Autism spectrum disorder is one of the most common disorders. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (CDC) indicate that 1 in 68 children has autism, and it is about five times more prevalent among male children than females. Therefore, awareness of autism has become an absolute necessity, because early detection of the disease helps in better results in its treatment and developing the behavior of the autistic patient, and improving his ability to communicate with others.
What is autism?
Autism spectrum disorder , also known as autism spectrum disorder, is a disorder that occurs during the neural development of the brain, and greatly affects the way the affected person communicates with others, and his ability to understand and perceive normally like children of the same age group.
Since the rate of birth of a child with autism is high, awareness of autism, its causes, and how to deal with an autistic child must be spread in order to help develop his communication with society and others.
What are the symptoms of autism?
Spreading awareness of autism and knowing the symptoms of the disease helps parents understand what their children have suffered from, especially since many parents are ignorant of the nature of autism spectrum disorder, its symptoms and causes. Therefore, spreading awareness of autism is one of the most important awareness-raising activities that parents should know, especially since the earlier the disease is discovered, the more noticeable and effective the results of treatment will be.
Some symptoms of autism appear in children from birth, such as:
In social communication with others:
- Not responding to their names.
- Not making eye contact with anyone who is speaking.
- Not having too many caregivers.
- Some people grow up normally but suddenly become withdrawn or aggressive.
- Inability to speak or pronounce some words.
- Lack of language skills that some of them may have acquired.
- Speaking in a strange, robotic tone and voice.
- An autistic child has difficulty speaking.
- The intelligence level of a child with autism spectrum disorder is below normal.
- Problems communicating with others.
- Inability to express feelings and emotions.
- Children with autism have trouble applying what they know to everyday situations.
- He doesn't seem to understand simple questions or directions.
As for his behavioral patterns, they are also strange, repetitive, and limited, including:
- Repetitive movements such as spinning, waving hands, or walking on toes.
- Hypersensitivity to sound, light, and touch without the ability to express pain.
- The autistic child is always on the move.
- An autistic child sometimes has strange or rigid body language.
- An autistic child insists on hurting himself by biting or hitting his head.
- He doesn't care about imitation games.
- An autistic child eats few foods and refuses some.
- He cares about the texture of some foods and prefers them over others.
When do symptoms of autism begin to appear in a child?
Autism spectrum disorder begins to appear very early in childhood and causes many problems in social communication with others. Therefore, it is necessary to spread the culture of awareness of autism so that parents do not ignore the appearance of symptoms in their children, and take the initiative to treat them because early treatment has a great impact in improving the behavior of the autistic child and developing his skills.
Symptoms of autism usually appear in children in the first year, and some children develop normally in the first year and then go through a period of regression between the eighteenth and twenty-fourth months and show symptoms of the autism spectrum.
Although there is no cure for autism spectrum disorder, awareness of autism and early intensive treatment contribute to making a big difference and noticeable improvement in the life of an autistic patient.
How can language skills be developed for an autistic patient?
Awareness of autism and trying to develop the child’s language skills and support and encourage him will save a lot in his treatment journey and help him integrate into society more quickly. Among the most important ways that help him develop his language skills are:
- Use pictures and graphics to understand lots of new vocabulary.
- Repeat simple words so that the child can understand them.
- Learn body language to point to things.
- Using the simplest grammar rules when training an autistic child.
- Avoid complex topics and difficult words.
- Encourage the child for any small achievement he makes.
- Seek help from experts and specialists for a better result.
- Use simple keywords in dialogue.
- Using positive feedback is very important.
The role of society in promoting awareness of autism
Awareness of autism contributes greatly to alleviating the suffering of autistic children, especially since most children with autism suffer from a noticeable decline in the level of mental performance, accompanied by a decline in adaptation and slow learning, especially since their intelligence levels are lower than normal. Therefore, the way in which parents, neighbors, friends and society deal with them contributes to these children feeling that they are not outcasts and that they have value in society. Love, security, safety and freedom from any pressures when dealing with these children contribute positively to developing their treatment and increasing their self-confidence.
A child with autism needs intensive care and training in speech and communication skills, in addition to some sensory, cognitive and social skills.
But unfortunately, awareness of autism was very low in societies, and people with autism were isolated, stigmatized, and excluded from society. In the past, there was no way to raise awareness of autism, but rather autistic patients were marginalized and sometimes killed, or referred to as crazy or stupid, and this helped isolate them from society and its activities and complicated their illness more and more.
But fortunately, in recent decades, many countries have worked to increase awareness of autism and care for these children and integrate them into society and its activities to contribute to their treatment and the development of their lives, behavior, and cognitive and social patterns.
Social Relationships and Their Role in Autism Awareness
Healthy social relationships play a major, effective and influential role in raising awareness of autism, as the interactions of individuals, society, families, friends and peers with an autistic patient contribute to increasing his self-confidence and feeling of security and reassurance. Realizing that his intelligence level differs from others and that he needs to simplify information more than the average person in order to understand helps him not feel embarrassed or isolated from people.
Reading information about autism awareness and knowing the best ways to deal with an autistic patient contributes to developing his behavior and skills.
Be careful to treat the autistic patient in a special way that keeps him away from sadness, depression and pressure, as he will not understand these negative feelings, and they may affect him negatively without you knowing.
Awareness of autism, correcting misconceptions about this type of disorder, and early detection of autism play a fundamental role in the development of the autism patient's condition. The Madrasa.com platform offers us many articles that help us learn about the causes and symptoms of autism . The platform also offers many training courses for children with autism to train them at the hands of specialists so that they can develop their skills and integrate into society. These courses are characterized by flexible dates and complete confidentiality to maintain the patient's privacy, in addition to courses for everyone to talk about the child's condition with a specialist and learn the most important methods of autism awareness and how to deal properly with an autistic patient.
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