my brother is four turning five next month and he has autism.
i was wondering if any of you might be able too tell me more about it.. he was diegnosed last year. he is on the Gf-CF Diet. he still doesnt speek... i was just hoping you would some information that i dont know Check this site out for (mainly unscientifically validated) theories of the causes
http://www.ei-resource.org/autism.asp...
If you are more interested in the science/biological factors, check these sites out
http://ontic.co.nz/science/mind2.htm...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/autism...
My personal opinion is that hormonal theories are gaining in recognition and seem to account for many of the symptoms of autism: my favourite is Simon Baron-Cohen's theory of 'the extreme male brain', in which higher than normal levels of testosterone in the uterous (prenatally) make a person display autism. I would seriously recommend his book 'Men, women, and the extreme male brain' (2003): it is really really accessible and very interesting- it relates autism to normal functioning.
One way to see for youself if your brother may have had higher exposure to prenatal testosterone is to look at his fingers. Palm-side up, if his ring finger is alot longer than his pointer finger, this indicates higher levels of testosoterone. This measurement is called 2d:4d, and is very interesting the things people have associated with it: dyslexia, aggression, virility, etc. Check out the wikipedia page on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/digit_ratio...
(Of note, 'etiology' means 'causes': you'll probably come across it alot in these pages!)
Well, that's just one interesting aspect of the disorder, there are many more... As well as Baron-Cohen's book, I recommend Frith's 'Autism: explaining the enigma'- she's a really good author, makes things very easy to understand.
All the best to you and your brother! The reality may be that autism has many different causes. For some people, my som, for example, diet change has made a huge difference Report It
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Hope patient will recover. For complete detail about ASDs, please click on following link.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autis... Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there are a whole lot of sympotms that any one person may or may not have. If he's worked with regularly, in a therapuetic and comfortable setting, your brother may break out of his shell. The world is probably a very different place for your brother. He may have perception disorders that make sounds too loud or too quiet, the tag on his t-shirt could seem painful to him, it's a complicated disorder. you need to do a little research to see which symptoms he shows more of, and read about ways you can make him more comfortable while dealing with this world. It takes time, but by the time he's your age, he may even be able to have a normal life, just like anyone else. Anything is possible with these remarkable people. The best place to go for info is to your local autism society. They're a wealth of info. My son has Pervasive Developmental Disorder--it's related to autism and our local group has been a great help along with his pediatrician. Is he in any types of therapy, either by a professional or ones that your mom is doing for him? What I've seen with autism, is that sensory issues are the BIGGEST problem to them. If you guys can start working with the sensory issues, he has a really good chance of talking, at least a little. I've seen it work with my autistic little one, and with a child I babysit and do therapy with. Get the book 'The Out of Sync Child', it explains what sensory integration disorder is all about. Contact me if you'd like. ok i am a mom with and Autistic child that does not talk. I know it can be frustrating. my son is 2 and a half. he has never really talked. what you can do is contact the Family Support Network at 1800 TLC 0042. they can help you with any other questions you might have. A developmental disorder of the brain, autism exists from birth and persists throughout life. The etiology of the disorder is still unknown, but is believed to be largely genetic, while different organic factors have been implicated in a substantial proportion of cases The diagnosis of autism is based on behavioral criteria. The chief criteria as set out in ICD-10 (WHO 1992) and in DSM-IV (APA 1994) include: abnormalities of social interaction, abnormalities of verbal and nonverbal communication, and a restricted repertoire of interests and activities. Behavior suggestive of these impairments can already be discerned in infancy. A recent screening instrument, based on a cognitive account of autism, appears to be remarkably successful at eighteen months, involving failure of gaze monitoring, protodeclarative pointing, and pretend play (Baron-Cohen et al. 1996). These appear to be the first clear behavioral manifestations of the disorder. Contrary to popular belief, failure of bonding or attachment is not a distinguishing characteristic of autism.
