Who are autistic children? What is autism in children? Other psychiatric problems

Autism cannot be cured. In other words, there are no pills for autism. Only early diagnosis and many years of qualified pedagogical support can help a child with autism.

Autism as an independent disorder was first described by L. Kanner in 1942; in 1943, similar disorders in older children were described by G. Asperger, and in 1947 by S. S. Mnukhin.

Autism is a severe disorder of mental development, in which the ability to communicate and social interaction primarily suffers. The behavior of children with autism is also characterized by strict stereotyping (from repeated repetition of elementary movements, such as shaking hands or jumping, to complex rituals) and often destructiveness (aggression, self-harm, screaming, negativism, etc.).

The level of intellectual development in autism can be very different: from severe mental retardation to giftedness in certain areas of knowledge and art; In some cases, children with autism have no speech, and there are deviations in the development of motor skills, attention, perception, emotional and other areas of the psyche. More than 80% of children with autism are disabled...

The exceptional diversity of the spectrum of disorders and their severity allows us to reasonably consider the education and upbringing of children with autism to be the most difficult section of correctional pedagogy.

Back in 2000, the prevalence of autism was thought to be between 5 and 26 cases per 10,000 children. In 2005, there was an average of one case of autism per 250-300 newborns: this is more common than isolated deafness and blindness combined, Down syndrome, diabetes mellitus or childhood cancer. According to the World Autism Organization, in 2008 there was 1 case of autism in 150 children. Over ten years, the number of children with autism has increased 10 times. It is believed that the upward trend will continue in the future.

According to the international classification of diseases ICD-10, autistic disorders proper include:

• childhood autism (F84.0) (autistic disorder, infantile autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner syndrome);
• atypical autism (with onset after 3 years) (F84.1);
• Rett syndrome (F84.2);
• Asperger's syndrome - autistic psychopathy (F84.5);

What is autism?

In recent years, autistic disorders have come to be grouped under the acronym ASD—autism spectrum disorder.

Kanner syndrome

Kanner syndrome in the strict sense of the word is characterized by a combination of the following main symptoms:

1. inability to establish meaningful relationships with people from the beginning of life;
2. extreme isolation from the outside world, ignoring environmental stimuli until they become painful;
3. insufficient communicative use of speech;
4. lack or insufficient eye contact;
5. fear of changes in the environment (“identity phenomenon”, according to Kanner);
6. immediate and delayed echolalia (“gramophone or parrot speech”, according to Kanner);
7. delayed development of the “I”;
8. stereotypical games with non-play objects;
9. clinical manifestation of symptoms no later than 2-3 years.

When using these criteria it is important:

• do not expand their content (for example, distinguish between the inability to establish contact with other people and active avoidance of contact);
• build diagnostics at the syndromological level, and not on the basis of formal recording of the presence of certain symptoms;
• take into account the presence or absence of procedural dynamics of the identified symptoms;
• take into account that the inability to establish contact with other people creates conditions for social deprivation, leading in turn to the appearance in the clinical picture of symptoms of secondary developmental delays and compensatory formations.

A child usually comes to the attention of specialists no earlier than 2-3 years, when the disorders become quite obvious. But even then, parents often find it difficult to determine violations, resorting to value judgments: “Strange, not like everyone else.” Often the true problem is masked by imaginary or real disorders that are more understandable to parents - for example, delayed speech development or hearing impairment. In retrospect, it is often possible to find out that already in the first year the child reacted poorly to people, did not take a ready pose when picked up, and when picked up was unusually passive. “Like a bag of sand,” parents sometimes say. He was afraid of household noises (vacuum cleaner, coffee grinder, etc.), not getting used to them over time, and showed unusual selectivity in food, refusing food of a certain color or type. For some parents, this kind of violation becomes obvious only in retrospect when compared with the behavior of the second child.

Asperger's syndrome

As with Kanner syndrome, they determine communication disorders, underestimation of reality, a limited and unique, stereotypical range of interests that distinguish such children from their peers. Behavior is determined by impulsiveness, contrasting affects, desires, and ideas; behavior often lacks internal logic.

Some children early discover the ability to develop an unusual, non-standard understanding of themselves and those around them. Logical thinking is preserved or even well developed, but knowledge is difficult to reproduce and is extremely uneven. Active and passive attention are unstable, but individual autistic goals are achieved with great energy.

Unlike other cases of autism, there is no significant delay in speech and cognitive development. In appearance, one notices a detached expression on the face, which gives it “beauty”, frozen facial expressions, gaze turned into emptiness, fleeting fixation on faces. There are few expressive facial movements, and gesticulation is poor. Sometimes the facial expression is concentrated and self-absorbed, the gaze is directed “inward.” Motor skills are angular, movements are irregular, with a tendency towards stereotypies. The communicative functions of speech are weakened, and it itself is unusually modulated, unique in melody, rhythm and tempo, the voice sounds sometimes quiet, sometimes it hurts the ear, and in general speech is often similar to recitation. There is a tendency towards word creation, which sometimes persists even after puberty, an inability to automate skills and implement them externally, and an attraction to autistic games. Characterized by attachment to home, not to loved ones.

Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome begins to appear between the ages of 8 and 30 months. gradually, without external reasons, against the background of normal (in 80% of cases) or slightly delayed motor development.

Detachment appears, already acquired skills are lost, speech development is suspended for 3-6 months. There is a complete collapse of previously acquired speech reserves and skills. At the same time, violent “washing-type” movements arise in the hands. Later, the ability to hold objects is lost, ataxia, dystonia, muscle atrophy, kyphosis, and scoliosis appear. Chewing is replaced by sucking, breathing becomes disordered. In a third of cases, epileptiform seizures are observed.

By the age of 5-6 years, the tendency towards the progression of disorders softens, the ability to assimilate individual words and primitive play returns, but then the progression of the disease increases again. There is a gross progressive decay of motor skills, sometimes even walking, characteristic of the final stages of severe organic diseases of the central nervous system. In children with Rett syndrome, against the background of a total collapse of all spheres of activity, emotional adequacy and attachments corresponding to the level of their mental development are preserved for the longest time. Subsequently, severe motor disorders, profound static disorders, loss of muscle tone, and profound dementia develop.

Unfortunately, modern medicine and pedagogy are not able to help children with Rett syndrome. We are forced to admit that this is the most severe disorder among ASD that cannot be corrected.

Atypical autism

The disorder is similar to Kanner's syndrome, but at least one of the required diagnostic criteria is missing. Atypical autism is characterized by:

1. quite distinct disturbances in social interaction,
2. restricted, stereotyped, repetitive behavior,
3. one or another sign of abnormal and/or impaired development appears after the age of 3 years.

More often occurs in children with severe specific developmental disorder of receptive speech or with mental retardation.

Where from, who is to blame?

Modern science cannot answer this question unambiguously. There are suggestions that autism can be caused by infections during pregnancy, difficult or incorrect childbirth, vaccinations, traumatic situations in early childhood, etc.

We have hundreds of thousands of examples where children with autism are born in families with ordinary children. It also happens the other way around: the second child in the family turns out to be ordinary, while the first has ASD. If the family has the first child with autism, parents are advised to undergo a genetic examination to determine the presence of a fragile X chromosome. Its presence greatly increases the likelihood of children with autism in a given family.

What to do?

Yes, autism is a lifelong disorder. But thanks to timely diagnosis and early correctional assistance, much can be achieved: adapt the child to life in society; teach him to cope with his own fears; control emotions.

The most important thing is not to disguise the diagnosis as supposedly “more harmonious” and “socially acceptable.” Do not run away from the problem and do not focus all your attention on the negative aspects of the diagnosis, such as disability, misunderstanding of others, conflicts in the family, etc. An exaggerated idea of ​​a child as a genius is just as harmful as a depressed state from his failure.

It is necessary without hesitation to abandon tormenting illusions and plans for life built in advance. Accept the child for who he really is. Act based on the interests of the child, creating an atmosphere of love and goodwill around him, organizing his world until he learns to do it on his own.

