Autism Spectrum Disorder Essay
A Review of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Melissa Boyster
PSY 203 Human Growth and Development
Instructor: Hope Wilson
A Review of Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) or sometimes referred to "autism", is a chronic and complex developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate or develop socially. Symptoms include delayed learning of language, difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning, narrow and intense interests, poor motor skills, and sensory sensitivities. A person with ASD may only display some of these behaviors or display all of them and will display specific behaviors more or less than others. Diagnosis is based on all behaviors and …show more content…
They can have chronic constipation or/and diarrhea. Medical literature states that 47% of adults and 45% of children with ASD have GI symptoms. Diarrhea being the most common. Low IQ, low muscle tone, 30% have moderate to severe loss of muscle tone which limits gross and fine motor skills. Pain, some will have high pain tolerance and others have very low tolerance which sensory integration therapy can help normalize this. Pica, which occurs in about 30% of people with ASD, involves eating non food items. Some of these non food items can be toxic and/ or cause intestinal blockages and severe illness. 30% of people with ASD can develop seizures or epilepsy in early childhood or during puberty when there are hormonal changes. Some develop sensory processing disorders in which they have unusual sensitivities to sounds, sights touch, taste, and smells. High pitched sounds, fire alarms or school bells seem painful to them and scratchy fabric and clothing tags are intolerable. They can have some visual sensitivities to flickering of fluorescent lights. Sleep problems such as night walking due to GI issues, allergies, environmental intolerances, seizures or effects from certain medications. Sleep apnea, sleep terrors or confused arousals also can occur. They may …show more content…
In 2008 Judy Van De Water from UC Davis discovered a group of antibodies that trigger immune responses against the body's own molecules that are especially common in mothers and children with Autism. These Antibodies bind to six proteins that are involved with brain development. It could potentially help families plan by enrolling their children earlier into educational programs that promote social skills. This antibody hypothesis would only apply to about a quarter of autism cases but is a valuable tool in understanding the biology behind it. Further research involved injecting eight pregnant rhesus monkeys with antibodies purified form mother's with autistic children. The monkey mothers seemed more protective of their young than normal during the first six months compared to those injected with antibodies of neuro-typical children. As the young monkeys grew up, they displayed repetitive behaviors and unusual social behaviors similar to children with autism. "The research team is now trying to identify the specific parts of the six proteins that the antibodies stick to in order to determine how they affect the developing brain and how they can be used to predict autism risk". (http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/36379/title/Maternal-Antibodies-Linked-to-Autism/) With the advancement of
Melissa Boyster
PSY 203 Human Growth and Development
Instructor: Hope Wilson
A Review of Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) or sometimes referred to "autism", is a chronic and complex developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate or develop socially. Symptoms include delayed learning of language, difficulty with executive functioning, which relates to reasoning and planning, narrow and intense interests, poor motor skills, and sensory sensitivities. A person with ASD may only display some of these behaviors or display all of them and will display specific behaviors more or less than others. Diagnosis is based on all behaviors and …show more content…
They can have chronic constipation or/and diarrhea. Medical literature states that 47% of adults and 45% of children with ASD have GI symptoms. Diarrhea being the most common. Low IQ, low muscle tone, 30% have moderate to severe loss of muscle tone which limits gross and fine motor skills. Pain, some will have high pain tolerance and others have very low tolerance which sensory integration therapy can help normalize this. Pica, which occurs in about 30% of people with ASD, involves eating non food items. Some of these non food items can be toxic and/ or cause intestinal blockages and severe illness. 30% of people with ASD can develop seizures or epilepsy in early childhood or during puberty when there are hormonal changes. Some develop sensory processing disorders in which they have unusual sensitivities to sounds, sights touch, taste, and smells. High pitched sounds, fire alarms or school bells seem painful to them and scratchy fabric and clothing tags are intolerable. They can have some visual sensitivities to flickering of fluorescent lights. Sleep problems such as night walking due to GI issues, allergies, environmental intolerances, seizures or effects from certain medications. Sleep apnea, sleep terrors or confused arousals also can occur. They may …show more content…
In 2008 Judy Van De Water from UC Davis discovered a group of antibodies that trigger immune responses against the body's own molecules that are especially common in mothers and children with Autism. These Antibodies bind to six proteins that are involved with brain development. It could potentially help families plan by enrolling their children earlier into educational programs that promote social skills. This antibody hypothesis would only apply to about a quarter of autism cases but is a valuable tool in understanding the biology behind it. Further research involved injecting eight pregnant rhesus monkeys with antibodies purified form mother's with autistic children. The monkey mothers seemed more protective of their young than normal during the first six months compared to those injected with antibodies of neuro-typical children. As the young monkeys grew up, they displayed repetitive behaviors and unusual social behaviors similar to children with autism. "The research team is now trying to identify the specific parts of the six proteins that the antibodies stick to in order to determine how they affect the developing brain and how they can be used to predict autism risk". (http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/36379/title/Maternal-Antibodies-Linked-to-Autism/) With the advancement of