Perhaps it’s hard to find a person now who does not know in general terms what it is. But this knowledge can be abstract, since even in medicine does not exist, the concept of "typical autism" still exists . The causes of this disease are also not established reliably. It is believed that it is inherited and belongs, respectively, to the category of genetic. The only thing that has so far been well established is that the sooner this disease is detected, the more effective the treatment results. But how to do that? What is autism in children? Let's talk about him.
Autism is a Significant Disease
Cases of autism in the modern world have become more frequent. If at the beginning of the last century autistic people were extremely rare (1 child per 5000), now it’s 1 per 100 people! This, of course, is an alarming symptom. He suggests the idea that an increasing number of people on Earth are trying to fence themselves off from reality, to hide in their fragile world. Obviously, the connection between the outside world and man is lost, which leads to such sad consequences.
What is autism in children? Symptoms
The insidiousness of this mental illness lies precisely in the difficulty of detecting it in the early stages, and time can be irretrievably lost. The first signs may be noticeable from 1.5 years. Knowing what autism is in children, attentive parents, a pediatrician, or a kindergarten teacher should identify it.
Most often, this is a clear lag behind peers in the development of speech. But there are other signs that should alert:
- the child is extremely reluctant to communicate with others, but maybe the other way around - he does not distinguish between his own and others;
- zealously treats the space around him, not letting outsiders into it;
- weakly reacts to speech addressed to him;
- stubbornly does not want to look in the eyes;
- inclined to rhythmic movements, tends to arrange everything in a row, has strange habits that absorb him for a long time, for example, the baby likes to sway, tap, rub on something or pull hair, etc .;
- a special approach to the game, for example, the child prefers to play with part of the toy, and not with it as a whole;
- unexpectedly reacts to what is happening: it can laugh, hit, or cry in response to a smile, does not like gentle touches;
- He doesn’t open the door himself, but uses your hand for this, or instead of asking for something, cries;
- panic at any change of scenery, diet or daily routine;
- no questions asked.
These are far from all the signs hiding under the definition of "autism." Help for parents in identifying it can only be provided by specialists who need to be contacted as soon as possible if at least several of the listed symptoms are present in the behavior of your baby.
What is autism in children in terms of physiology
Researchers have determined that autism is a dysfunction of the frontal lobes of the brain that are responsible for the cognitive process. Because of this, the baby has a reduced or no interest in the environment, in people. And this feature also causes fear of any changes, aggression and misunderstanding of other people's feelings and emotions.
Violations lead to the fact that the child is not aware of the possibilities of speech, communication and many other processes. He does not understand that some needs can be met with the help of spoken words, and therefore does not respond to speech addressed to him. This causes inability to ask for help, answer questions or empathize with someone.
True, there is another form of autism, in which a patient against the background of a general lag unbelievably develops some talent that manifests itself without special training.