Autism in children: symptoms and treatment

Autism is a violation of the development of the child, in which there are disorders of motility, speech, social interaction. This disease has a serious impact on the whole future life of the baby. There are currently no special medical tests that can be used to diagnose autism. Only in the process of observing the baby, the features of his behavior, the correct diagnosis is made.

Disorder Features

The main symptom of autism in children is a profound impairment of communicative function. Regardless of what level of intelligence a child has, whether he speaks or not (speech underdevelopment in this case acts as a secondary problem), such children are not able to engage in social interaction corresponding to the current level of their development.

If it is possible to compare two babies - with a certain measure of mental retardation and with autism - you can see that the former will be much more clearly able to signal an adult about his current desires and needs. In other words, a child suffering from autism has an excellent memory, but is inclined to remember only information that is interesting and fascinating for him. For example, car brands, the location of toy stores, billboards on the roads with your favorite logos.

Depending on the intellectual abilities of the baby, and on the degree of preservation of his emotional sphere, autistic children may experience various characteristics. For example, if at three years old the child is active, stubborn, then by the primary school age he may well become very talkative. However, his speech will remain specific, and his style of thinking can more likely be described as inconsistent.

Research history

Symptoms, causes and signs of autism in children have been studied since 1943. The first study was conducted by Leo Kanner on a sample of 11 children. Kids shared common features. Despite the fact that they did not have schizophrenia or mental retardation, the children were characterized by social isolation, weak interest in other people and other features. Symptoms, causes and signs of autism almost at the same time became the subject of research by Hans Asperger, an Austrian scientist. His first article was published in 1944, but attention was paid to it only after a few decades.

During the first 20 years after the disease was discovered, scientists conducted studies that described various phenotypes. Currently, the causes, symptoms and treatment of autism in children due to the development of genomic analysis and neuroimaging are well-studied areas. In particular, scientists have found specific genes that are associated with the disease.

Causes of the disease

Autism is a complex CNS disorder that has no single cause. As a rule, scientists talk about factors that increase the risk of its occurrence. Autism is a genetic disease that can be either inherited or non-inherited. In addition, there are non-genetic factors of autism that affect genetic. There may also be a coincidence between two types of factors and other disorders of the central nervous system - for example, speech disorders, ADHD, schizophrenia.

There are genes that are directly related to autism. One of them is the CNTNAP2 gene. It has a connection both with this disease and with speech impairment. Also, the risk of autism and schizophrenia in a child is an infection transmitted by the mother during pregnancy, as well as conception at a later age. It is also believed that monozygotic twins are much more prone to autism than double-headed ones. In general, scientists estimate the risk of autism from 1/60 to 1/100.

The role of early and late pregnancy

In a major international study, scientists found that there is a direct link between the risk of autism and the age of parents. The study found that autism among teenage mothers was very high. Also, the risk of illness in a child steadily increases if the mother and father are older than 40 years. Scientists emphasize that although there is a connection between the age of the parents and the illness of the child, the mothers and fathers themselves do not have autism. In particular, studies have shown that in those children whose fathers were older than 50, the risk of being sick was as much as 66% higher than for babies whose fathers were 20 to 30 years old. As expected, the risk of illness increased even more if both parents were older or adolescent.

The main signs of distorted perception

What are the most common symptoms of autism in children? Consider the main nuances of perception in such kids.

• Difficulties with focused attention. The kid will not use an index gesture (or he will start to do it late enough). He does not gesture gestures of surprise - “Look, what a huge red house!” At the same time, the baby can still use this sign, however, for another purpose - its meaning will be more likely “give, I want”, and not “look”.
• Motor stereotypes. As a rule, these include waving with hands, or twisting. They are one of the earliest symptoms of autism in children and somewhat resemble the process of expressing joy in infants when they bounce and wave their hands. Often, a child with autism can look at his hands for a long time, which also largely resembles an infant game.
• Violations of thought processes. Often, mothers and fathers call this the "lack of logic." When a baby tells something, only a parent or close relative who knows about the context of the situation described by the child can understand this.
• The baby speaks about himself in the second or third person. This situation lasts up to 5-6 years. For example, to the question, “Would you like to take a walk?”, The child will answer “Do you want”, or “Petya wants”. In some foreign sources you can see the definition of this phenomenon - "reversion of pronouns."
• The kid does not use various common gestures sufficiently. He will not nod his head when he needs to say yes or no. However, many psychologists emphasize that in children with autism, negative gestures are formed much earlier than positive ones.
• Reluctance to look in the eyes. Not necessarily the baby generally avoids looking. He just can do it much less often than other children. For example, ask a question, and then look away with a missing look.
• Kids in 3-4 years respond quite selectively to their own name. For example, if you call the child simply: “Petya!”, And the baby is at this time enthusiastic about something, then he will turn around after several times. It should be noted that the baby is almost always keen on his own affairs. However, if you say "Petya, hold the candy", then he will immediately come running.
• Stereotypic activity. It can manifest itself in completely different ways. In some cases, this is senseless running around in the same circle, or lining up toys in even rows, twisting the wheels or a long game with water or sand. For example, a baby can draw dots or strokes with colored felt-tip pens for a very long time, however, the request to “draw a house” will cause quite violent resistance. Also, kids can observe increased attention to certain logos. In other words, everything that the baby is ready to do for a long time and aimlessly refers to stereotypic activity. As a rule, at such moments he may have an absent appearance, and any attempts to switch him to a more useful occupation will provoke a protest.

There are other features of babies with autism - for example, selectivity in food, features of facial expressions, a reduced threshold for perceiving danger. All these features are described in the literature, but they are not necessarily characteristic for all children suffering from autism spectrum disorders. Some of the symptoms listed may occur, while others may not. However, the main difficulty is precisely the communication sphere.

Manifestation of the disease

There are many differences in how the violation can manifest itself. Most often, boys suffer from it. Four boys with autism have one girl. There are changes in the way the disease manifests and develops. Typically, the onset of symptoms occurs in the second year of life. The baby's social involvement decreases, he begins to avoid eye contact with other children and adults. There are difficulties in the development of speech.

Some babies can develop speech during the preschool years, and they catch up with peers, although they may still have difficulty using speech in the communication process. Stereotypes, sensitivity and limited interests increase during the preschool period. Most babies have a peak in autism at the age of 4-5 years. During primary school age, the symptoms become even more pronounced and stable. In adulthood, there may be slight drops in the main points of the disease. However, during this period, the risk of depressive conditions may increase. They are treated with the help of special medicines and psychotherapy.

Recognize the disease before the age of 1 year

In the period of early infancy, it is very difficult to diagnose the disease. Parents often start to worry if their child does not like to cuddle, or does not show interest in certain games. However, this is not yet a complete symptom of autism in children.

In some cases, the baby may begin to speak, and then lose speech skills. Sometimes it seems that the baby does not hear sounds, or, on the contrary, listens to them selectively - for example, he hears only distant background sounds (traffic noise, screaming in the distance).

The following autism symptoms are usually distinguished in children up to a year old:

• Does not respond to mother.
• Does not pay attention to the collective games of older children.
• Does not respond to the call of parents.
• A child can get used to the mother’s hands very poorly. For example, you have to change the position for feeding several times, since the baby is either too relaxed, or, on the contrary, tense.
• Prefers to constantly play with only one toy.
• One of the most important symptoms and signs of autism in children under one year of age is to avoid contact with strangers. When other people try to talk to him, he may show irritation or discontent.
• The gaze is not fixed on someone else's face, the child seeks to avoid eye contact.
• Also, the child may have a weakened immune system, which leads to increased susceptibility to diseases.

As a rule, the physical and mental development of such a baby will be late. Unlike his peers, he does not begin to use speech skills for a long time. It should be noted that avoiding eye contact is one of the main symptoms of autism in children under one year old.

Signs of the disease from one to two years

During this period, the symptoms become more pronounced. If in the period up to a year the baby just seemed non-contact, now now, at the sight of strangers or congestion of children, the autistic simply falls into a panic. The main symptoms and signs of autism in children under 2 years of age are as follows:

• The kid does not seek to participate in the conversation.
• Indifferent to guests, gifts, new toys.
• Ignores adults when trying to talk to him.
• It is difficult for a child to master the simplest skills of personal care - dressing, buttoning, brushing his teeth.

Symptoms of autism in children under 2 years of age may be different, however, one of the most indicative are the features of their games. Tiny absolutely does not know how to play in the team. He is not interested in situational or role-playing games, they only annoy him. One of the main symptoms of autism in children under 2 years old is that the kids feel great in their small world, they are completely satisfied with one or more familiar toys.

Signs of the disease aged 2 to 3 years

At this time, one can make assumptions about the presence of autism, although the final diagnosis is usually made after 5 years.

