Autism in Children (Essay Sample)

Thesis Statement
Autism is a defect of the neural development in children impairing their communication skills, social skills as well as the capability of thinking and reasoning. It has remained the most common, heterogeneous paediatric, mental disorders that most young, developing children have to cope with as they grow up in a highly painful manner. Autism is on the rise every year because it remains a mystery to most parents who fail to detect when their children start developing autism; since it remains a mystery to many parents, and thus most get to detect the problem when it is far much developed and managing the condition becomes difficult. Autism is highly hereditary with a ninety percent probability of getting passed on to subsequent generations. Scientific studies have shown that male children stand at a higher risk than female children in contracting autism.
Introduction
Autism refers to a spectrum of closely related disorders with largely common symptoms appearing in infancy and early childhood which curtail the normal development; leaving basic areas of development under developed, which has a negative impact on activities such as learning and interaction with others. Autism is diverse with varying signs and symptoms and the effects come off inconsistently depending on the extent of development of autism in different children. Despite the differences on the level of impact that autism brings to children; the condition impairs verbal and non verbal communication, fostering relations with other people as well as making sound judgements. The spread of autism has spiralled out of control and has turned out to affect more children than other diseases such as AIDS, diabetes and even malaria. Autism is a condition that mostly gets determined by observation because there is no medical method of detection.
The Cause of Autism
Autism lacks a single known cause, because of its complex nature and differences in occurrence, in various people. However, medical experts have come up with an array of likely possibilities that could be the cause of autism in developing children. The dominant suspicion of medical researchers has revolved around the varying genetic makeup from child to child. Throughout various research programs, some genes have appeared to be actively involved in triggering autism. Some genetic structures leave are the reason why some children more susceptible than others to develop the disorder. The disorder could be genetically caused, seeing as it has a conspicuous hereditary nature. However, aside from sparse cases indicating a genetic trigger of autism, it remains a speculation that has not gotten confirmed to be the precise cause of autism.
The process of identifying the possibility of a genetic trigger gets carried out through cytogenetic as well as molecular, cytogenetic studies. This is because certain genetic changes take place at the chromosomal level having immense significance in the identification of neurobiological and genetic markers for autism. For this reason, any detection of chromosomal anomalies should be treated seriously since they indicate the probability of children developing autism or related disorders. The possibility of self harm in autistic children evokes the necessity for doctors to carry out keen medical procedures, making it possible to point out possibility of children developing certain conditions such as autism. Other than chromosomal anomalies, other structural and functional alterations in the genetic structure have become observed to cause autism. Genetics as a cause also seems to be supported by the observation that most children who develop Down’s syndrome, eventually develop autism.
Genetics as a cause of autism is not the only field that medical researchers have set out to explore, but they have also set out to look at the possibility of environmental factors triggering autism. Seeing as most medical conditions are directly or indirectly triggered by environmental factors, the possibility cannot be overlooked. The impact of environmental factors gets approached from the perspectives of viral infections, and air pollution caused by man. Harsh environmental conditions hamper the normal development of children as they grow up, and when it impairs the development of the brain, autism is the next likely condition for such children.
With the development in technology over the years, the environment has undergone numerous changes with various pollutants invading the once clean environmental scene. One of the most significant changes that have taken place throughout the years is the increased human exposure to toxic chemicals and various metals. Most of the toxic chemicals in the environment affect the development of children as early the foetal stage in its mother’s womb. Metals such as lead have become known to have a negative impact on the development of children’s brain before they get to three months of age. The brain of a child in the early months of development is highly sensitive and exposure to toxic substances at that stage; could result into permanent damage to the brain in respect to the structure and function.
Most of the toxic chemicals found in the environment get found in the products that are in common use such as chemicals in personal care products, and the linings of food cans. Risk also arises from retardants found in old computers and television sets. The chemicals in drugs that pregnant women take also pose a risk of interfering with the normal development of the foetus. Researchers in the medical field have reached two possibilities trying to explain how toxic chemicals affect the development of children. One theory states that children with inherited genes that make them susceptible to autism get them triggered upon exposure to toxic elements in the environment. The other possibility stipulated that chemicals in the environment are responsible for spontaneous gene alterations leaving children at the risk of suffering from autism; because some of the mutations relay an unpleasant impact on the development of the brain. All in all, the suspected causes of autism remain as speculations; causing parents heightened grief as they become left wondering what their role could be to have their children undergo the pain of dealing with autism. The precise cause is still a mystery waiting to be unravelled.
Detection of Autism
Detecting autism is largely the responsibility of parents because it manifests itself by affecting behaviour patterns in children, which easily get ignored. Seeing as parents are the only people who spend long hours with their children in their early ages, they get best placed to notice even the slightest indication of autism. Usually autism begins to manifest itself from the early ages of eighteen months to three years, when development starts to take a slow turn. Seeing as autism is a lifelong development disability that appears in childhood, and negatively influences behaviour and mannerisms of affected children.
Autism leads to an increased level of introvert code of conduct, where children seem inclined to solitude, and fail to communicate entirely. In the event where autism becomes detected early, intervention at such a period ensures that the condition gets effectively managed. Children who develop autism begin engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements; as well as putting up a resistance to even the slight changes in the environment. They also begin to exhibit unusual responses to all sensory experiences. Any regressive behaviour in children as they develop should raise concern over the possibility of autism. Withdrawal of children from activities that they previously enjoyed is an indicator of autism, because it shows possible disconnect of coordination, which could only arise from ill development of the brain. Therefore, autism becomes detected by observing behaviour patterns in children because there lacks a defined medical test; that can prove the presence of the autism condition.
Signs and Symptoms of Autism
A child suffering from autism exhibits varying behaviour which extensively interferes with their learning process, making them appear as retards to the insensitive world that does not understand autistic conditions. Autism mainly manifests itself in five key aspects of a child’s life which include intelligence, social interaction, communication, and behaviour, sensory and motor skills. Most cognitive abilities of children with autism get negatively affected, and this makes the affected children start exhibiting vast abnormalities in their thinking and general tendencies. Autistic children experience difficulties in abstract thinking as well as awareness of events and surroundings that are part of their life. The affected children also experience difficulties when it comes to making sound judgements since the brain is not fully developed. Their thinking is pretty much low level; while they utterly lack the ability to process any symbolic information relayed to them. Numerous studies have revealed that autism affects the processing of information in the brain; by interfering with the connection of nerve cells and their respective synapses. The result of this is mass disorganization in how the brain coordinates activities of the body.
Social Interaction
Another aspect of children’s lives that autism impairs include social interaction, which leaves most autistic children feeling the urge to spend their entire lives in solitude. They often display difficulties when trying to foster a relationship to people, objects or events around them. Children with autism strive to achieve a level of consistency in their lives and, therefore, resist any change that may occur in their routine. This sees those children executing repetitive actions such as turning in circles for prolonged periods or continuously flap...