AUTISM: SYMPTOMS, TYPES, CAUSES, TREATMENTS - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The Autism is a disorder of development that is mainly characterized by the presence of more or less serious difficulties in areas such as social interaction and communication, as well as the appearance of repetitive and restricted behaviors. Generally the first symptoms can be noticed before three years of age.

Autism spectrum disorders can have very varied symptoms, and it is not clear why they appear or how to treat them. It is currently believed that they can be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and it is known that exposure to certain substances such as alcohol or cocaine during pregnancy increases the chances that the child will develop one of them.

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Autism affects the way a person's brain processes information, although exactly how this happens is not known. The symptoms can be more or less severe depending on the autism spectrum disorder we are dealing with: for example, experts differentiate between Asperger's and autism itself.

Today there is no known way to cure autism, although certain types of speech or behavior therapy can help people with this disorder lead more normal lives. On the other hand, some people believe that it is not a disease but a different way of functioning, and that therefore it should be accepted rather than trying to solve it.

Today autism is believed to affect approximately 25 million people worldwide, and the numbers have been increasing since the 1960s.

Symptoms of autism

Autism is an extremely variable disorder, and therefore each person has different symptoms and to different degrees. Due to this, the diagnosis generally does not depend on a specific symptom, but on the presence of several signs that indicate a greater or lesser probability that the person suffers from this disorder.

The symptoms of autism are classified mainly in four areas: social development, communication, repetitive behaviors, and other symptoms. Next we will see what each of them includes.

- Social development

One of the main differentiating factors between autism and other developmental disorders is the presence of deficits in social development. People who suffer from this disease have more or less serious difficulties in understanding aspects of interactions with others that others take for granted.

This deficit in social development begins to be apparent already in the first years of life. Autistic children pay less attention to social stimuli, smile less, and do not respond as intensely to their own name. These first details are getting worse, until giving rise to a series of symptoms that make it difficult for people with this disorder to function easily in a social environment.

Many aspects of social development are affected by autism spectrum disorders. For example, people with problems of this type have difficulty looking others in the eye, tend to have less empathy than normal, and show difficulties in recognizing the emotions of others or taking them as valid.

All of these symptoms cause children with autism but average or above cognitive abilities to feel lonely more often and have a more insecure than normal attachment style. In addition, they often suffer a strong rejection by the people around them, and they can be harassed or attacked due to their condition.

- Communication

Approximately one third of people with autism are unable to develop sufficient speech skills to communicate functionally in their daily lives. The rest usually show more or less serious problems in this area, which, although they do not prevent them from making themselves understood, do hinder their functioning in society.

In addition to these difficulties with normal speech, people with autism may also have other symptoms related to communication. One of the most common is echolalia, or indiscriminate repetition of words or sounds heard.

On the other hand, non-verbal communication also often causes problems for people with some type of autism. For example, when someone points to an object with their finger, they are more likely to look at the finger than to observe the object itself. In addition, their body language is often different from that of normotypical people.

- Repetitive behavior

The presence of repetitive behaviors is another of the most common characteristics of people with autism. These can occur in many different ways, such as with the presence of stereotyped behaviors or with the appearance of rituals that the individual must follow in order not to suffer from very high degrees of stress.

For example, among the stereotyped movements we can find some such as unusual movements with the hands, head turns, or rocking of the whole body. On the other hand, ritual and compulsive behaviors would include elements such as always taking the same thing to eat, opening and closing the door several times before leaving the house, or having a way of doing each routine that cannot be abandoned.

On the other hand, people with autism are often strongly resistant to change and feel very stressed when something important changes in their lives. Their interests are often restricted as well, and they tend to obsess over unusual topics that lead them to neglect other aspects of their lives.

- