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    Biology Project

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    The document discusses autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including what it is, characteristics, causes, effects on learning and development, types of ASD, and common signs. ASD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is described as a spectrum disorder with a wide range of symptoms. Some key points are that ASD is believed to have genetic and environmental factors, it can impact attention, language skills, and social interaction, and there are three main types of ASD that vary in severity of symptoms.

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    Biology Project

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    4K views12 pages
    The document discusses autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including what it is, characteristics, causes, effects on learning and development, types of ASD, and common signs. ASD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is described as a spectrum disorder with a wide range of symptoms. Some key points are that ASD is believed to have genetic and environmental factors, it can impact attention, language skills, and social interaction, and there are three main types of ASD that vary in severity of symptoms.

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    The document discusses autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including what it is, characteristics, causes, effects on learning and development, types of ASD, and common signs. ASD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is described as a spectrum disorder with a wide range of symptoms. Some key points are that ASD is believed to have genetic and environmental factors, it can impact attention, language skills, and social interaction, and there are three main types of ASD that vary in severity of symptoms.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    4K views12 pages

    Biology Project

    Uploaded by

    api-380313126
    The document discusses autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including what it is, characteristics, causes, effects on learning and development, types of ASD, and common signs. ASD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disability that affects social interaction, communication, and behavior. It is described as a spectrum disorder with a wide range of symptoms. Some key points are that ASD is believed to have genetic and environmental factors, it can impact attention, language skills, and social interaction, and there are three main types of ASD that vary in severity of symptoms.

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    of 12

    Autism 

     
     
     
    A project by Eli Fleming 

    _________
    What is Autism?
    Autism is a lifelong neuro-developmental disability that
    affects the development of the brain in areas of social
    interaction and communication. People with autism have
    difficulties in communicating and forming relationships with
    people, in developing language and in using abstract
    concepts. It also impacts on their ability to make sense of
    the world around them.

    Autism is described as a “spectrum disorder”. This means


    that the symptoms and characteristics of autism can
    present themselves in a wide variety of combinations and
    can range from mild to severe. Two people with the same
    diagnosis can act very differently from one another and
    have varying skills.
    Characteristics of autism
    It is important to understand that no single behaviour is
    indicative of autism, nor will a child show all the
    behaviours listed. The significant factor is a pattern of
    behaviours. Some of the behaviours may be intense whilst
    others are relatively mild. Some of the behaviours that
    indicate autism are seen at specific times in a typically
    developing child. The significant difference in autism is the
    intensity of the behaviour and the persistence of the
    behaviour beyond the normal developmental time-frame.

    Social Interaction 

    ● Spends time alone rather than with others 


    ● Less responsive to social cues such as eye contact or smiles 
    ● Seeks social contact in unusual ways 
    ● Uses an adults hand as a tool 

     
     

     
    Characteristics 
    Language/Communication 

    ● Has flat or limited facial expressions 


    ● Does not use gestures 
    ● Rarely initiates conversation 
    ● Fails to imitate actions or sounds 
    ● May have little or no speech or may be quite verbal 
    ● Repeats or echoes words and/or phrases 
    ● Uses unusual intonation or rhythm 
    ● Seems  not  to  understand  word  meanings  or  understand  implied 
    meaning but uses words literally 

    Behaviour 

    ● Is upset by and resists change to routines or environment 


    ● Drifts aimlessly 
    ● Exhibits strong and inflexible interests 
    ● Throws tantrums for no apparent reason 
     

    How many people have autism? 


    The official figure for Ireland is 1 in 100.

    Prevalence Study Autism Counts ​– Irish Autism Action


    has funded a study that determined the number of people
    in Ireland who are on the autism spectrum. By providing a
    concrete figure for incidence of autism the Irish Autism
    Prevalence Study will make a compelling case for the
    State to invest in resources for autistic people. This study
    was carried out in conjunction with DCU and lead by
    Professor Anthony Staines. The study concluded that the
    current rate of autism in Ireland is 1 in 100.

    What we do know is that the number of young children


    coming into the system each year is significantly greater
    than in the past and that the autism community in Ireland
    is growing and ageing. Therefore demand for services to
    meet the needs of this special population will also continue
    to grow.
    What causes Autism? 
    There is no known single cause for autism, but it is
    believed to be by predetermined abnormalities in brain
    structure or function. Brain scans show differences in the
    shape and structure of the brain in autistic versus
    non-autistic children. Researchers are investigating a
    number of theories, including the link between heredity,
    genetics and medical problems. In many families, there
    appears to be a pattern of autism or related disabilities,
    further supporting a genetic basis to the disorder. While no
    one gene has been identified as causing autism,
    researchers are searching for irregular segments of
    genetic code that autistic children may have inherited. It
    also appears that some children are born with a
    susceptibility to autism, but researchers have not yet
    identified a single "trigger" that causes autism to develop.