• The child may not respond to light or extraneous sounds.
• He has a distant look, directed past a man or a bright toy.
• One of the main symptoms of autism in children under 3 years of age is that the baby does his best to not attract the attention of others, wanting to stay in his own world.
• The level of intellectual development can be different - both lowered and high.

An autistic child can be very attached to one family member at the level of a symbiotic, inseparable existence. Even the weakest threat of breaking this connection can provoke a strong reaction on the physical level in a child. Usually a child is upset if, for example, his mother leaves for half a day, but he can be switched to something exciting. One of the indicative symptoms of autism in children of 3 years is a sharp reaction to the need for even a short-term separation from the object of attachment.

The baby in this situation may rise in temperature, vomiting begins. At the same time, an autistic child may not show his affection at all when his mother is nearby. He will not in any way try to tie his mother to his game, or share his feelings with her. Similar reactions can be a symptom of autism in children under 2 years of age. Another sign is the inability to predict the behavior of the baby. A child can hardly tolerate physical contact with other people.

Diagnosis at 3 years

Autism symptoms in children 3 years of age and older are often manifested in learning disabilities. A child cannot go to kindergarten. After all, he has practically no developed communication skills. Symptoms of autism in children 3 years of age are most often indirect. Even if parents were able to detect some of them in their baby, they still do not talk about the presence of the disease.

• The kid is more interested in household items, rather than toys.
• He almost completely ignores children's games.
• He does not observe the desire to imitate adults, which usually appears in children after 1 year.
• In response to a smile, the child almost never smiles.

School age

The listed symptoms of autism in children 5 years of age and older become more noticeable. However, most often the disease becomes apparent at primary school age. The student does not remember the material heard at the lesson, ignores the teacher, cannot find a common language with classmates. In the end, parents transfer the baby to home-based education. It should be accompanied by classes with a psychologist and the supervision of a psychiatrist. Such children should be trained according to an individual program, and those specialists who work with them should have a sufficiently high level of training.

Autism in adolescents

In adolescence, despite classes with psychologists, children still prefer to be alone. Their life credo is “don't touch me, and I won't bother you.” Autists often transfer their inner experiences to paper, expressing them with the help of drawings. As a rule, by the age of 14, the child is already determined with his creative path, and devotes his favorite work to every free minute of time. Thanks to perseverance and perseverance, talented musicians and artists often grow out of autism. However, puberty in such children is quite difficult. Hormonal changes occur in the body, however, due to difficulties in communicating with the opposite sex, they often become closed, aggressive.

Features of intellectual development

The first signs, symptoms and sensations of autism in children occur, as a rule, at the age of 3 to 7 years. At this time, the child perceives the information very well, absorbing everything around like a sponge. But unfortunately this cannot be said about autists. Often this disease due to deficient conditions in the brain is accompanied by pathologies such as microcephaly or epilepsy. In this case, the situation is seriously complicated, and the autistic baby begins to suffer from mental retardation and lack of intellectual development.

With symptoms of mild autism in children and correctly selected therapy, the level of intelligence can reach normal. It is worth noting that among autistic people there are many gifted children.One of the main features of autistic babies is the selectivity of intelligence. Some of them are characterized by savantism. In other words, the baby can easily embody the picture he once saw on a piece of paper, or reproduce a complex melody without knowing the notes.

Autism Speech

As a rule, schoolchildren and adults with autism have difficulty participating in conversations. It is difficult for them to concentrate on only one goal, they cannot explain their thoughts to other interlocutors. It is difficult for them to use social communication methods (such as greetings, gossip). They do not understand jokes, sarcastic remarks. Autistic speech can be extremely formal. He can speak a monologue, use rare words. However, in his speech there will be no description of other people's feelings.

Autism and Apraxia

Signs and symptoms of autism in children (photos can be found in this article) are the subject of ongoing research. In June 2015, scientists reported that one of the rare speech disorders, apraxia, is present in almost 65% of children with autism. Apraxia presents difficulties associated with the coordination of movements of the jaw, tongue and lips during speech. A child with this violation may pronounce the same word differently each time. As a result, it is difficult for even mother and father to understand what exactly he wants to say.

Asperger Syndrome

There are two main forms of autism in children. Symptoms of these two diseases make it possible to attribute each of them to a severe and mild appearance.

Asperger syndrome, scientists attribute to a mild form. Severe is Rett syndrome. A lightweight version of autism appears at the age of about 10 years. The kid can be well developed intellectually, his speech is not disturbed. Its only difference is fixation. For example, he can tell the same story many times, observing the reaction of the “listeners”. Such children are distinguished by egocentrism, although they can be quite successful in life if they have a good upbringing. Consider the main symptoms of mild autism in children.

