most of the behavior we see results from one of three reasons: a request, seeking attention, or a sensory reason. Let's look deeper at these three reasons for behavior and the ways we currently handle them.

Handling a request is fairly straightforward. To put it very simply, a request is usually something externally controlled by both reinforcing appropriate requests and not reinforcing inappropriate ones, such as a tantrum.

For negative attention-seeking behaviors, we can eliminate the behavior by not giving the negative behavior attention and give attention for desired behavior - very straightforward, and again, usually externally controlled.

The sensory reasons arise from both the external and internal events that a child experiences through the five senses, and may or may not be externally controlled. In all of these situations, our internal responses - our feelings and thoughts about events fire us into action. In stressful situations, the resulting "knee jerk" reactions are often difficult to manage with a purely behavioral approach for a few reasons:

1. Thoughts and feelings are often lightning-fast, internally-controlled events, therefore difficult to manage through external behavioral modifications.

2. Thoughts and feelings can't be measured, and as a result, behavioral approaches simply don't address them. It doesn't mean that these things don t exist or aren't important. It just means that they're left out of the equation.

3. Behavioral approaches address the cause and consequence of behaviors the beginning and the end. But internal responses (i.e. thoughts and feelings) happen in the moments between the cause and the consequence. By not dealing with thoughts, feelings and solutions at these moments, we leave a child to figure out solutions on his or her own.

4. Children on the autism spectrum have a limited ability to adapt to new or changing situations, solve problems, compare past to present, or see possibilities. Because of this, if a child never learns how to think through a challenging situation during the emotional moments, when faced with it again, the same behavior will probably repeat itself, no matter what the consequence, or how many times they've been through it before.

This situation calls for tools to deal with overwhelming thoughts, feelings and strategies in the moment before the tantrum, not just consequences after.

In the book The Explosive Child, Ross Greene talks about this situation. This book applies to any disorders that have limitations in problem solving and executive thought, including all PDDs, such as Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and all autism spectrum disorders. ADD, ADHD, and various other developmental disabilities also share these problem-solving / executive thought issues and can benefit from using this approach, according to Dr. Greene.

In the book, first we pick our battles carefully, and then talk through our thought process out loud. This way our children can hear us think through situations before tantrums. This also creates a memory of how they triumphed in the situation without resorting to negative behaviors.

Progress is made in small increments, but as time goes on, tantrums should decrease, and you can even start to ask your child to contribute ideas about solving problems during those emotional moments. In doing this, you help your child learn how to solve problems and become confident about handling new, changing, or challenging situations. You'll combine the best of all worlds, to the benefit of your child.
 Sandra Sinclair is a parent of a child with PDD-NOS. Sandra assists parents of children with autism spectrum disorders to create a life that they love - life by design, not demands - through her 6-step program. She is also author of Newly Diagnosed Autism Spectrum - A free mini-course with 7 clear steps you can take to help your child with Aspergers, Autism, PDD-NOS, and other autism spectrum disorders. http://www.autismvoice.com/blog/7StepstoHelpChildrenwithAutism