    Autism can affect children in families with no history while


    it is still more common to be linked to family disorder
    histories.
    How Autism affects learning
    & development
    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) develop
    differently from other children. They also have challenges
    in interacting and communicating with others. These
    challenges can affect their development and learning.
    Children with Autism develop at a different rate and don’t
    necessarily develop skills in the same order as typically
    developing children. For example, a child with ASD might
    start to use a few single words around 12 months of age.
    He might not have the explosion of language that other
    children have, perhaps learning only a couple of new
    words each month. It might take him until he’s three years
    old, or older, to start combining these words together into
    short phrases.

    Another child with ASD might be able to label her own


    body parts but might not be able to label body parts in a
    picture. Or she might be able to identify colours but not be
    able to sort according to colour.
    Autism and how it affects
    attention and interaction
    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) don’t tune
    into other people in the same way as typically developing
    babies and children. For example, a child with ASD might
    not respond to his name, make eye contact, smile at
    caregivers, or wave goodbye without being told to. A child
    with ASD also might not use eye contact or pointing to get
    someone’s attention or communicate. Using eye contact
    and gestures to share experiences with others is called
    joint attention. Children need the skill of joint attention for
    developing communication and language skills. For
    example, if a parent is pointing to a picture of a dog, but
    the child is looking somewhere else, it will be more difficult
    for the child to learn the link between the picture of a dog
    and the word ’dog’. Difficulty with joint attention can also
    make it hard for children with ASD to learn skills like taking
    turns, interpreting facial expressions or keeping to the
    topic of a conversation.
    Social challenges
    Typically developing infants are social by nature. They
    gaze at faces, turn toward voices, grasp a finger and even
    smile by 2 to 3 months of age. By contrast, most children
    who develop autism have difficulty engaging in the
    give-and-take of everyday human interactions. By 8 to 10
    months of age, many infants who go on to develop autism
    are showing some symptoms such as failure to respond to
    their names, reduced interest in people and delayed
    babbling. By toddlerhood, many children with autism have
    difficulty playing social games, don’t imitate the actions of
    others and prefer to play alone. They may fail to seek
    comfort or respond to parents' displays of anger or
    affection in typical ways.

    Older teens with Autism may struggle to react to different


    social cues and situations as this may be a confusing time
    in their life.
    Types of ASD
    There are three different types of Autism Spectrum Disorders:

    ● Autistic Disorder​ ​(also called "classic" autism)


    ● This is what most people think of when hearing the word
    "autism." People with autistic disorder usually have
    significant language delays, social and communication
    challenges, and unusual behaviors and interests. Many
    people with autistic disorder also have intellectual
    disability.
    ● Asperger Syndrome
    ● People with Asperger syndrome usually have some milder
    symptoms of autistic disorder. They might have social
    challenges and unusual behaviors and interests. However,
    they typically do not have problems with language or
    intellectual disability.
    ● Pervasive Developmental Disorder
    ● People who meet some of the criteria for autistic disorder
    or Asperger syndrome, but not all, may be diagnosed with
    PDD . People with PDD usually have fewer and milder
    symptoms than those with autistic disorder. The
    symptoms might cause only social and communication
    challenges.
    Causes and Risk Factors
    Scientist do not know all of the causes of ASDs. However, they
    have learned that there are likely many causes for multiple types
    of ASD. There may be many different factors that make a child
    more likely to have ASD, including environmental, biologic and
    genetic factors.

    ● Most scientists agree that genes are one of the risk factors
    that can make a person more likely to develop an ASD.
    ● Children who have a sibling or parent with an ASD are at a
    higher risk of also having an ASD.
    ● ASDs tend to occur more often in people who have certain
    other medical conditions. About 10% of children with an
    ASD have an identifiable genetic disorder, such as Fragile
    X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Down syndrome and other
    chromosomal disorders.
    ● Some harmful drugs taken during pregnancy have been
    linked with a higher risk of ASDs, for example, the
    prescription drugs thalidomide and valproic acid.
    ● We know that the once common belief that poor parenting
    practices cause ASDs is not true.
    ● There is some evidence that the critical period for
    developing ASDs occurs before birth. However, concerns
    about vaccines and infections have led researchers to
    consider risk factors before and after birth.
    Common signs and gestures
    - ​Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or
    activities​. For example, they may develop an
    overwhelming interest in something, they may follow
    inflexible routines or rituals, they may make repetitive body
    movements, or they may be hypersensitive to certain
    sounds. There is no cure for autism spectrum disorder but
    there are some interventions, treatments and therapies
    which can help solve some of the problems faced by
    people with autism spectrum disorder and their families.

    There may be persistent difficulties with ​social


    communication​ and ​social interaction​. For example, they
    may find it hard to begin or carry on a conversation, they
    may not understand social rules such as how far to stand
    from somebody else, or they may find it difficult to make
    friends.

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