Remember that a child with autism cannot survive without your support.

What are the prospects?

In fact, it all depends on the parents. From their attention to the child, from literacy and personal position.

If the diagnosis was made before 1.5 years of age, and comprehensive corrective measures were carried out in a timely manner, then by the age of 7, most likely, no one will even think that the boy or girl was ever diagnosed with autism. Studying in a regular school or classroom will not cause much trouble for either the family or the child. Secondary vocational or higher education is not a problem for such people.

Despite the fact that up to 80% of children with autism are disabled, disability as such can be removed.

If the diagnosis was made later than 5 years, then with a high probability it can be said that the child will study according to the school program individually. Since correctional work during this period is already complicated by the need to overcome the child’s existing life experience, established inadequate behavior patterns and stereotypes. And further studies and professional activities will completely depend on that environment - the specially created conditions in which the teenager will find himself.

Despite the fact that up to 80% of children with autism are disabled, disability as such can be removed. This happens thanks to a properly organized system of correctional assistance. The need to register a disability is dictated, as a rule, by the pragmatic position of parents seeking to provide their child with expensive, qualified assistance. Indeed, to organize effective correctional intervention, one child with ASD requires from 30 to 70 thousand rubles per month. Agree, not every family is able to pay such bills. However, the result is worth the effort and money invested.

One of the main tasks of parents and specialists is the development of independence in children with ASD. And this is possible, because among autistic people there are programmers, designers, musicians - in general, successful people in life.

Discussion

Autism is not a disease, but a natural mechanism. Read this article:
[link-1]
And download the book (links at the end of the article). It says how to get out of this state

05/27/2012 17:06:28, St. Luke

27.05.2012 17:00:17, Vladimir Vladimirovich

“Autism as an independent disorder was first described by L. Kanner in 1942; in 1943, similar disorders in older children were described by G. Asperger.” The author made a mistake with the dates: Kaner published the work in 1943, Asperger - 1944. Be careful when copying this article)

01/21/2010 03:01:38, lena uk

Stupid article. If a person is not in the know at all, it will be of little help. If you already have a diagnosis, it will also help little. If there are problems, but the diagnosis is unclear, there is also little benefit... All articles must be written for a specific audience. For parents or specialists. You can’t read specific examples anywhere, which would at least be interesting and honest.

Even experts rarely risk making forecasts, I agree with the speakers below.

01/18/2010 12:02:33, LaMure

“If the diagnosis was made before 1.5 years of age, and comprehensive corrective measures were carried out in a timely manner, then by the age of 7, most likely, no one will even think that the boy or girl was ever diagnosed with autism.” Studying in an ordinary environment school, class will not cause much trouble for either the family or the child. Secondary vocational or higher education is not a problem for such people."

Not true, but it sounds good enough to fool poor parents

01/18/2010 03:05:23, lena uk

Comment on the article "Autism is not a disease, it is a developmental disorder"

atypical autism = children schizophrenia? This is our conclusion after a short stay in 6k. The doctor said that “atypical autism” refers specifically to childhood schizophrenia. Shevchenko himself advised us. Well, the name doesn't matter to me, child...

Discussion

I don’t want to make a diagnosis on the Internet, but 6ka really likes to diagnose early-day schizophrenia. I have the impression that they don’t even know what race is and how to correct it. Mine was also diagnosed with RDS at less than five years old and put on haloperidol. In particular, thanks to this coffee, I did not blindly believe the six, but moved on. We visited Tsirkin at the neuromed, his words are that you are not the first to peddle schizophrenia instead of race. Look at the reviews about him, he is an excellent diagnostician. Read about Osin, you could have invited him to your house earlier, but now I don’t know. Be sure to join the LiveJournal community using the link, there are a lot of mothers with autistic preschoolers there. Once again, I cannot say indiscriminately that your child does not have schizophrenia, I say, go to other doctors, Drobinskaya was also praised, look where she takes it. There are a lot of cases when the six does not put schizophrenia instead of races. Don’t give up, even if it’s schizophrenia and you live with it. I highly recommend at least a one-time consultation with Tsirkin specifically for the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

02/14/2015 23:07:55, Olga Mestaya

Discussion

I don’t know much about autism, and it’s good that not everyone knows about it) just thoughts out loud from a person who likes to be alone and is capable of getting stuck) when I was little, there were very often scandals, my mother would come home from work and try to find out what I was doing all day, I couldn’t say anything except - I was in a time hole) at work just the other day they said - apparently you’re melancholic, because sometimes we see how you withdraw into yourself, and these are not withdrawals, but the need to be alone in this way manifests itself, the ability to be alone among a crowd of people .
and in this regard, it’s a little infuriating that the child was prohibited from playing alone, the social settings so that everyone is the same and walks in formation is annoying. has the right to be himself, there are people who live in the taiga and are happy.
relaxation on the water is the body’s innate ability to relax, something that medicine is trying to replace with pills. You can’t prohibit it, teach you to live with it and benefit from it.
I even got a little wary about my husband.

Well, yes, it’s especially “clever” to remove the alphabet and counting when speech is needed! I read somewhere that some children begin to speak in parallel with reading.

If you need a kindergarten for the older one, IMHO, it makes sense NOW, before the elections, contact the deputies with papers about the problems of the younger one under the slogan that in order to get time for the rehabilitation of the younger one, a kindergarten for the older one is needed “right now.” Watch the program on TV Housing and Communal Services on ORT, somewhere in September there was a similar program at 17, also on ORT, it was closer to you in topic, about kindergartens, hospitals and other life conflicts. I think you can call the gastrointestinal tract editorial office and ask for help with the kindergarten. Although, if we talk about playing together, then three of us are better. In addition, during the first year in kindergarten, the children get sick, the eldest will also carry infections from the kindergarten to the youngest. So it's unlikely to get any easier.

Autism is really not just isolation, but its spectrum is so wide that it’s easy to say “you’ll immediately see an autistic person.” I always distinguish autistic people, I just don’t know how they can be confused with something else. And it also seems to me that autism is misdiagnosed in Russia...

Discussion

autizm ehto ne prosto zamknutost", vy srazu uvidite autista, ne sputatesh" ni s chem, tak chto ne perezhivajte

depending on what age the baby is?. if up to two years, then you don’t have to worry too much - normal psychiatrists won’t write that. Perhaps the child recently came from a dysfunctional family, or is still under the influence of something. stress. in child care they like to make diagnoses by eye, and in this case the child’s inability to establish productive contact most likely provoked such a conclusion. In short, you need to personally communicate with the baby. If something alerts you, you will think. if everything is ok. - it’s not worth thinking about.

What are the consequences of a diagnosis of AUTISM??? Something that struck a chord with me was the words of one of the mothers in the class where my son is studying... BUT, for now they agreed to our request to have their son tested by their county specialist in autism, who has an ABA certificate. Let's see what kind of plan she develops for us.

Discussion

My friends in America were diagnosed in elementary school, when they came to work at the university. Now he is 21 years old, he is a 3rd year university student (specialty - airport manager), and since last year he went to live on campus. The diagnosis is still there.

Well, of course that's not true. It seems to me that when people are uncomfortable telling the truth, they come up with excuses. Your friend doesn’t want her child to end up in a special class, but you can’t say out loud, “God forbid, he ends up in a class for sick children,” so they come up with explanations.
If your son was diagnosed with HFA at the age of 4, then you will definitely attend a regular school. I can imagine the surprise at school when you asked for additional ABA.

Regarding speech in Aspergers, the point is not that speech should be perfect, but that there was no significant delay in the development of speech.
The diagnostic criteria say: AS is distinguished from the other ASDs in having no general delay in language or cognitive development.
"Speech
The child usually begins to speak at the age expected in normal children, whereas walking may be delayed. A full command of grammar is sooner or later acquired, but there may be difficulty in using pronouns correctly, with the substitution of the second or third for the first person forms (No. 1). The content of speech is abnormal, tending to be pedantic and often consisting of lengthy disquisitions on favorite subjects (No.2). Sometimes a word or phrase is repeated over and over again in a stereotyped fashion. The child or adult may invent some words. Subtle verbal jokes are not understood, though simple verbal humor may be appreciated."

