Autism Essay, Research Paper

In general, autism is the developmental disability that prevents individuals

from properly understanding what they see, hear, or otherwise sense.

Approximately 3 to 5 out of every 10,000 school aged children have some for of

autism, and males with the disorder outnumber females with it by nearly 5 to 1. It

is estimated that 1 in every 500 display some autistic characteristics (Williams,

xiv). Autism is called a spectrum disorder because there is no one characteristic

and it is different in every person. Parents may hear labels such as: autistic-like,

learning disabled with autistic tendencies, high or low functioning autism. These

labels don?t describe differences in the child as much as the differences in the

professional?s training, vocabulary, and exposure to autism (autism zone, review).

Autism and related disorders are grouped under the broad heading of ?Pervasive

Development Disorder? or PDD. Autism, PDD-NOS (pervasive development

disorder, not otherwise specified), Asperger?s syndrome and Rett?s syndrome are

the four diagnoses used to describe individuals who manifest some, but not all

characteristics of autism (Dalldorf, 1). There is no definite test for autism. Autism

is usually first diagnosed in children when they are about 2 years old. A child may

display normal or above normal development until this age and suddenly change.

It is unknown exactly what causes autism, but it is a biological problem and a

child?s environment has nothing to do with the disorder (Martin, 2-4). Also there

is no one treatment to help autistic people. There are dozens of ways that seem to

help and for every person it is different.

First there are the characteristics that are most common in autistic people to

varying degrees. Delays in the development of language or no development at all.

If it does develop then there is often use of words without attachment of normal

meaning, use of unusual metaphors or speak in the formal, and talk in a monotone

voice (Martin). They usually avoid eye contact and appear to tune out the world

around them. They can appear to be deaf one minute and overly sensitive the next

and similar reactions with all their senses. Some autistic people may excel in one

area or another such as music, math, drawing, or memorizing facts whether

important or not. That was the characteristic displayed in the movie ?Rainman?.

However, only about 20% of autistic people have average or above average

intelligence (autism zone, review). Autistic people tend to perform repetitive body

movements such as rocking back and forth, hand flicking, or twisting. This is

called stereotypic or self-stimulatory behavior. This behavior is often exhibited in

mentally retarded patients, but it is even more common in autistic individuals. Autistic individuals likes routines and finds comfort in repetition, and when change

occurs in those routines the person becomes agitated and distressed (autism zone,

review). They are usually not interested in socializing and like to be alone. Their

behavior may be very passive or they may overreact. They may throw a tantrum

for no reason at all, appear to have no common sense, and may not realize the

potential danger of things like stoves and cars (Williams 68&69). These are only

some of the characteristics of autism, and a person may exhibit some of these

characteristics yet not be autistic. Also the degree and if some are present at all

differs between autistic people.

The exact causes of autism are unknown, but there seems to be a link with

heredity and genetics, though a particular gene that causes autism has not been

identified. An article in the American Journal of Psychology says that families

with an autistic child have a higher rate of depression and anxiety that are

unaccounted for raising an autistic child and it is also displayed in aunts and

uncles. Also, non-autistic relatives may display some characteristics of autism in

small quantities. This shows that there is a link between genes and autism (Piven

557). There are biological reasons why autistic characteristics are displayed. The

structure of the brain and the biochemical in the body of an autistic person are

notably different from a normal human being. Autistic children have symptoms

like abnormal electroencephalograms, MRI scans, PET test, seizures,

abnormalities on neurological examinations show structural differences in the

brain. These differences in the structure of the brain show the dysfunction of the

neurotransmitters that relay messages to the brain. These defects are also similar to

those in schizophrenia (Piven 558). The hypocampus which is used for the normal

functioning of memory, behavior, and emotion, the cerebellum which receives

vestibular, propioceptic, and visual data, and the pons which affects the ability to

feel pain and our fear responses are all affected by autism and explain the reasons

for some of the characteristics of autism. The vestibular system is the primary

means of balance and one of three systems that help people determine where they

are in space. If this information is relayed incorrectly because of a problem with

the cerebellum, the brain will feel off balance and want more information.

