What is autism?
Autism is characterized by
symptoms from all three categories. These categories are
1. Impairment
in social interaction.
2.
Impairment
in communication.
3.
Restrictive
stereotyped repetitive behavior and interests.
A parent may observe that the
child has not started speaking at relevant age. The child cannot event communicate
through gestures. They lack social smile, may not play with friends or lack
knowledge of important persons around them. They cannot judge the mind of other
person. They will not like change in daily routine even place of things. These children
demonstrate stereotyped behavior same type of play and mannerisms. Those who
can speak might replace I for you. They are hypersensitive to certain stimuli
and hyposensitive to others.
Proposed causes of autism
Genetic
Perinatal complications
Autism is more common in boys
than girls with ratio of 4:1. Children with autism have mental retardation with
a frequency of 70%.
Autism can be confused with-
1.
Mental
retardation
2.
Schizophrenia
with childhood onset
3.
LandauKleffner syndrome
4.
Congenital
hearing and speech loss
Diagnosis- it is by a
psychiatrist. Help may be needed from psychologist in term of applying scales
for autism.
Treatment of autism
Psychological- These include
educational and behavioral interventions. Proper use of these might help in
improvement of symptoms but it is a very time consuming and tiring process.
Facilitated communication helps in improving speech in children with autism.
Pharmacological-These include
escitalopram, methylphenidate, antipsychotics, lithium and clomipramine. These
drugs might improve symptoms but do not offer cure.
Autistic children have guarded
prognosis and only those with high IQ have good chances.
Other non-approved theories of
causes include coeliac disease and presence of preservatives in diet.
Other similar disorders
1.
Rett’sdisorder
2.
Childhooddisintegrative disorder
3.
Asperger’ssyndrome
Wishing you a healthy and long
life
Dr Hitesh Sharma
MBBS, MD (Psychiatry)
For asking a query or phone/video consultation with me visit- https://www.icliniq.com/hitesh
For asking a query or phone/video consultation with me visit- https://www.icliniq.com/hitesh
