Autism is a developmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and imagination. Its cause is unknown, but genetics play a large role. Symptoms are usually noticed by age 2 and can include delayed communication and social interaction, repetitive behavior, and difficulty understanding social cues. The effects of autism also impact family members.
Autism is a developmental disability that is usually diagnosed in early childhood. Children with autism show signs of developmentally delayed social interaction and communication and are often fascinated by repetitive activity. Both children and adults with autism have a limited ability to engage with and understand social interactions and often have difficulty understanding the feelings of others or interpreting their tone of voice and facial expressions. The effects of autism profoundly affect the life and abilities of the child and his family.
The cause of autism is unknown, and the development of the condition is thought to likely be due to a number of factors rather than a single cause. Studies of identical and non-identical twins show that genetics play a large role in determining whether a child will be autistic. Other factors that have been suggested to play a role include digestive issues, food sensitivities or allergies, mercury poisoning, and early childhood vaccination sensitivity.
The effects of autism commonly fall into three categories: effects on social communication, effects on social interaction, and effects on social imagination. The exact nature of the effects of autism can vary considerably among different people with autism. For example, some people with autism may become proficient at verbal communication, but others never learn to speak. For this reason, the condition is often referred to not as autism, but as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Other autism spectrum disorders include pervasive developmental disorder and Asperger’s syndrome.
In most cases, parents begin to notice the symptoms of autism in their child when they reach the age of 2. At this age, a child with autism is likely to have a developmental delay in both verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction. For example, your child may not respond to your name and may not smile or show other signs of facial expression. Also, the child usually seems unimaginative and does not pretend to play. Instead, he’s more likely to be fascinated by the stacking or aligning of objects and repetitive body motion.
As the child grows older, the effects of autism tend to become more profound. In school, children with autism are typically unable to engage in play with other children, especially social or imaginative play, and are unable to make friends with their peers. In general, a child with autism has difficulty initiating and sustaining conversations and does not cope well with disruptions to his or her routine. Often, the child will focus on one or two topics of interest to the exclusion of all or most others. Some children with autism also display aggressive behavior, particularly when interrupted during a task or routine.
In addition to its effects on the child, the effects of autism on family members are also significant. Parents must quickly adjust to having different expectations for their child and to the fact that their lives will change drastically as a result of caring for an autistic child. This impact extends to the autistic child’s siblings, who also have to make significant adjustments. Siblings can experience a wide range of emotions, from sadness to anger, guilt, anxiety, resentment, and embarrassment, and siblings often have difficulty coping with these emotions.
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