Rocking, twirling and moving are ways of stimulating the vestibular system and

send more impulses to the cerebellum, but those impulses too are relayed poorly

and the behavior is repeated over and over again. The cerebellum also receives

information on the visual world. This too works improperly and distorts the world

the person is seeing. The poor relaying of information explains the stereotypic

behavior of autistic people (autism zone, treatment:nuerological reorganization).

Another theory of stereotypic behavior is the bad transmitting of information could disturb the person and the behavior is done to

calm the individual. Another problem is the pons. If the pons are damaged, then it

may always trigger a fear impulse. It is possible that an autistic person may be in a

constant state of fear (autism zone, treatment:nuerological reorganization).

One of the main problems with diagnosing autism is that there are no real

tests that positively show for certain that the person is autistic; all the tests are

subjective. A doctor diagnoses a person as autistic when a number of

characteristics are displayed in the patient (Daldorf 1). The number of

characteristics displayed that are inappropriate for a child that age determines the

diagnoses the child receives. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is the tool that

states the characteristics how to diagnose the patient. There are also numerous

tests that rule out any other disorders to make sure that it is truly autism. An

audiologic evaluation can be done to make sure there is no form of hearing loss,

and the individual is having problems interpreting the noises as would an autistic

person. If there is no way of observing if there is hearing loss, then an Auditory

Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (ABR, BER) can be performed. This

test does not require the cooperation of the patient, but they will need to be sedated.

Doctors measure the activity along the auditory nerve to the brainstem to see how

the person is hearing. Autistic people are known to have inconsistent responses

and increased latency (Martin 189). A Computed Tomography of the Brain can be

done which can detect many problems in the brain such as cysts, tumors, and many

other abnormalities. Autistic children have a relatively low occurrence of

abnormalities detected by the test. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can be

performed which is similar to the CT but does not give off radiation. MRI?s can

detect abnormalities in the cerebellum and brainstem, and that is usually the case

with autistic people. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) test can be performed

in which radioactive glucose is injected intravenously. This test provides

information on how the brain is actually functioning rather than the structure of the

brain. Blood and urine analysis can be used to discover metabolic disorders and

determine if there is any disease that is affecting the child?s behavior. Blood lead

level is another test because lead poisoning can have the same effects as autism and

theoretically lead to autism. Lead poisoning can be treated, but the effects are not

always reversible. Lastly, chromosome analysis can be done to rule out genetic

disorders. These tests will not give proof that the child is autistic, but will rule out

any other diseases or disorders that could possibly be causing the symptoms

(Daldorf 4-6).

Autistic people can be helped and some people have fought through it, breaking free of the disorder (Williams). There are numerous treatments available

to relieve the symptoms and some that try to help the individual work normally

despite their disability. Sensory integration, music therapy, auditory integration,

neurological reorganization, physical exercise, nutritional intervention, and drugs

can be used to treat autistic people. These are not the only treatments but only a

few. Like the disorder itself, there are many treatments and all have to be tailored

to each individual that is treated. The first technique is sensory integration which

helps the individual properly understand the information they are receiving from

their senses. To do this, a therapist guides the patient through activities and

challenges the patient to use their mind and think and properly use their senses to

understand what is happening to make a successful, organized response (autism

zone, treatment:sensory integration). Then there is music therapy which uses

music to get the child interested and learn language. Some autistic children have

tremendous musical potential and most are sensitive to music due to its

non-threatening nature and non-verbal aspects of it. The therapist can play notes

and the child will sing along. Eventually different sounds can be introduced and

then words. Using repetitive simple songs and showing the object or actions, the

child can learn speech and the meaning of the words they are saying (Autism zone,

treatment:Music therapy). The next treatment is auditory integration. What this

does is plays music at random modulations to help the patient less sensitive to

particular sound frequencies. Basically the pitch of the tone is randomly changed

to create ?music?. The ?music? is played at a moderately high volume at 85 dBA

which is equivalent to as loud as standing 5 feet from a vacuum cleaner. An

audiogram is taken before each session to determine the frequencies that the

patient is sensitive to so those can be dampened when played. This treatment helps

the autistic child coupe with loud and unusual noises. Some people argue that the

treatment is only causing the patient to have hearing damage, but the hearing has

actually been found to improve in tests done by clinics who perform this treatment.

