Autism in toddlers | Autism In Toddlers

Autism Diagnosis

Jo-anne Autism in toddlers October 16, 2019November 28, 2024Autism Diagnosis

There is no happy ending after an autism diagnosis – unless the child is not diagnosed with the long term condition. But, more often than not, an autism diagnosis usually results in positive findings, which make it more overwhelming for the parents and the whole family.

Being a lifelong disorder that affects human development, life after an autism diagnosis can change the lives of the entire family in just a snap. Why is that? Because the emotional and physical demands needed in taking care of the special child will eventually take its toll on all family members which can make daily living difficult for everyone.

To be able to maintain a normal functioning family despite the condition of one of its members, experts say that each and every family member should have a deep understanding of the disorder and should be willing to accept and adjust to the demands needed by the situation.

The Autism Diagnosis After Effect

Since autism is a complex disorder, living with somebody who is diagnosed with autism can be challenging and very hard for the parents and other family members as well. Studies show most of the parents that have autistic children show signs of withdrawal from their circle of friends and other relatives because they need to devote the majority of their time and energy in taking care of the child.

There are also cases wherein one of the parents needs to stop working to be able to tend to the needs of the autistic child. Although dealing with autism can be tiring, draining, and exhausting to the family members physically, mentally, and emotionally, this is not enough reason to give up on the child. If help is needed, parents can rely on various support groups to face the challenges brought by the disorder.

Statistics show that one of the challenges parents face after their child has been diagnosed with autism is explaining the condition to other family members, especially to the siblings in order to get support. Below are just some approaches you can use to explain the condition to other family members.

Having a Normal Family Life After Autism Diagnosis

Accept and understand the situation whole heartedly. Although it is difficult to accept that your child’s life can never be normal like others, the best way to cope after an autism diagnosis is to recognize the needs of the child.

By admitting that caring for a child diagnosed with autism is devastating is more practical than making yourself believe it is not because this will only bring about more stress.

Help them understand everything about the disorder. Experts say that one of the reasons why families cannot function properly after one member has been diagnosed with autism is that they don’t have enough understanding of the condition.

For the parents, they should understand and accept the condition first so other family members will follow their lead. By making other children or members of the family understand the disorder, they will also know how to adjust to the situation and adapt to the autistic child’s needs emotionally and physically.

Give them breathing space.

After breaking the news to the family, it is best that you give them time to absorb the information on their own.

Don’t force members of the family to take care of the autistic child if they don’t want to. Each family member has a life of their own so don’t force them to dedicate all their time to the autistic child. What you can do is designate a schedule or task for them in taking care of the child. By doing this, they will learn to care more about the autistic child without being forced to do so.

Everybody needs a break. Taking care of an autistic child is draining physically, mentally, and emotionally. Give yourself or a family member a break by rewarding them a special dish or a treat to the movie theater.

Join a support group. By doing this, you can share experiences with others and vice versa so you can get help. You can also ask other members of the family for a counseling session.

Remind everybody to breathe and relax when the going gets tough.

Ask everybody to keep a journal of their own. Here, they can write down everything they feel and can relieve the stress brought about by taking care of an autistic child.

How helpful is the GFCF diet for Autism?

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An autism diagnosis is not the end of the world.

Autism Treatment in the First Year of Life

Jo-anne Autism in toddlers July 4, 2019October 3, 2019Autism Treatment in the First Year of Life, How to help my autistic toddler at home, What is infant Start therapy

What is Infant Start Therapy?

Early Intervention with Infant Start Therapy May Eliminate Autism Symptoms. According to a pilot study published in the Journal of Autism and developmental Disorders on 12 September 2017, an interaction-based therapy known as Infant Start Therapy may help improve language and behavior skills in infants with signs and symptoms of autism.

By age 3, infants who received the treatment had fewer symptoms of autism than children who did not receive the therapy. The researchers also found that caregivers quickly learn how to properly administer Infant start therapy and adhere to it. Parents also rate their experiences very highly.

Their findings suggest that the therapy could be a more accessible and inexpensive alternative to most of the conventional therapies which may require up to 30 hours of one-on-one time with therapists per week.

How is Infant Start Therapy Delivered?

Infant Start Therapy was administered over a 6-month period to 6 to 15 month old children who exhibited symptoms of autism, such as decreased engagement and social interest, lack of intentional communication, repetitive movement patterns and decreased eye contact.

The treatment was delivered by parents and has hence proven to be scalable and easier to implement than other forms of conventional therapy. This was attributed to the fact that children usually spend most of their time in the hands of parents who are most in tune with them.

Six out of seven children in the study caught up in their language and learning skills by the time they were two or three years old. In most cases, children with autism spectrum disorder are not even diagnosed by then.

The lead investigator, Sally J. Rogers, professor of MIND Institute and department of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, said it was the parents who made all the difference because it’s the little moments of feeding, diapering, being on the swing, going for a walk, playing on the floor that are the important learning movements for infants. Therefore, parents can easily capitalize on these moments in ways that nobody else can.

Early Identification and Intervention is Crucial

Kids diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) usually receive intervention when they are three to four years old. This is 6 to 8 times later than the toddlers who participated in this pilot study. However, studies show that the earliest signs and symptoms of ASD may be present even before the toddler’s first birthday. Children first learn communication and social interaction during infancy. This is the main reason why parents of children with autism and researchers have been working on how autism can be identified early in the toddler’s life in order for intervention to begin sooner.

Early detection is essential for effective autism treatment because children with ASD symptoms can begin therapy earlier in life, to mitigate or prevent the full onset of signs and symptoms. Early intervention can also prevent lifelong and severe disability. According to Ozonoff, Director of MIND Institute’s Infant Sibling study, the main goal of the early detection project is to follow children at risk of ADHD or autism from birth to age 3. This will help physicians make referrals for intervention immediately when the symptoms of autism are identified preferably during the child’s early days of life.

Treat Early Signs of Autism with Infant Start Therapy

Treatment based on Infant Start Therapy involves various activities that aim to treat early signs of autism in infants such as:

Unusual visual fixations
Delayed sound development
Delayed intentional communication
Abnormal repetitive behaviors
Decreased interaction (greater interest in toys and other objects).

Treatment is provided at home by parents and trained therapists during daily routines including natural play. Parents were trained to concentrate interactions with their infants on supporting their individualized interests and developmental needs. Parents were also coached to embed these activities and practices into all their care taking and play by focusing on creating fun and pleasurable routines that increase their kids’ opportunities for learning.

Parents and caretakers were encouraged to follow their children’s subtle cues, activities and interests and gauge them in ways that enhanced their child’s engagement and attention. The treatment focused on improving:

Infants’ attention to the voices and faces of their parents
Interactions between the parent and infant that attract the child’s attention bringing delight and smiles to both.
Parent imitation of intentional sounds and actions made by the infant.
Parent’s use of different toys and items to support the infant’s social attention rather than compete with it.

Infant Start Therapy treatment sessions include:

Greetings and progress sharing
Parent play warm-up period followed by discussion of activities and goals of intervention.
Parent-child interaction in a normal daily routine while fostering communication, appropriate play and social engagement, with coaching from trained therapists.
Parents applying the approach with their toddler in 1 or 2 additional routines with caregiving activities or toys.

Lower Autism Scores by 18 to 36 months

The infants’ autism levels were assessed using two screening tools: the ADOS (Autism diagnostic observation Schedule) administered at 18, 24 and 36 months and the AOSI (Autism observational Scale for Infants) administered every 3 months. Visual processing and language skills were also assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. The researchers also tracked the progress and outcomes of 4 symptomatic baby siblings who were eligible for Infant Start Therapy but whose parents refused to participate in this pilot study.

By the time they were 9 months old, all of the infants in the study had similar or even greater symptoms of ASD symptoms than the comparison group of children who were later diagnosed with autism. However, by age three, the kids who had received the treatment had fewer symptoms compared to the children who did not receive the intervention.

At the end of this initial study, 2 of the 7 infants in the treatment group were diagnosed with autism, compared with 3 of the 4 in the control group.

The results were quite incredible. All babies showed a delay in visual and language skills between nine and fifteen months, but by eighteen months, infants who underwent the treatment began to gradually reverse course and had already caught up with typically developing kids by age 3.

Although the findings need to be properly established and confirmed in larger samples, the idea that infants with autism symptoms can be identified and start early intervention is still an exciting development.

More on understanding the common signs of Autism!

Learn These Tips if You Care for an Autistic Child.

Jo-anne Autism in toddlers November 1, 2013December 5, 2019helping your child with autism, Parents of children with autism

parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder

Helpful Hints for When your Child has Autism:

If you are responsible for an autistic child, you need to be aware that there is not some ultimate resolution for your issues. Being a parent with a healthy child can be somewhat of an ordeal; but when caring for an autistic child, the challenge is multiplied in a number of other ways.

The means as to which these are taken care of depend on the distinctive requirements as per case. We will be probing processes and practices regarding the upbringing of an autistic child and a means for an easier routine.

Schools must now accommodate children with special needs and developmental disorders, however some schools do a better job at this task then others. What you have available in your area is, of course, a deciding factor in what you can do. The other important factor to keep in mind is the needs of your autistic child.

The best resource you have in your local area are other parents who have an autistic child. They can provide you with reliable recommendations and give you sound advice.

Treatments for Autism

Autism is a very confusing disease, that has many different possible treatments. The parents of autistic children should have an open mind to possible treatments yet be skeptical at the same time. Never expect a miracle to happen, yet also be open-minded enough to try different approaches which may actually help.

