Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Autism spectrum disorders comprise group of neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, language and communication and repetitive behaviors with onset before 3 years of age.
How common is it? 11 per 10,000 persons. 4-5 times more common in boys than girls.
Symptoms
- Avoids eye contact with other people
- May not smile in response to others
- Fail to respond to their names
- Prefer to be alone ,enjoy playing alone
- Not point/show; use mother’ s hand to point for needs
- Not imitate actions
- Show delay in language development or loss of language skills
- Be preoccupied with spinning/rotating objects, lining up objects.
- Enjoy hand flapping, spinning, rocking
- Dislike change in routine or surroundings
How to recognise early and get evaluated by an expert:
- No babbling or pointing by 1 year of age
- No single words by 16 months or two-word phrases by 2 years of age
- Loss of language or social skills
Treatment
Appropriate specialized treatment provided early in life can have a positive impact on the child’s development. Interventions for ASD are therapies and behavioral interventions designed to remedy specific symptoms and can bring about substantial improvement. The most effective treatments available today is applied behavioral analysis (ABA). Doctors may prescribe medications for treatment of specific symptoms, such as stereotypy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, seizures and ADHD which may coexist with ASD.