This improvement may only be caused by the familiarity with the test and the

doctor (Autism zone, treatment:Auditory intergration). The next treatment is

neurological reorganization which actually makes the brain change and reorder

itself and establish correct associations. They use the reflex patterns encoded in

the central nervous system to make the brain make the proper connections. This

process establishes the appropriate neurological function and frees the individual to

become incorporated into the world and society as a normal human being (Autism

zone, treatment:neurological reorganization). Believe it or not, physical exercise does play a part in helping to reduce stereotypic behavior, hyperactivity,

aggression, self-injury, and destructiveness. Mild exercise usually has little effect,

but a vigorous workout (20 minute or longer aerobic workout, 3 or 4 days a week)

does a lot. Exercise not only helps autistic people physically but also mentally. It

helps the child learn better by reducing stereotypic behavior and increasing

attention span (Autism zone, treatment:Physical exercise). There is also nutritional

intervention which is also under estimated in effectiveness. Antioxidants, such as

vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, and vitamin C help increase oxygen utilization in the

brain and may be beneficial in autistic children. There also seems to be a

malabsorption problem that involves an increased permeability of the intestines.

Therefore, proteins that typically pass through the intestines without being

absorbed tend to get absorbed in the intestines of autistic children. This can cause

problems when the proteins break down to metabolites in the blood as well as

increasing the incidence of food reactions (food sensitivity and food allergy). For

example, casein in milk can break down to casomorphine in the blood, which can

act like a narcotic. It is thought that some of the behavioral abnormalities in autistic

children result from the effects of the casein metabolites. Gluten is another

potential culprit and thus many autistic children are placed on casein-free and

gluten-free diets, and many improve. Urinary peptide tests now can be used to

detect these metabolites and determine which children should most appropriately

be placed on restrictive diets. On those diets, the children often improve and

become more coherent and ?in tune? with the world around them (Autism zone,

treatment:Nutritional Intervention). The last treatment is the use of drugs. Drugs

can be used to alter the behavior of anyone and that includes the autistic. The only

problem is that with an autistic person, sometimes the drug can have

adverse affects that were unknown prior to the administering of it. Severe,

irreversible damage may be the result, or the drug may do exactly what it was

supposed to or nothing at all. Most of the time drugs can be effective, but they will

not cure autism. They are only a temporary fix for the problem.

Autistic people can become productive members of society, but they will

always need a form of supervision all their lives. With help, autistic adults can

successfully work in the competitive job market or in work groups. They can live

semi-independently in a group home or supervised apartments. It is possible to

work through autism and become semi-normal again. ?Nobody Nowhere? and

?Somebody Somewhere? are the autobiographies of Donna Williams. She was

born autistic and now she is a college graduate and a writer (Williams ix). Another

story of an autistic person beating the odds is that of Ian Drummond. He was unable to speak, but with the proper help he eventually learned (Martin).

Autism is a complex and still relatively unknown disorder. There is still

much to be learned and much research is going on now. Autism is like no other

disorder or disease because of the wide range of symptoms and the unknown

cause. Autism is similar to other diseases like schizophrenia , but still remains

distinctly different. Autistic people are not idiots or hermits, they have a problem

that is beyond their control. They do not choose to be that way, that is just how

they are. Everyone has their own ideas of how to treat it and what causes it, but at

this point only God knows what really happens and why.

Dalldorf, Joanna S. ?Medical Aspects of Autism?

http://www.unc.edu/depts/teacch/medinfo.htm; (November 1997)

Martin, Russell. Out of Silence: A Journey into Language. New York: Henry Holt

and Company, Inc., 1994.

?PHI Autism Home Page? http://www.autism-zone.com/; (1997)

Priven, Joseph and Pat Palmer. ?Psychiatric Disorder and the Broad Autism

Phenotype: Evidence from a Family Study of Multiple-Incidence Autism

Families.? The American Journal of Psychiatry 156.4 (April 1999):557-567

Williams, Danna. Nobody Nowhere. New York: Time Books, 1996