The autistic spectrum refers to the wide individual variation of symptoms from mild to severe. Behavior not only varies with age and ability, but is also modified by a multitude of environmental factors. For this reason, one of the major problems with behaviorally defined developmental disorders is how to identify primary, associated, and secondary features. Three highly correlated features, namely characteristic impairments in socialization, communication, and imagination, were identified in a geographically defined population study (Wing and Gould 1979). These impairments appear to persist in development even though their outward manifestation is subject to change. For example, a socially aloof child may at a later age become socially interested and show 鈥減estering鈥?behavior; a child with initially little speech may become verbose with stilted, pedantic language. The triad of impairments appears to be a common denominator throughout a spectrum of autistic disorders (Wing 1996).
References related to the explanation are:-
1- World Health Organization. (1992). The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization.
2- Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3- American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Here are some of my favorite resources. I hope this helps!
http://www.paulakluth.com/autism.html (Website of Paula Kluth, Ph.D. - her book, "You're Going to Love this Kid!: Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom" is also great).
http://www.southflorida.com/sfparenting/... ("Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" by Ellen Notbohm)
http://www.autism-society.org/ (Autism Society of America) I've worked with and known a number of people with autism.
First off nobody is sure what causes autism. There are ideas about it but none are proven. There seem to be two ways autism can show up in kids (or else two different kinds of autism. Some kids act autistic right from the beginning. Other kids start out seeming right on track develpmentally and then suddenly regress and lose abilities they used to have. Autism is more common in boys than in girls. Also autism appears to be on the increase, though again the reason is unknown.
Many autistic people are also mentally retarded, though others have perfectly normal intelligence.
Autistic kids may be slow to learn to speak or may not develop speech at all, and when they do learn speech it is likely to be different from the way other kids learn. For example a little autistic kid I know never went through the "mama" and "dada" stage most kids go through.
Social interactions can also be hard or confusing for autistic kids. They seem to miss or misinterpret some of the nonverbal signals people around them are sending.
It's not all bad news though. Autistic people tend to have strong visual skills. For example, one autistic lady designs complicated equipment in her head. She says she doesn't need to sketch out her ideas because she can see all the details perfectly in her mind.
You said your brother isn't talking. Sometimes you can find visual ways to communicate with an autistic person who has language trouble.
Many people with no speech or limited speech can communicate with a picture board. It's a board or piece of paper or photo album with lots of little symbols or pictures on it.
You can buy ready-made pictures or make your own. Don't worry about your drawing ability. If you can draw a stick figure you can make a good enough picture to use. Or you can use photographs.
If you want to try making one for talking to your brother, a simple one might be a mini photo album with a picture on each page and a word written under it. For example you might take pictures of him doing a two or three things he likes to do (maybe a favorite movie or a toy), pictures of a couple foods he eats, a picture of the back yard or the nearest park (or wherever it is that he can play outside). Once you've made it he can point to things he wants so that he can talk to you, or you can point to pictures while you talk to him so he can understand you better. Hi!
Well, my brother has autism as well. He has a mild case of it and is eleven years old. to be truly honest, yes, you should be worried. But not just cause, but it's also an instint and natural thought. I mean really, if you think about it, talking is a huge thing! You really can't get through life without it! When my brother was diagnosed, they told us that he wouldn't ever talk. EVER. It took a lot of frustration and time, but once he hit about the age of seven, he began to 'talk.' lol However, like someone else mentioned it is SPECTRUM disorder. For example, by brother has Echolalia. Which enables him to repeat constantly. I know for a fact that this is what helped him learn to talk, because he and i would renact scenes from disney movies. lol that was how i got him to talk. And you have to remember.....the diets aren't going to fix everything. In my brother's case, he actually got worse, and wouldn't eat the food. its hard, sweetie, i know. let me just say many tears have been shed. Just let him work in his own time. And another thing i did, was read picture books to him every night. I even read my Lord of the Rings books to him when i was reading them around the time the movies came out. and he then began to pick up on the words. And also remember that sometimes, you have to think outside of the box and do creative things that fit the likes and LOVES of your brother. it will capture their attention....for some time at least....
i hoped this helped :)
p.s. look at this site, its REaLlY interesting.....
http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/1/autism... my son has autism and hes 5 you can go on alot of web sites that can tell you more some can talk some have very bad moods best thing to do his type in austim on the web and you can find all kinds of thing and treatment for your brother thats a diseases |