Causes of autism. Lately, more and more often I have come across, let’s say, scientific and journalistic articles about autism or where it is mentioned. So there the main reason is called the coldness of the relationship between mother and child. Initial rejection of the child by the mother.

Discussion

I understand perfectly well how you feel, Nadezhda. I myself periodically suffered from such doubts, especially since I can agree almost one hundred percent with the description of your situation, of course, not counting your sick grandmother. Tired physically and especially mentally, it seems to me, I could not adequately convey my love to the child. In those days, I even had hysterics due to fatigue and hopelessness of the situation, imagine with what eyes I could sometimes look at my child. And subsequently, having read a wide variety of literature, she also endlessly executed herself. Sometimes literature can be contraindicated, especially for such suspicious people as me. After all, I also read about the inconsistency of the myth about the coldness of the mother, but this worm of doubt still gnaws at me, now rather subconsciously. Although I didn’t ask about the causes of our autism either at the Coronary Institute. pedagogy, nor in the Center to lay down. pedagogy. Whatever they are, they will not change anything, neither the method of treatment, nor the type of correction.
As for the causes of autism in our cases, these are most likely genetic characteristics combined with neurological disorders.

08.10.2003 20:36:59, Goncharova Inna

http://www.vera-i-svet.ru/
“Faith and Light” are communities for mentally retarded people, their parents and friends, the purpose of which is communication, friendship, in a word, building human relationships and social ties between a mentally retarded person and society in a variety of ways, including through the Internet.

Many parents, having heard a diagnosis of autism from doctors, perceive this as a death sentence for the child. This disease has been known for a long time, but there is still no clear answer to the question: who is an autistic person among pediatric and adult doctors. Newborn babies are almost no different from healthy children, since symptoms of the disease begin to appear by 1-3 years. Incorrect upbringing of “special” children and incorrect behavior of those close to them leads to their isolation from society.

What is autism

In medical reference books, the disease autism (infantile autism) is interpreted as a biologically determined mental disorder related to general developmental disorders. The phenomenon is accompanied by self-immersion, a desire for constant solitude and a reluctance to contact people. Child psychiatrist Leo Kanner became interested in the concept of what autism is and how it manifests itself in 1943. He introduced the definition of early childhood autism (ECA).

Causes

Statistics from recent decades show that autism syndrome in newborns has become more common. There are many stereotypes regarding this mental state. The mechanisms of the occurrence of the disease do not depend on the material wealth of people and are not always of a psychiatric nature. These include:

• genetic mutations and hereditary predisposition;
• infectious and viral diseases suffered during gestation;
• birth of the first child after 35 years;
• hormonal imbalance in a pregnant woman;
• living in areas with poor environmental conditions;
• weakness of the X chromosome;
• interaction of the expectant mother with pesticides and heavy metals.

Stages

When faced with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, it is necessary to distinguish between the severity of the patient’s condition. It is difficult for a person far from neuropsychology to understand the official terminology. To understand in practice who autistic people are, you should familiarize yourself with the characteristics of each stage of this disease:

1. Asperger's syndrome is characterized by a high level of intelligence and the presence of developed speech. Due to the high functionality of such people, doctors have difficulty diagnosing, and external manifestations are perceived as the extreme boundaries of the norm or personality accentuation.
2. Classic autism syndrome is distinguished by the presence of clear signs of abnormalities in three areas of nervous activity: social aspect, behavior and communication.
3. Atypical autism does not express all the features characteristic of the disease. Anomalies can only relate to the development of the speech apparatus.
4. Rett syndrome is more common in girls and is characterized by a severe form. The disease becomes apparent at a young age.
5. Disintegrative disorder in children begins at 1.5-2 years of age and develops until school age. The clinical picture looks like a loss of already acquired skills (attention, oral speech, motor skills of the limbs).

Symptoms

When answering the question of who autistic people are, it is impossible to name an exact classification of the signs of the disease, since the symptoms of congenital pathology are individual. According to statistics, boys are more prone to developing the disease than girls. Common indicators of the presence of the disorder are:

• age-inappropriate or absent speech;
• frequently repeated actions related to interests, games;
• social impairments, manifested as inability to behave around peers;
• avoidance of eye contact, desire for loneliness;
• strong attachment to certain objects.

Autism test

Only a specialist can determine whether a person suffers from autism or not. Existing online tests cannot provide an accurate result. When examined in a doctor's office, behavioral characteristics characteristic of the patient throughout his life are taken into account. The perception of the interlocutor's emotions and imaginative thinking are taken as the basis during the testing process.

Autistic children

The topic of who autistics are has been troubling society since the last century. This is due to the surge in incidence over the past 20 years. Autism in children manifests itself early and is distinguished by a number of specific aspects. It can be recognized by the following symptoms:

• the child does not respond to his own name, does not look into the eyes;
• lack of interest in peers, preference for solitary activities;
• repetition of the same phrases;
• performing a limited set of actions with frequent repetition, treating them as rituals;
• panic attacks are observed when changing the usual environment;
• writing, verbal communication and new skills are given with great difficulty;
• a penchant for specific activities (drawing, mathematics, drawing).

Signs of autism in babies

It is impossible to recognize the disease in a newborn by external signs, but during the first two years parents may notice deviations from the norm. An autistic child is extremely unemotional, does not cry when his mother leaves, rarely smiles and does not require attention. The main symptom of autistic disorder is considered to be a delay in speech development. Self-aggression and obsessive behavior towards other children are noted. Often the baby experiences a feeling of fear and reacts inadequately to ordinary light and sounds.

How to live with an autistic child

After making the appropriate diagnosis, parents begin to wonder: what is autism in a child and is it possible for children with such a deviation to socially adapt? In this matter, the severity of the anomaly is of great importance. You need to learn to perceive the baby as a person. In everyday life, you will have to carefully plan everything, avoiding unpleasant moments for an autistic person. You should rely on the child’s reaction even in matters of food and clothing. If the disease occurs in mild forms, then every effort should be made to unlock the potential of the sick child.

Teaching children with autism

Having learned about who an autistic person is, adults set themselves the goal of maximally adapting their ward to an independent and fulfilling life. Many methods have been created for correcting the behavior of autistic children, home education systems based on deep knowledge of the first stages of child development. One of the effective teaching tools is the “Game Time” program, which is based on establishing contact with the patient through a kind of game.

Autism in adults

The modern community has begun to wonder more often: who are autistic people, since these people are found in a variety of areas of life. Adult autism is a poorly understood pathophysiology, accompanied by detachment from the real world, inability to simple communication and perception. Regular therapy can give good results, allowing the patient to lead a full life and occupy a high social position.

How it manifests itself

The severity of signs of autism is directly related to the form of its course. Outwardly, mildly autistic patients do not differ from healthy people. The most common symptoms indicating the presence of a disorder are the following:

• inhibited reaction, minimal gestures and facial expressions;
• excessive isolation, quiet, often incoherent speech;
• lack of perception of the emotions and intentions of others;
• the conversational process resembles the behavior of a robot;
• inadequate response to changes in environment, extraneous noise, light;
• communication function and sense of humor are practically absent.

How autistic people see the world

Today, in different parts of the world, scientists are increasingly talking about the epidemiology of autism. It is difficult for a normal person to understand who an autistic person is, because the picture of the world of these people looks completely different. Due to a genetic failure, the brain becomes overly active, unable to connect and analyze everything that is happening. The environment is seen as fragmented and distorted. Sensory perception is expressed in touch, for example, touching soft tissue, the patient can jump away from it like fire.

How do autistic adults live?

With sufficient development of intellectual abilities, patients lead an independent life without the help of guardians, can master a profession, start a family, and give birth to completely healthy offspring. However, the majority of the autistic community leads a closed life and is unable to cope without partial or full care from relatives and doctors.