Certain treatments for autism, depending upon what they are, will be more helpful than others that you try. Always remember that professionals do not know everything, and that autism does not have a cure, so be cautious and careful as you seek the right treatment.

Autistic children seldom respond well to complicated spoken statements or instructions. Each child’s learning pattern is different. Some children learn better visually and some prefer to have directions demonstrated to them.

It’s OK to give your child verbal directions, but it’s important to keep your worlds natural and concise. Don’t use long confusing sentence structures. The order of the steps an autistic child needs to finish to accomplish a task is often hard for him or her to keep straight. A solution to this problem is obvious – give him or her the directions one by one.

Visual cues, a demonstration, and spoken words are usually necessary and helpful when you communicate with your child with ASD. At this point, we have not discovered the cure; however this does not suggest that your autistic child is beyond being educated and developing in many areas.

Our intent is to assist you and your child in experiencing a fulfilling life together. A parents main responsibility is to their children when they are juveniles, an autistic child requires even more care; be aware of the activities that your child has the greatest interest in and run with it; be wary of any advice your physician may give you.

Read about Infant Start Therapy Treatment for Autism here!

Genetic Test to Predict Autism

Jo-anne Autism in toddlers September 12, 2012October 3, 2019

Here’s an interesting article that is reporting that a genetic test has been developed by Austrailian scientists that will help predict Autism in toddlers.

This is the kind of scientific work that brings us closer to finding that elusive cure for this disorder.

Australian scientists have developed a genetic test to predict autism spectrum disorder in children, which could provide a long-sought way for early detection and intervention, according to a study published on Wednesday.

About one in 150 children has autism, with symptoms ranging from social awkwardness and narrow interests to severe communication and intellectual disabilities, said researchers led by the University of Melbourne.

The researchers used U.S. data from more than 3,000 individuals with autism in their study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, to identify 237 genetic markers in 146 genes and related cellular pathways.

By measuring these markers, which either contribute to or protect an individual from developing autism, scientists could assess the risk of developing autism.

The risk markers increase the score on the genetic test, while the protective markers decrease the score. The higher the overall score, the higher the individual risk.

“This test could assist in the early detection of the condition in babies and children and help in the early management of those who become diagnosed,” lead researcher Stan Skafidas said in a statement.

The test correctly predicted autism with more than 70 percent accuracy in people of central European descent, with study into other ethnic groups continuing.

The test would allow clinicians to provide early intervention to reduce behavioral and cognitive difficulties in people with autism.

“Early identification of risk means we can provide interventions to improve overall functioning for those affected, including families,” clinical neuropsychologist Renee Testa said in a statement.

Credit for this story goes to:

Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Elaine Lies and Robert Birsel.

Autism Treatment in Toddlers

Autism In Toddlers – Signs To Watch For

Jo-anne Autism in toddlers, Early Signs Of Autism September 4, 2011October 3, 2019autism in toddlers, signs of autistic behaviour in toddlers, what are the earliest signs of autism

Autism is known as an abnormal condition that is associated with mental performance and this leads to different types of interaction issues, as well as relationship issues with the toddlers.

Some of the minor signs of autism in toddlers really should not be overlooked and if possible, brought to the attention of a medical professional right away for in depth diagnosis and a suitable type of treatment plan.

First Signs of Autism in Toddlers

The first indications of autism in toddlers start appearing very early on and may be noticed in the first year.

The very first thing to know is the fact that the majority of normal toddlers can reciprocate body language as well as hold eye-to-eye contact. For example, If you approach a normal child and give them a big smile, they are going to probably smile back. They will also look at you directly in the eyes.

The above situation is not always the same with an autistic child, the toddler will most likely not smile back. This not due to the fact that the autistic child cannot smile, it’s just that they do not understand the concept of reciprocation, i.e. you smile at me, I smile back.

Another sign is their inability to look you in the eyes when you speak to them, to us it’s a social norm, to the autistic child, it’s not.

Another sign to watch out for involves the feelings of an autistic child. Autistic children have a hard time interpreting multiple feelings at the same time, as well as interpreting exactly what they are feeling at any point in time.

Even though young children grow at different rates, a toddler with autism is usually far behind a regular toddler when it comes to development.

Signs of Autistic Behaviour in Toddlers

Another facet of autism in toddlers can be repeated behavior. Most autistic children have a habit of repeating the same behavior over and over again. This can be as simple as picking something up and dropping it, or as complicated as saying the same phrase over and over again.

This type of behavior can sometimes be difficult to recognize, but it is something that you will need to be on the lookout for.

Signs and symptoms of autism in toddlers can be noticed by utilizing developing milestones as a guide. These milestones will help you understand how far along the normal development path your child has travelled, and if there are any areas that need to be looked at in more detail.

Read more about diet for Autism!