• Unstable eye contact. In normal communication, a person looks at the interlocutor for 5-8 seconds, and then looks away. If communication is unpleasant for us, then we strive to look away, and this is quite normal. However, a child with Asperger Syndrome can readily talk about everything, but at the same time turn away, looking at something outside the window.
• The speech of such children is also very peculiar. She seems mechanistic, weakly expressive.
• Psychologists recommend paying attention to the motor skills of the child. He can be awkward, constrained, pinched.
• In a conversation, a child can calmly give such information that usually people don’t tell not only to friends, but also to close people - for example, how many times a day mom gave him an enema.
• Another symptom of mild autism in children is the use of "book expressions." Moreover, a rich vocabulary can correlate with immaturity of judgments.
• A child can consider unfamiliar people to be his friends - for example, children who play with him for only half an hour. If parents doubt whether their baby has mild autism symptoms, they can use the following preliminary analysis technique. To do this, ask the child a question: "What is the difference between friends and acquaintances?". An ordinary child understands it from about 5 years old. It is difficult for a child with Asperger syndrome to answer it even at 11-12 years old.

Rett syndrome

This form of the disease is severe, and is accompanied by damage to the nervous system. Only girls suffer from it, and it is rare enough - 1 in 10,000 newborns. The main symptom of autism in children in this form is absolutely normal development up to 1.5 years, after which the growth of the head slows down, and all the skills that were acquired earlier are lost. In addition, the child is gradually impaired coordination of movements. The prognosis for the disease is poor.

Questions to facilitate diagnosis

To clarify the picture for himself, the psychologist can ask the following questions to parents.

• When the baby was 2-3 years old, did you have a desire to reduce him to the laura and check his hearing, as he very rarely responded to his name, but immediately resorted to if he was offered something sweet?
• When did the pronoun “I” come to him? Was there a period when the baby spoke about himself in the third person ("Katya wants candy")?
• Was the baby interested in other children in the playground? How did he manage to play joint games? Were there any difficulties - maybe he didn’t understand the rules, or did he constantly want to be the first, “clever” too much?
• Did the kid play story games in which he played up his impressions (for example, after going to the zoo, circus)?
• Did the kid willingly share the news after graying the kindergarten (“Today Petya had a fight with Vasya, and they again gave semolina porridge”)?
• At the age of 4-6 years, did there arise periods of excessive enthusiasm for any topics unusual for children of this age — volcanic eruptions, astronomy, equipment (trains, tools, blast furnaces), flags, maps?

If parents answer most of these questions in the affirmative, then the problems in communication and study are caused by the specifics of the child's development related to the autistic spectrum. In this case, you need to consult a doctor to fully clarify the diagnosis. This will allow parents to be aware of the features of their baby, not to make impossible demands on him.

Treatment

It is currently believed that psychotherapy is the best treatment for autism in children. Symptoms of the disease can not be completely eliminated, but at the same time its course can be significantly alleviated. The most widely used approach is the analysis of behavior. This means that difficult tasks for the baby are divided into small steps, each of which is overcome with the help of additional motivation for the child. For older children, social skills training programs are used. For example, you can teach your child how to behave on the first day of school - how to say hello, introduce yourself, etc.

Pharmacological methods are sometimes used, but most often they are used for concomitant disorders - psychological problems, anxiety, drowsiness, and epilepsy attacks. However, there are no drugs that would be aimed at getting rid of the symptoms and signs of autism in children (photos can be seen in the article).

Future prospects

It is believed that the future of autism therapy will be similar to the methods that appear in other medical fields. For example, this is a personalized approach, the purpose of which is to work with both biological prerequisites and psychological characteristics. Since at present much is known about the biological foundations of autism, in particular, about genes and their expression, it is quite possible to develop new medicines for people with genetic mutations. Signs, symptoms and causes of autism in children every year become more understandable for scientists. Although this violation is a mystery, many of its aspects at the moment can be quite fully explained by science.

Autism therapy, as a rule, comes down to visiting three specialists - a psychologist, a defectologist and a speech therapist. Various behavioral disorders are corrected by the psychiatrist. In general, the treatment of the disease is a multifaceted process, and should be aimed at those areas of the child's development that require increased attention. The sooner the parents go to the doctor, the more effective the therapy will be - it is believed that it is most advisable to start treatment before 3 years.