How to work with autists

Some forms of pathology offer patients the opportunity to realize themselves professionally and creatively. Autists are able to master such specialties as accounting, web design, programming, various crafts, and screening. They are suitable for working with archives, repairing household appliances, repairing computers, and working in a laboratory. Among autistic people there are veterinary technicians and programmers. People working with these types of patients need to learn to ignore the manifestations of the disease and remember that they have a delay in processing information.

How long do autistic people live?

No specialist will undertake to make accurate predictions about the life expectancy of a particular autistic person. A diagnosis of autism does not affect this indicator. To ensure the normal functioning of an autistic child, parents must create the most favorable environment possible, taking into account his communicative and sensory characteristics.

Conditions that mimic autism

Delayed psycho-speech development with autistic features

The symptoms of this disease are associated with delayed psycho-speech development. They are in many ways similar to the signs of autism. Starting from a very early age, the child does not develop according to established norms: he does not babble, and then does not learn to speak simple words. The baby's vocabulary is very poor. Such children are sometimes hyperactive and poorly developed physically. The final diagnosis is made by a doctor. It is important to visit a psychiatrist or speech therapist with your child.

Hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder

This condition is also often mistaken for autism. Children with attention deficit are restless and find it difficult to study at school. Problems arise with concentrating; such children are very active. Even in adulthood, this condition partially remains. People with this diagnosis find it difficult to remember information and make decisions. You should try to identify this condition as early as possible, practice treatment with psychostimulants and sedatives, and also visit a psychologist.

Hearing loss

These are a variety of hearing impairments, congenital and acquired. A child who has poor hearing also has a speech delay. Therefore, such children do not respond well to their names, fulfill requests, and may seem disobedient. In this regard, parents may suspect autism in their children. But a professional psychiatrist will definitely refer the baby for an examination of auditory function. A hearing aid is a way out of this situation.

Schizophrenia

Previously, autism was considered one of the manifestations of schizophrenia in children. However, it is now clear that these are two completely different diseases. Schizophrenia in children begins later - at 5-7 years. The symptoms of this disease appear gradually. Such children have obsessive fears, conversations with themselves, and later delusions of hallucinations appear. Treatment for this condition is medication.

Famous people with autism

History knows many cases where autistic people become famous people due to their characteristics. A non-standard vision of objects and phenomena helps them create masterpieces of art and invent unique devices. Worldwide lists are regularly updated with new autistic personalities. The most famous autistics: scientist Albert Einstein, computer genius Bill Gates.

Video

Today, as you understand, the conversation will be about Russian autists. Who are autistics? How many autistic people are there in the world and in Russia? What awaits them? What are the prognoses for such children and people?

One fact is indisputable: there are more and more autistic people. And it is impossible not to notice them, thanks to the introduction of inclusive education, they begin to study together with ordinary children; they can no longer be hidden within four walls or boarding schools.

The topic is interesting, and no matter how hard anyone tries to think that this does not concern him, this is a problem for him too, because one day such an unusual child will play in the courtyard of his house with his children, on the bus in the seat opposite there will be a man sitting, stereotypically waving his arms, but at the same time singing beautifully, an autistic child will study at the school where his children study.

Let's also talk about the myths circulating around autism, about what autism really is.

Myths and truth (one and next to the other):

Myths: Almost every fourth child is now autistic; there is an epidemic of autism in the world.

Truth: there are more and more such children - this is a fact, but there are actually very few “clean” children with an officially confirmed diagnosis; those who are unofficially suspected of having it, many have speech delays, mental development, and not autism.

Myths: These kids are geniuses.

Truth: according to statistics, a maximum of 10% of gifted children among them, mostly autism is combined with moderate and severe mental retardation.

Myths: The causes of autism are: 1) vaccinations, 2) burdened psychopathological heredity, 3) teratogens in the early stages, 4) severe stress during pregnancy, 5) genetically modified products, ecology.

Is it true: There is not a single reliably known reason for the development of autism, there are only assumptions.

Myths: There are many autists among famous mathematicians, programmers, and geniuses.

Is it true: There were rumors that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are autistic, for example, specifically, Bill Gates has Asperger's syndrome. But these are just rumors, there is no evidence of this. This is just speculation. Yes, many of these individuals are, to put it mildly, eccentric, but they do not suffer from any officially confirmed mental disorder, or this information is not provided to the public. There is a special personality type, especially among mathematicians and physicists - schizoid, which implies isolation, isolation from the world, a penchant for scientific experiments, exact sciences.

Schizoid personality is one of the risk factors for the development of schizotypal disorder (which in some countries is classified as a type of autism) and schizophrenia. According to research from the Tomsk Institute of Psychiatry, the presence of mental illnesses such as schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia among relatives, especially in the male line, increased the risk of having a child with autism. However, scientists have been saying for a long time that schizophrenia and autism are different diseases with completely different development mechanisms.

Briefly about autism from the website “Autism in Russia” (www.autisminrussia.ru):

“Autism is not a disease, it is a developmental disorder.

Autism cannot be cured. In other words, there are no pills for autism.

Only early diagnosis and many years of qualified pedagogical support can help a child with autism.

Autism is a severe disorder of mental development, in which, first of all, the ability to communicate and social interaction suffers. The behavior of children with autism is also characterized by strict stereotyping (from repeated repetition of elementary movements, such as shaking hands or jumping, to complex rituals) and often destructiveness (aggression, self-harm, screaming, negativism, etc.).

The level of intellectual development in autism can be very different: from severe mental retardation to giftedness in certain areas of knowledge and art; In some cases, children with autism have no speech, and there are deviations in the development of motor skills, attention, perception, emotional and other areas of the psyche. More than 80% of children with autism are disabled.

The exceptional diversity of the spectrum of disorders and their severity allows us to reasonably consider the education and upbringing of children with autism to be the most difficult section of correctional pedagogy.

childhood autism (F84.0) (autistic disorder, infantile autism, infantile psychosis, Kanner syndrome);

atypical autism (with onset after 3 years) (F84.1);

Rett syndrome (F84.2);

Asperger's syndrome - autistic psychopathy (F84.5);

more details on ICD-10

In recent years, autistic disorders have come to be grouped under the acronym ASD—autism spectrum disorder. Autistic disorders include strictly autism (Canner's, Asperger's, Rett, atypical) as well as autistic behavior. There is reason to believe that in ICD-11 Rett Syndrome will be classified as an independent disorder, and autistic behavior is not autism as such.”

You can imagine for a long time what autism and autistic people are, but you can never understand it from the outside - until you personally communicate with such people and children.

Autism cannot be cured with a pill; autism cannot be “cured” at all; you can only socialize the child as much as possible, to the extent that the initial level of his intelligence and the preservation of mental functions allow. For some children, especially if there are outbursts of aggression, self-aggression, anger (more than half of autistic people exhibit this behavior to one degree or another) or running away from home or trying to jump from a height, taking antipsychotics is indicated.

Some people try to do without them until the last moment... But in general, sooner or later parents resort to drug therapy with antipsychotic drugs. Neuroleptics have many side effects, such as weight gain, excessive appetite, significant developmental regression, problems with the heart and other organs.

Autism occurs 4 times more often in boys than in girls.

“According to World Health Organization experts, up to 1% of the world’s population suffers from autism spectrum disorder, and the number of people with autism has been increasing in recent decades.”

“In recent years, the number of children with autism has begun to grow rapidly. There are 7-10% more such patients every year.”

This very 1% of 7 billion people is 70 million... 70 million people in the world suffer from autism and ASD (austic spectrum disorders). There is also unofficial information.

For example, in a Siberian town with a population of just over a million people, there are officially about 160 autistic children (officially diagnosed with autism, disability), unofficially, according to various organizations, about 5 thousand are children not with “pure” autism, and with speech and mental disorders, developmental delays - in fact, today “autism” has become a “dumping ground” where problems with speech and mental health are dumped. If the child does not speak, autism is already suspected... But autism in its pure form, manifested in mental disorders, without other severe neurological and somatic diseases, is not so common.

