Snowshoeing Adventures Increase Stamina and Independence in Autism

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What Is Autism? Explore Different Types of Autism

What is Autism?

Often we come to know an individual (children or adults) who find it difficult to communicate or build relationships. Without knowing the actual reason and being so judgmental, we consider them rude or introvert. But that might not be the case with few individuals as it can also be a disorder commonly known as Autism.

Autism is a disorder where one, especially a child, finds it difficult to learn and develop the basic skills. More often than not the problems associated with Autism results in social communication. Their behavior appears restrictive and it is one of the severe outcomes of blockage of information processing in mind. Though there has been tremendous research regarding real cause of autism, but no big success has been achieved in this regard. It is believed that in maximum cases autism starts appearing within first three years in a child. Bear in mind it is a neurological complexity which results in malfunctioning of brain. It ultimately results in incapability to communicate and make relationships.

Different Types of Autism

Though both girls and boys can develop this disorder at any time, but it has been seen that boys have more chances of developing it than girls. As far as the question how common is the problem of autism than the answer is, approximately 10-20 people develop this habit among 10,000. Have a glance at the sub types of autism. These are based on severity of the situations and also the age factor.

Classic Autism is considered as the most dangerous types of this order. People suffering with this problem are those who find it difficult even to talk and their social communication is one the lowest side. They are extremely sensitive regarding few certain smells, sounds and signs. Their behavior may become repetitive about few TV shows or food items.

Few patients do have the same problem but language is not a barrier for them, fall under the category of Asperger's Syndrome. Others may find their behavior unusual as its patients are odd, when it comes to following the social rules.

In few cases it has been seen that a child was completely normal till 2 years of age and then suddenly he/she start behaving abnormally. It is called as "childhood disintegrative disorder" and children start showing some unacceptable signs such as problem dealing with potty rules or playing.

Rett Syndrome is another type of childhood developmental disorder which is seen in girls in early age. This common syndrome stops physical and mental development of a girl child. There are four main stages of Rett Syndrome and its severity differs from child to child.

More details can be found on "Autism Spectrum Disorders".

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Coping With Road Blocks

Recently a number of families I work with have been stymied by their children getting stuck. These are children with Asperger Syndrome, nonverbal learning disability, obsessive compulsive disorder, or some combination of those. During the course of a normal day, these kids hit road blocks that trigger outbursts. Often the cause is a change in plans that seemed inconsequential to you. You might say, "On our way home, I'm stopping at the grocery. Want to come in?" Child: "Nooooo. You always do this, etc." Or you might say, "Your brother has a friend over." Child: "I won't go in the house." Or on a pleasant family outing to an ice cream store you say, "They're all out of confetti sprinkles, but they have the chocolate ones." Child: "Noooooo."

Any one of these scenarios can trigger an outburst that could last five to forty minutes or more.

You get the picture, and you have been there. It is very frustrating for a parent to deal with this behavior. It can seem as though your child is incredibly self-centered, immature or badly behaved. When it happens in public, it is embarrassing.

You have a child who is wired to be rigid. Imagine what it must feel like to have your anxiety peak over a minor change in routine. Imagine that you are headed down the track on a bobsled run and suddenly the track has new turns. You skid, you careen, and you might be pretty anxious and angry. I think that is a little of what these children experience. The emotional discomfort triggers the outrageous behavior.

So what is a parent to do?

First, consider the last paragraph about what a child experiences. Try to have some empathy for your child. It's a tall order, but it is very helpful.

When your child is out of control, concentrate only on what will help him or her settle down. This means that you cannot argue or reason with him at this time. You simply do not have a rationale partner for this. On the other hand, I don't mean offer him the world so he will quiet down. Just don't make it worse by arguing and scolding. That means that you might be in a fairly awkward situation, but there is nothing to be done about it then - once your child is out of control the "horse has left the barn," so to speak.

When your child is calm, you can address the situation again if it is still relevant. But the passage of time may have changed this.

Punishments are not helpful this type of problem. Your child needs to learn to recognize his or her emotional discomfort and learn coping strategies. No amount of punishment or reward can teach this.

Using empathy, begin a conversation with your child about how to manage the outbursts. Consult a psychologist if you need to, to help with this. Once your child is learning some strategies, incentives can be helpful to motivate him or her to use them.

Good luck. This is a long process. Because it has to do with neural networks, it will take some time for your child to learn to cope with it. The important thing to understand is that you do not have a spoiled child - you have a rigid one with poor coping skills.

Parent Coach and Licensed Psychologist, Carolyn Stone, Ed.D. ( http://www.drcarolynstone.com/ ) educates parents of children with learning disabilities, ADHD, Asperger Syndrome and anxiety about their children's needs using humor and evidence-based practices. Parents learn new strategies through role play and homework. She teaches children to manage their anxiety and attention and to understand their learning styles. You can learn about Dr. Stone's work from her blog at http://www.drcarolynstone.com/blog/.

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