When people think of autism, most people think of those on the severe end of the spectrum, such as inability to communicating properly, lacking eye contact or moving inappropriately while looking mostly like neurotypical people or people not affected by autism. However, autism isn’t a disorder with a single template of symptoms & severity like someone having a fever or other diseases, but it is more than that.
Autism is a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication, lack of eye contact & restricted patterns of interests & behaviors, which are noticeable during the 1st 3 years of the affected person’s life which lasted until adulthood.
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) has varying levels of severity, from mild autism in which he/she only needs few supports to severe type of autism in which he/she needs additional substantial support, and divided into 4 subdivisions, which are Asperger syndrome, Autistic disorder, PDDNOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder- Not Otherwise Specified), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.
The spectrum patterns are unique with different disorder profiles, in which the conditions to treat the person affected by this disorder are unique to each other depending on the severity.
The symptoms for someone affected by ASD are various, such as difficulties in relating with others, not pointing at objects to show interest, not looking at the object when someone points at them, repetitive behavior, unusual response to sensory experiences, difficulties in starting new actions and move from 1 task to another, difficulties in expressing his/her feelings.
in addition, understanding others’ feelings, appear unaware when someone talks to them but sensitive to other sounds, repeat/echo words/phrases, difficulties adapting to routine changes, unusual reactions to smell, taste, look, feel & sound, prefer being alone, delayed speech & language skills, improper voice intonation, difficulties in recognizing sarcasm/jokes, difficulties in sleeping, prefer not to be held/cuddled & only cuddle if they want to, fussy eating habits, short attention span, lack of coordination & clumsiness, aggressive behaviors, not involved in make-believe play/imitate others’ behavior, difficulties in recognizing nonverbal cues such as tone of voice, facial expressions & body gesture, & fascinated by details. This disorder affects his/her verbal & nonverbal communication & social interaction, which causes him/her difficulties with friendships.
In addition, people with ASD have impaired executive functions related to planning, working memory, impulse control, inhibition & mental flexibility due to abnormalities in several regions of his/her brain, which causes inadequate ability for planning, deficient working memory abilities, lack of control & impulse inhibition & insufficient mental flexibility.
They are also less involved in afterschool activities such as clubs or communal activities due to behavioral factors in which someone affected with the disorder tends to have tantrums, not following directions & no interest in activities as well as not offering him/her activity participation/chores. People with ASD also struggle with focus, attention, memory, time management, organization, emotional control & frustration, poor response when calling his/her names & difficulties with joint attention, in addition to being impaired in adaptive functioning such as fulfilling relationship with others, involved in communal activities & gaining skills for independent living.
The risk factors for autism are genetics, and being born to older parents, and consumption of prescription drugs such as valproic acid & thalidomide, as well as having siblings /other family members with ASD increases the risk of having ASD. ASD occurs in all racial, ethnic & socioeconomic groups.
In terms of gender, boys with ASD are 4 times more common than girls with the same disorder. Still, when someone with ASD matures, they become more engaged with others and show fewer disturbances related to his/her behavior, in which someone with mild ASD live normal/near-normal lives, and someone with severe ASD has difficulties with language & social skills.
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