I would like to say that there are quite a few officially diagnosed autism... This is a rare disease (developmental disorder). Besides, autism is different from autism. There are milder forms of autism: Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and PDD-NOS are officially combined into one disorder - autism spectrum disorder. Savant syndrome (more on this later) occurs in some forms of Asperger's syndrome.

A significant proportion of people with mild forms of autism have successful contacts with the world, self-realization, and socialization.

Atypical autism, autism in combination with ADHD, mental retardation, as a rule, are severe forms of impairment, some cases are difficult to correct.

Among autists, of course, there are geniuses, but this percentage is very low: only 0.5% to 10% of people with autism spectrum disorders demonstrate unusual abilities and talents.

“Savant syndrome, sometimes abbreviated as savantism (from the French savant - “scientist”) is a rare condition in which individuals with developmental disabilities (including those of an autistic nature) have an “island of genius” - outstanding abilities in one or more areas of knowledge, contrasting with the general limitations of the individual.”

For example, there are cases when a person suffering from autism in combination with mental retardation has a phenomenal memory, stores libraries of books and information in his memory, and can write a chapter at a time. Some people draw beautifully and unusually. The same Anton (from Lyubov Arkus’s film “Anton Is Near Here” - about an autistic young man) wrote an essay that touched many people with its penetration, purity, accuracy, and subtlety. True, I want to say that not all autists are like Anton: Anton has mental retardation in addition to autism, there are children with a mild form of mental retardation. In general, you can’t equate everyone one by one, there are more complex cases, there are easier cases.

“A person with savant syndrome may be able to repeat several pages of text heard only once, accurately recite the result of multi-digit multiplication as if he knew the result in advance, or tell what day of the week January 1, 3001 will fall on. There are savants who can sing all the arias they heard after leaving the opera, or draw a map of the London area after flying over the city, as 29-year-old savant Stephen Wiltshire did.”

It so happened that the opinion I expressed in the article is by no means detached: my son has autism, in its pure form, with a disability. Of course, every mother of a sick child paints pictures in her mind that everything is or will be much better than it really is. So for a long time I believed that he was just a genius, you just need to be patient and everything will manifest itself, the butterfly will recover from the cocoon... However, when you see such children from the outside, it is sobering and you understand that there is only a few percent of genius there - at best.

He is one of several thousand autistic people in Russia who has been officially diagnosed.

I don’t understand this general romantic flair over such children and people. Yes, this is one of the most mysterious diseases that cannot even be called a disease. Such children are often very beautiful in appearance, only with some kind of mental damage, either intrauterine or postpartum, and their features are not immediately visible; outwardly, especially if they are silent and behave quietly, they give the impression of being beautiful and smart. But this is a misleading impression. Such children need to be rehabilitated and fought for their decent lives. But to draw what doesn’t exist to make life easier is self-deception.

My son, at the age of 8, can read, write (but does not understand at all the meaning of what is read, written, writes and reads everything in a row, in different languages), knows the alphabets of ten languages... we have everything written in Chinese characters and Hebrew. He sings songs that he has heard once, in a thin, beautiful voice, hitting the notes exactly. He draws beautifully.. He can draw a series of cartoons from memory in a few minutes. And he shows many other abilities and talents. However, this has nothing to do with real life: the child may be completely inadequate in behavior, uncontrollable, does not understand the danger - he tries to jump from a height, throw himself under a car, does not know how to eat normally, does not dress, does not talk, etc. That is, in essence, this is an eternal 9-month-old child, only five times larger, physically normal, running fast, hyperactive, sometimes dangerous to others and to himself. In fact, these are very difficult children...

Society, unfortunately, does not yet understand who these children are; they are often perceived simply as spoiled. in this regard, with physical disabilities (I mean not severe forms of illness) - it’s simpler: children, as a rule, have intact intelligence, outwardly it’s immediately clear what’s wrong... And in the case of autism, everyone needs to explain and prove that what’s wrong with the child or just listen a flurry of discontent.

And to me, as I think to many mothers of similar children, all that was offered by government agencies was to send my son to a boarding school...

When such children were hidden in boarding schools and at home, society had no complaints, but today mothers and their children (autists) go out into the world, “pump up” their licenses - at first it was extremely difficult, but today the ice has broken, it’s already easier.

My son, accompanied by me (a tutor is planned in the future), is studying in an inclusive format in a regular school, teachers and specialists work with him individually. We have only had this inclusive education for a year. We constantly talk with parents and children about what kind of child this is, why he needs to be accepted, so that his behavior does not shock anyone.

In our city, several resource classes have been opened (for the second year), where only autistic people study, according to the ABA therapy system, and special conditions have been created for the adaptation of children. But all these schools are very far from us.

I personally favor full-time attendance at school, such a child needs society, discipline, normal children nearby. Otherwise, it is degradation and desocialization, retreat into stereotypy and primitive behavior.

What can medicine and the system as a whole offer to such children in other cities of our country? I communicate with several mothers of autistic children living in remote regions of the country, in a working-class village and in a small town where there is only one school for the entire area. And there are not even close to the conditions that we have. But our conditions, to put it mildly, are far from progressive.

In the outback where these mothers live, such children often become the object of ridicule... a paradox - not only from children, but also from adults. They do not provide any qualified help; only sometimes a teacher comes to the house. Children often do not know how to count at the age of 8-9, they do not go to the potty. And this is not a problem for the mother, but for a society that has essentially rotten the mother.

And at the level of high topics in a direct line with the president or for the sake of a nice word in some interview, it is now fashionable to talk about autistic people, feel sorry for them, call them gifted, offer to take up the flag of help - in reality, no one needs such children and mothers.

If in large cities there is still the opportunity to unite into groups of similar mothers and create human rights organizations, what will a lonely, overwhelmed mother do in the outback, where she is alone with such a child against the crowd?

In Germany, for example, the most favorable conditions have been created for such children, they go to kindergartens where ordinary children are, they are accepted with understanding, the state greatly helps families raising such a child.

There is progress with AAA therapy in Israel... In America too.

Information on the website “Autism in Russia” says: for normal rehabilitation of autistic people, a minimum of 30-70 thousand rubles per month is required, while 80% of families have low income, there are many single mothers who are not able to support such children even at a weak level, and either They send them to boarding schools, or simply spend their lives within four walls; 80% of autistic people are disabled.

All that we can do so far is to “stick” schizophrenia on an autistic child after 8-10 years, so as not to provide any specific help and write everything off as an endogenous mental illness... Only when such children became many times more numerous did mothers begin to talk. Today, autism is even classified as a “behavioral disorder” in ICD-10, but the practice of “drawing” schizophrenia for such children is still very much alive. If an autistic person is still entitled to rehabilitation and sanatorium-resort treatment, then a schizophrenic child is simply isolated by any means necessary.

It has long been known that schizophrenia and autism are completely different diseases. Schizophrenia is based on an incorrect, distorted interpretation of signals coming from the outside world (for example, the suspicion that they are being watched); in autism, there is a complete or partial impossibility of interpreting signals (the child sometimes does not even understand where he is). This is a huge problem in modern Russian medicine and psychiatry that autistic children are diagnosed with schizophrenia, thus disowning them! It takes more than one revolutionary to break the system.

According to research, there are many reasons for the development of autism... Not a single competent doctor will be able to name the exact cause. There are Russian studies where it has been established that older fathers and parents (especially in the male line) who have cases of mental illness in their relatives are born with autism several times more often than in the opposite categories.

There are studies that nutritional supplements with the prefix E- contribute to the development and intensification of autism symptoms. There is evidence that mercury, lead, and heavy metal salts contained in vaccines cause the development of autism. The same applies to intrauterine infections, including influenza.

