2. The coined term “autism” goes all the way back to
1911, however then it was not meant for what it is
today but instead referred to adult schizophrenia. It
was described for the first time in 1943 by Dr. Leo
Kanner. He observed numbers of children's’
behavior and found 11 of them to be in common.
The behavior they all had in common was that the
children had withdrawn from human contact.
Throughout the 40’s and the 60’s the medical
community felt that autistic children were
schizophrenic. In the 60’s was when doctors began
understanding autism and identifying symptoms
and treatments.
3. CAUSES/RISKS
Children with;
FRAGILE X SYNDROME~ [the most common cause of inherited mental
impairment] & TUBEROUS SCLEROSIS~ [a genetic disorder that causes
tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the
brain, eyes, heart, kidney, skin and lungs] are higher at risk for autism than
the general population
Autism Effects Males More Than Females
Autism is NOT caused by upbringings [a particular way of bringing up a child]
4. SYMPTOMS
Autism affects thought, perception, and attention. It is a wide
variety of disorders that range from mild to severe. The disorder
occurs among many different situation and is consistently
inappropriate for age. A diagnosis of DSM-IV (American
Psychiatric Association, 1994) or, “autistic disorder” is made
when someone shows 6 to 12 symptoms from 3 major areas;
Social interaction, Communication, and Behavior.
5. SYMPTOMS
•Failure to develop peer relationships as appropriate to age
level.
•Lack of pointing out objects of interest to other people
•Delay or complete lack of spoken language
•Symbolic or imaginative play
•Resistance to any type of change
•Staring at hands, flapping at arms, walking on
tiptoe, rocking, tantrums, strange postures, unpredictable
behavior and hyperactivity
•Poor Judgment
*EXAMPLE; Autistic child could run into a busy
street without any sign of fear.
6. TREATMENT
•Prompting to perform specific behaviors
•Immediate praise and rewards for good behavior
•Gradual increase of complexity
•Clearly given instructions to the child
