History of Autism

Autism in Children: Past and Present

Autism in Children: Past and Present

Although one can surmise that there have been autistic people forever, this strange disease was not officially diagnosed until about 60 years ago. Before this time, autistic children were diagnosed as mentally retarded or clinically insane. In 1912, a Swiss psychiatrist by the name of Eugene Bleuler first used the word 'autistic' to describe some of his schizophrenic patients who had a hard time connecting with other people. Then in 1943, Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, used the term 'autism' to describe the abnormalities of eleven of his child patients who seemed to completely lack interest in other people. His children, he noticed, were not only slow learners, but they did not fit in the category with other 'emotionally disturbed' children (as cited in Wobus, 2007).

Characteristics

The characteristics of an autistic person have always been difficult to define-in its early stages and even now. This is mostly because no two autistic people are exactly the same. Autism is known as a spectrum disorder, meaning its symptoms can encompass a great list of possibilities. Some very common characteristics include: resistance to change, difficulty expressing oneself, repeating of words, showing emotion for no apparent reason, showing a preference to being alone, no connections with other people. The list continues on with strange behavior, and an unwillingness to connect (Wikipedia [Autism], 2007).

Another characteristic of people, especially children, with autism is that they seem to lack a theory of mind. Theory of mind refers to the ability to have insight into another person's world. Recognizing someone's knowledge, feelings, and intentions by social signals such as tone, gestures, and facial expressions is something that most 'average' humans can do by the age of five (Wikipedia [Autism], 2007).

Heritability

Researchers have been working diligently to decide if these characteristics can be passed on genetically to children or other family members. Twin and family studies of the spectrum of autistic disorders show a very high heritability of the phenotype of autistic disorders (Freitag, 2007). Studies have also shown that non-autistic siblings of autistic children mimic the symptoms of autism. These non-autistic children had lower IQ scores, worse social skills, expressive language, and used fewer words compared to non-autistic children with no family history of autism. Parents of these children saw inconsistencies in the social behavior of their children by 13 months of age (Toth, Dawson, Meltzoff, Greenson, & Fein, 2007).

These are just two of the many studies examining the heritability of autism. There have been numerous other studies researching the heritability between sets of identical twins, fraternal twins, regular siblings, parents and children, and multi-instance families, containing many members with autism. In these studies, researchers found that autism was quite heritable in monozygotic (identical) twins, but not very heritable at all in dizygotic (fraternal) twins or regular siblings. As far as parent-child and multi-instance family studies go, researchers found that the parents of these children were "more aloof, untactful and unresponsive" and generally had insufficient communication and social skills (Wikipedia [Heritability], 2007).

Autism Society of America

Many parents had a hard time dealing with their children's autism and didn't know anything about it. That's why, in 1965, as the disorder and diagnoses were becoming more mainstream and public, Dr. Bernard Rimland created the Autism Society of America (ASA). This grassroots organization began as a group of a few parents of autistic children, and now includes over 120,000 members of the autism community. The ASA also publishes a periodical named The Advocate, which is full of new research on autism, legislation, and tips for living with autism. The goals of the ASA and The Advocate are to make sure no one feels alone or helpless (Autism Society of America
Biological Differences Found in Brain Scans

The ASA has been funding research projects to determine the cause and differences of autism. Since brain scans have yet become more and more advanced since their invention, researchers have been diligently working to see if there are discrepancies between the brains of the autistic and the brains of the 'normal.' There is a distinct difference in shape and structure of the brain between these two groups, but researchers are still trying to figure out how autism is caused (Wikipedia [Autism], 2007).

Early Methods of Treatment

The latest researchers and brain scan technicians are just as confused about how to treat autism as some of the earliest researchers. Some early treatments were implemented to help these autistic children, like providing warmth and affection from the parents. This treatment was used in conjunction with Freud's theory that basically states that if a bond fails to form between parent and child, then the child fails to progress. It was later realized that maybe the parents' unnatural dealings with their child were a result of the child's autism. It was also pointing to the fact that autism is genetic, not something that can be cured by cuddling (as cited in Wobus, 2007).

Although cuddling and providing children with warmth and affection did nothing to help their autism, a very recent study has found that mindful parenting does a number on aggression, noncompliance, and self-injury in autistic children. In this study, researchers took three mother-child dyads and taught the mothers how to react to their children and how to play and interact effectively. Each week, the parents had to rate their satisfaction with their parenting, their interactions with their children, and their use of mindfulness with their children. At the end of a twelve week course on mindful parenting, the mothers were instructed to then implement their newfound parenting skills. Every child had a marked decrease in aggressive behaviors and noncompliant behaviors. (Singh, Lancioni, Winton, Fisher, & et al., 2006).

Treatment

While there is no cure for autism as yet, there are many things that parents of autistic children can do to help them survive and thrive. Many years ago, autistic patients were just placed in a nursing home or a mental institution. Things have gotten much better since those times. There are now schools for autistic children, and teachers who can actually make these once "un-teachable" children learn. They may learn at a slower rate than most children, but they are taught nonetheless (ASA, 2007).

Some curricula offered by ASA are learning how to function beyond the disability, as well as other normal school subjects. Just as no two autistic children are alike, no two treatment plans are the same. Teachers work with parents to tailor treatment for their child's specific brand of autism (ASA, 2007). Another treatment that is used on autistic children is computer usage. This eliminates the need for face-to-face interaction, and also stimulates their ability to communicate. There are also treatments suggesting that a different diet can help autism (Wikipedia [Treatments], 2007).

Conclusion

Researchers have come a long way in finding the causes of autism. Also, psychologists, psychiatrists, and teachers have come just as far looking for treatments. All we can do is offer our support and hope that the future for autistics is better, because autism is becoming more and more prominent in our advanced world. Kanner (as cited in Wobus, 2007) estimated in the 1960s that one child in every ten thousand is autistic. However, in present times, the Autism Society of America reports the instance of this disorder is a bit higher: fifteen children in every ten thousand.

References

Autism Society of America (2007). ASA: The Voice of Autism. Retrieved February 24, 2007 from

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage.

Freitag, C.M. (2007). The genetics of autistic disorders and its clinical relevance: a review of the

literature. Molecular Psychiatry, 12(1), 2.

Singh, N.N., Lancioni, G.E., Winston, A.S.W., & Fisher, B.C. (2006). Mindful parenting

decreases aggression, noncompliance, and self-injury in children with autism. Journal

of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 14(3), 169-178.

Toth, K., Dawson, G., Meltzoff, A.N., Greenson, J., & Fein, D. (2007). Early social, imitation,

play, and language abilities of young non-autistic siblings of children with autism.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(1), 145-158.

Wikipedia. Autism. Retrieved February 20, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/autism.

Wikipedia. Autism therapies. Retrieved February 26, 2007 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/autism_therapies.

Wikipedia. Heritability of autism. Retrieved February 26, 2007 from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heritability_of_autism.

Wobus, J. (February 20, 2007). Autism FAQ-History. Retrieved February 22, 2007 from

http://www.autism-resources.com/autismfaq-hist.html.