But I heard another interesting version from a psychologist: l People became different, life became different. People give birth on the go, without having time to understand why they need children, families, everything happens in a hurry, at a frantic pace, there is a lot of noise and useless movement around... A huge part of the world's population is on the Internet, the world has moved away from communicating with its own kind, everyone is “virtualizing” ", disunity in society. The growth of cities, high-rise buildings, suicides.

And in all this, new people are born who, while still in the womb, do not understand why they need all this (do you think that children in the womb are absolutely unconscious embryos? It has long been established that the condition of the mother during pregnancy and the atmosphere around him greatly affects the baby). They close themselves off from this world, even before they are born, withdraw into themselves from too much noise, bustle, fear, this is a kind of defensive reaction.

I once read in a book about emotional disorders of children about an experiment with birds: that in moments of stress overload - too strong a provoking factor acting on the psyche - birds (seagulls) - instead of running away, for example, a cannon shot many times, they began behave as if nothing was happening, walk back and forth pointlessly, as if stunned, they straightened their feathers and guarded the chicks.

At the same time, with a weaker provoking factor, their behavior was more adequate - they ran away from danger, screamed, and showed emotion. And when amplified, it’s as if the fuses have burst... The same thing happens to our children in the womb - the fuses are already blown by a world in which we are all on a noise conveyor belt.

Information and messages about autism can be so contradictory that it can be difficult for people “not in the know” to understand: what is the difference between an autistic person and a “regular” person? This material briefly describes the main approaches to defining autism.

Describing autism is a challenging task. This is partly because medical researchers do not yet know what exactly causes it and what processes in the body and brain lead to this disability. Another reason is that the wide variety of symptoms and presentations is itself a feature of autism spectrum disorders.

As a result, it is impossible to provide a universal definition of autism. For example, one person with autism may have many sensory issues, including sensitivity to loudness and high-pitched sounds, while another person may have no sensory sensitivity at all.

We have to settle for a very general definition, for example: Autism is a developmental disorder, neurological in nature, that affects a person's thinking, perception, attention, social skills and behavior. Of course, such a definition will tell you very little specific information.

Another problem is that the vast majority of research and descriptions of autism focus on diagnosing children and the impact of autism on child development tasks - play with peers, learning skills, family relationships, and so on. Although the symptoms of autism do not change after a person with autism becomes an adult, various aspects of autism become less or more important as a result of changes in life demands. Thus, it is not always easy to understand exactly how such a complex disorder affects the lives of adults. Below are several models for understanding autism, each of which partially answers these questions.

Diagnostic model

Most descriptions of what autism is begin by quoting diagnostic criteria from the International Classification of Diseases or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), but this can be misleading to readers since these manuals are diagnostic tools , not for description and understanding. These lists of criteria don't actually tell us what autism is, they just tell us how to decide whether a patient has autism or not.

As stated earlier, one of the hallmarks of autism is the incredible number of possible symptoms that go along with it, and this results in a HUGE amount of diversity among people with autism. Many of these signs are not universal. This means that while every person has at least some of them, no one has all of them, and each person experiences different symptoms. For doctors diagnosing autism, this poses a major challenge.

In order to make a correct diagnosis despite such a variety of manifestations, the compilers of diagnostic manuals must discard all variable signs. They try to describe only the key, core symptoms of autism that are expressed in all patients with this disorder.

Although there is no official confirmation of this, it appears that the compilers of the DSM were guided by the so-called “triad of disorders” proposed by Dr. Lorna Wing and Dr. Judith Gould of England in their groundbreaking 1979 paper (Wing & Gould, 1979). This is sometimes called the Camberwell Study. These researchers were the first to attempt to identify the core features of autism that were present in all children with autism in a large sample. They identified three key areas of impairment that appeared to be present in all of these children:

1. Communication disorders (reduced level or absence of age-appropriate social contacts with other people).

2. Craving for stereotyped or repetitive behavior instead of activities that require imagination.

3. Absence or delay of speech, or characteristic differences in speech.

The DSM classification uses a slightly more complex formula (at least two symptoms from category 1 and at least one symptom from categories 2 and 3), based on the following three categories:

1. Qualitative impairments in social interaction (ability to share, maintain friendships, carry on a conversation, and so on).

2. Qualitative communication disorders.

3. Limited repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities.

Wing and Gould's article also pioneered the use of the term "autism spectrum." Wing and Gould subsequently abandoned a separate category for stereotypic behavior and classified it as disorders of “social imagination.”

The triad of disorders or diagnostic model of autism is our first and most basic description of autism. The problem is that it is designed to answer only one question: “Does this person have autism?” She cannot answer questions such as: “What is it like to have autism?” or “How does autism affect everyday life?” This model also excluded a number of important features associated with autism, simply because not all people with the diagnosis have them. Moreover, it does not help us understand how these three types of “disturbances” are related to each other.

Diagnostic terms

The diagnostic model of autism is closely related to diagnostic terms. There are several “types” of autism, or rather several terms for autism that you may encounter:

Autism

The word “autism” is both a specific diagnosis and an umbrella term for all disorders associated with autism.

In this text, the word “autism” is used in its second, general meaning, and not as a diagnostic term.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

The term autism spectrum disorder covers all conditions associated with autism and reflects the enormous diversity among people with autism. The terms “ASD” and “autism” in the general sense discussed above are synonymous. Wing and Gould noted in their study that although the current description of autism (the first description of autism published by psychiatrist Leo Kanner in 1943) fit many children well, there were an equally large number of children who only partially fit the description.

Wing and Gould noted that there seemed to be a continuum or spectrum of autism symptoms. At that time, there was no formal definition for ASD (although one was added to the fifth edition of the DSM). However, until recently, it was an informal term widely accepted in the autism community.

People with autism are often described as “on the autism spectrum” or “have ASD.”

Pervasive developmental disorder, unspecified

Pervasive developmental disorder is an umbrella term that includes autism, Asperger's syndrome, and several other disorders. When a patient appears to have some type of autism, but does not quite fit the diagnostic formula, they are diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, unspecified or atypical autism. These are often people with lower functioning than people with a formal diagnosis of autism, but not necessarily.

High functioning autism

This is another commonly used term, although it does not have a diagnostic definition. It is used to refer to people who have significant symptoms of autism, but have well-developed language skills and a relatively “normal” intelligence level. The opposite of high-functioning autism is not “low-functioning autism,” as some people believe. This is “classical autism” or “Kanner autism” (named after Leo Kanner, who first described autism).

Asperger's syndrome

This diagnostic term is used to refer to people with autism who also have very well-developed speech (plus they may have other, less noticeable differences). There is debate about whether Asperger's syndrome is different from high-functioning autism or from the general diagnosis of autism, or whether it should be considered an entirely separate disorder. The term “Asperger syndrome” was coined by Lorna Wing, who coined the term “autism spectrum disorder.”

People with Asperger's syndrome face unique life challenges. Because their language abilities are so high, people around them (including professionals) assume that their social and life skills are as developed as their speech. This assumption is incorrect because all people with autism have significant problems with social skills, and this affects their educational and employment opportunities.

Most experts use the terms “Asperger syndrome” and “high-functioning autism” interchangeably.

Most experts agree that people with Asperger's syndrome are people with autism. However, the reverse is not true: not all people with autism have Asperger's syndrome. We can say that Asperger's syndrome is a subtype of autism.

Experience/sensory processing model

Sensory processing disorder is a concept developed by occupational therapist A. Jean Ayres in the 1960s. This disorder is not included in the official diagnostic guidelines, and experts have differing opinions regarding it - some believe that it is a separate disorder, while others believe that it is just a collection of similar symptoms that occur in various developmental disorders. However, issues of sensory perception are often discussed when it comes to autism spectrum disorders, and this is a very interesting way to think about autism (Flanagan, 2009).

Based on this model, behavioral problems and learning disabilities in autism are related to how a person receives, processes, and responds to sensory information. The sensory signals that the brain receives are themselves “typical,” but the brain has difficulty “making sense” of these signals.

Sensory information includes vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste, balance, and proprioception (joint-muscular sense). A person with autism may perceive these sensory signals as being unpleasantly strong (a light is too bright, a sound is too loud or harsh, etc.), or as being too weak or simply incomprehensible. It is hypothesized that sensory processing in autism requires such enormous concentration that the person is less aware of their surroundings, constantly distracted or unable to concentrate, and often experiences irritation.

In the context of autism, it is very interesting to compare this idea with an article by Marjorie Olney (Olney, 2000), in which she analyzed the autobiographical narratives of people with autism and identified common features of their experiences. Among the data from her research were the following:

Feel. People with autism often report having “altered” sensitivity to sounds, touch, sights, tastes, smells and movements. One of the authors recalled that as a child, when she looked at other people, she saw only scattered parts of the body, and not whole people. Many people with autism have reported that sounds or visual information in the background are too distracting for them to filter out.

On the other hand, altered sensations often become a source of great pleasure for many people with autism. They often take pleasure in situations and objects that other people don't even notice.

Attention. Many people with autism say they have difficulty paying attention to more than one sensation at a time. For example, if they are listening to something, they may not be able to simultaneously perceive what they are seeing.

Perception of time and space. Some people with autism have reported severe problems navigating time and space that make it difficult for them to understand what will happen next. As with sensory issues, their perception of time and space may have been reduced or fragmented. As a result, they may not understand “what is happening” in the most ordinary situation, and also experience extreme anxiety in the event of waiting, changing plans, or moving to another activity.

In situations like these, people with autism seem to benefit greatly from familiar activities and objects, as well as a rigid routine.

Self-regulation strategies. Most people with autism reported that they have ways to calm down or cope with their autism symptoms. Such strategies are often met with rituals, rhythmic activities, or repetitive behaviors. Interestingly, these self-soothing activities fit the diagnostic criteria for autism and the Wing and Gould triad of disorders. These seem to be nearly universal among people with autism and may involve rhythmic, monotonous movements such as body rocking, hand shaking, humming, pacing, and other movements without a specific purpose.

Some people with autism say that repetitive movements calm them down and help them cope with hypersensitivity. Others say the movements help them think or concentrate.

For some people with autism, self-regulation strategies include strict daily routines and routines. For example, this could be sorting things and storing them in a strictly defined place. This obsession with routine and order appears to help people with autism cope with severe anxiety, including difficulty navigating time and space.

Olney's list of features from autobiographical accounts of autism demonstrates its similarity to the concept of sensory processing disorder. Together they can be considered a third model of autism. This experience/sensory processing model doesn't tell us anything about the causes of autism, but it does allow us to begin to understand how the different elements of the triad of disorders relate to each other.

Functional model of autism

The functional model of autism does not explain its causes or attempt to link its symptoms together. This is simply a list of the different characteristics of autism that a person may have. Such a list is useful for professionals because it allows them to identify specific features that affect a specific life task and then move on to planning support methods and possible services.

Cognitive sphere

Measurable level of intelligence. The “intelligence” of people with autism can range from very low to very high. IQ level does not depend on the severity of autism symptoms.

Concrete thinking. People with autism often think very concretely rather than abstractly. Their perception of the world can be extremely limited, intense and detailed. This can lead to difficulty understanding complex speech. People with autism learn more easily from demonstrations, visual examples, or diagrams than from verbal instructions.

When it comes to language, people with autism often interpret speech expressions literally. Phrases such as “Keep your mouth shut”, “We'll meet later”, “Cheap words” can confuse them. Taking things literally or not knowing the hidden meaning can lead to negative feelings toward other people, as a person with autism may perceive an optional agreement as a firm promise or believe that everyday advice is an immutable rule.

Attention to detail. Some people with autism have a strong ability to focus on details and notice patterns. They can easily notice that books on a shelf are out of order, that objects on a table are laid out differently, or that the data in a table does not all add up. This trait makes some people with autism very capable at detail-oriented work.

Fixation. Very often, people with autism have a fixation on a favorite topic or activity (this feature is part of the diagnostic criteria). Such people have a very strong motivation to experience, study and think about their favorite topic, and if they have developed speaking abilities, then such people often talk about their favorite topic constantly, which is why they can monopolize the conversation. Some people are attracted to organized systems, such as computers, lists of information, or special types of machines (such as light bulbs or vending machines). A person with autism may also have a fixation on the rhythm of words, counting, or lists of objects. Nonverbal people may have fixations on feeling certain surfaces, repeating complex rituals, or rocking back and forth.

A person with autism's knowledge about a favorite topic or activity can be surprisingly deep, but perhaps also very narrow. Also, a person with autism may not understand that other people are not interested in this topic. However, if a person's instructions, responsibilities, or work tasks match his or her personal fixations, then those fixations can become highly functional.

Communication and two-way communication

Expressive language(oral speech, communication with other people). Some people with autism have advanced language skills and a wide vocabulary. Others have very limited speech skills. Many people with autism, even those with advanced language skills, express emotions through behavior rather than words, but the meaning of each behavior varies from person to person.

It is very important that those around each person with autism understand the meaning of their behavior language.

Receptive language(listening to speech, understanding other people). Most (but not all) people with autism process information better visually than auditorily. When speaking, a person with autism needs long pauses to process verbal information.

A person with autism may also need extra time to answer a question or make a decision. Visual information (diagrams, color coding, symbolic images, written information, etc.) can help a person with autism better understand other people's speech.

Social interaction. The social skills of people with autism vary greatly, but they all have some difficulty in perceiving social cues. Some people with autism seem immersed in their inner world (even though in reality they may be acutely aware of everything going on around them). Other people with autism may be very social and other-oriented, but still have difficulty understanding social situations and choosing appropriate responses. Almost all people with autism can benefit from some form of social skills training.

Eye contact. Lack of eye contact is one of the most noticeable characteristics of people with autism, especially when talking to others. Others may mistakenly perceive a lack of eye contact as inattention, shyness, rudeness, or some other negative emotion. People with autism do not perceive eye contact as important, and some find eye contact uncomfortable. Some people with autism find that making eye contact requires so much concentration that they are unable to simultaneously focus on what the other person is saying.

Behavioral features

Commitment to routine. People with autism often value established routines and will quickly develop new routines in any new environment. Changes in their routine can be very upsetting for them, so it is always advisable to describe the upcoming changes in detail to them in advance. In some cases, a person with autism's routines can become so rigid that they resemble obsessive-compulsive disorder. Likewise, some people with autism prefer a very orderly environment; they may arrange objects in rows, align objects, and so on. A person with autism may experience severe anxiety if things have been moved to other places or if the room is very cluttered.

Cue dependence and difficulty generalizing. Routines are highly valued by people with autism and are often tied to specific elements of the environment. When such cues disappear from a familiar situation, the routine completely falls apart, which can lead to confusion, anxiety and dissatisfaction. You should also remember that you should not teach a person with autism a skill in one setting and then ask them to repeat that skill in a completely different setting. Generalizing a skill to different situations is challenging for people with autism, and whenever possible, the person should be taught in a close environment, using the same cues as in the natural environment.

Problems with gross motor skills. Such difficulties may include general clumsiness, strange posture and gait, or difficulty walking or other movements.

Problems with fine motor skills. Difficulty grasping small objects, problems writing by hand, and so on.

Theory of mind model

The term "theory of mind" does not describe this model very well, but it is often used. Some experts believe that understanding theory of mind is one of the most important facts that anyone who works with people with autism needs to know.

Theory of mind is the innate ability to predict/imagine/understand what other people might be thinking, or what a situation looks like from another person's point of view. For example, having written the previous sentence, the author might think that it is not very clear, and readers may not understand what exactly is meant, perhaps another sentence is needed to clarify it. This is what a model of mind is - the ability to imagine that people reading this sentence do not know the same thing as the author about theory of mind. Another example is if you are about to comment on someone's behavior and you think your comment might upset the other person, then you are using theory of mind.

However, people with autism often have difficulty understanding what other people are thinking, feeling or knowing. As Emmett puts it: “What if I don’t know that your experience is different from mine? What if a sound DOES bother me, but I'm sure it bothers everyone equally, so I just have to grit my teeth and bear it? What if today my leg hurts a lot when I walk, but I don’t realize that you can’t know about it?”

When people are unable to predict/understand that other people think about the same situation differently than themselves, then they are “not based on theory of mind.”

British researcher Simon Baron-Cohen has written extensively about this aspect of autism. In articles following the original Camberwell study, Wing and Gould replaced "interest in stereotypical or repetitive behavior" with "lack of social imagination" (essentially their version of theory of mind) as one of the autism triads. (And this is also not the first mention of theory of mind; it is much older).

Like autism itself, theory of mind is a continuum, so it cannot be said to be either present or completely absent. People with autism often understand that others think differently than they do, but they may still have a harder time understanding what other people think.

Theory of mind explains a feature of autism that the other models mentioned here cannot explain. However, it is by no means a complete model of autism—it does not explain many other symptoms of autism and does not reveal anything about its cause.

Conclusion on Autism Models

None of these models can fully explain or describe autism. In addition, there are other models (neurological, biomedical, etc.) that consider other aspects of autism. It is very important to remember that when you are dealing with a person with a disability, the most important thing is to get to know that particular person, his or her characteristics and needs. These models simply provide us with general patterns from which we can better understand a person with autism.

You can support people with autism in Russia and contribute to the work of the Foundation by clicking on.

Unusual and strange, gifted child or adult. Among boys, autism is several times more common than among girls. There are many causes of the disease, but all of them have not been fully identified. Features of developmental deviations can be noticed in the first 1–3 years of children’s lives.

Who is this autistic person?

They immediately attract attention, be it adults or children. What does autistic mean? This is a biologically determined disease related to general disorders of human development, characterized by a state of “immersion in oneself” and withdrawal from contacts with reality and people. L. Kanner, a child psychiatrist, became interested in such unusual children. Having identified a group of 9 children for himself, the doctor observed them for five years and in 1943 introduced the concept of EDA (early childhood autism).

How to recognize autistic people?

Each person is unique in its essence, but there are similar character traits, behavior, and preferences in both ordinary people and those suffering from autism. There are a general number of features that are worth paying attention to. Autism - signs (these disorders are typical for both children and adults):

• inability to communicate;
• impairment of social interaction;
• deviant, stereotypical behavior and lack of imagination.

Autistic child - signs

Attentive parents notice the first manifestations of the baby’s unusualness very early, according to some sources, before 1 year. Who is an autistic child and what features in development and behavior should alert an adult in order to promptly seek medical and psychological help? According to statistics, only 20% of children have a mild form of autism, the remaining 80% have severe disabilities with concomitant diseases (epilepsy, mental retardation). Starting from a young age, the following signs are characteristic:

With age, the manifestations of the disease can worsen or smooth out, this depends on a number of reasons: the severity of the disease, timely drug therapy, learning social skills and unlocking potential. Who is an autistic adult can be recognized already at the first interaction. Autism - symptoms in an adult:

• has serious difficulties in communication, it is difficult to start and maintain a conversation;
• lack of empathy (empathy) and understanding of the states of other people;
• sensory sensitivity: a simple handshake or touch from a stranger can cause panic in an autistic person;
• disturbance of the emotional sphere;
• stereotypical, ritual behavior that persists until the end of life.

Why are autistic people born?

In recent decades, there has been a surge in the birth rate of children with autism, and if 20 years ago it was one child in 1000, now it is 1 in 150. The numbers are disappointing. The disease occurs in families with different social structures and incomes. Why autistic children are born - the reasons have not been fully elucidated by scientists. Doctors name about 400 factors influencing the occurrence of autistic disorder in a child. Most likely:

• genetic hereditary anomalies and mutations;
• various diseases suffered by a woman during pregnancy (rubella, herpetic infection, diabetes mellitus);
• mother's age after 35 years;
• imbalance of hormones (in the fetus the production of testosterone increases);
• poor ecology, mother’s contact during pregnancy with pesticides and heavy metals;
• vaccinating a child with vaccinations: the hypothesis is not confirmed by scientific data.

Rituals and obsessions of an autistic child

In families where such unusual children appear, parents have many questions to which they need answers in order to understand their child and help develop his potential. Why do autistic people not make eye contact or behave emotionally inappropriately or make strange, ritual-like movements? It seems to adults that the child ignores and avoids contact when he does not make eye contact when communicating. The reasons lie in a special perception: scientists conducted a study which revealed that autistic people have better developed peripheral vision and have difficulty controlling eye movements.

Ritualistic behavior helps the child reduce anxiety. The world with all its changing diversity is incomprehensible to autists, and rituals give it stability. If an adult intervenes and disrupts a child’s ritual, aggressive behavior and self-injury may occur. Finding himself in an unusual environment, an autistic person tries to perform familiar stereotypical actions in order to calm down. The rituals and obsessions themselves are varied, unique for each child, but there are also similar ones:

• twist ropes and objects;
• put toys in one row;
• walk the same route;
• watch the same film many times;
• snapping fingers, shaking their heads, walking on tiptoes;
• wear only clothes that are familiar to them
• eat a certain type of food (meager diet);
• sniffs objects and people.

How to live with autism?

It is difficult for parents to accept that their child is not like everyone else. Knowing who an autistic person is, one can assume that it is difficult for all family members. In order not to feel alone in their misfortune, mothers unite in various forums, create alliances and share their small achievements. The disease is not a death sentence; a lot can be done to unlock the potential and sufficient socialization of a child if he is mildly autistic. How to communicate with autistic people - first understand and accept that they have a different picture of the world:

• take words literally. Any jokes or sarcasm are inappropriate;
• tend to be frank and honest. This can be annoying;
• don't like to be touched. It is important to respect the child's boundaries;
• cannot stand loud sounds and screams; calm communication;
• it is difficult to understand spoken language, you can communicate through writing, sometimes children begin to write poetry in this way, where their inner world is visible;
• there is a limited range of interests where the child is strong, it is important to see this and develop it;
• the child’s imaginative thinking: instructions, drawings, diagrams of the sequence of actions - all this helps learning.

How do autistic people see the world?

Not only do they not make eye contact, but they actually see things differently. Childhood autism later transforms into an adult diagnosis, and it depends on the parents how much their child can adapt to society, and even become successful. Autistic children hear differently: the human voice may not be distinguished from other sounds. They do not look at the whole picture or photograph, but select a tiny fragment and focus all their attention on it: a leaf on a tree, a lace on a shoe, etc.

Self-injury in autistic people

The behavior of an autistic person often does not fit into normal norms and has a number of characteristics and deviations. Self-injury manifests itself in response to resistance to new demands: he begins to bang his head, scream, tear out his hair, and runs out onto the roadway. An autistic child lacks a “sense of edge” and traumatic and dangerous experiences are poorly consolidated. Eliminating the factor that caused the self-injury, returning to a familiar environment, talking through the situation allows the child to calm down.

Professions for autists

Autistic people have a narrow range of interests. Attentive parents can notice the child's interest in a certain area and develop it, which can later make him a successful person. What autistic people can do, given their low social skills, are professions that do not involve long-term contact with other people:

• drawing business;
• programming;
• repair of computers, household appliances;
• veterinary technician, if you love animals;
• various crafts;
• Web design;
• work in the laboratory;
• Accounting;
• working with archives.

How long do autistic people live?

The life expectancy of autistic people depends on the favorable conditions created in the family in which the child, then the adult, lives. The degree of impairment and concomitant diseases, such as epilepsy, profound mental retardation. Accidents and suicide can also be reasons for shorter life expectancy. European countries have explored this issue. People with autism spectrum disorders live 18 years less on average.

Famous autistic personalities

Among these mysterious people there are super-gifted ones or they are also called savants. World lists are constantly updated with new names. A special vision of objects, things and phenomena allows autistics to create masterpieces of art, develop new devices and medicines. Autistic people are increasingly attracting public attention. Famous autists of the world: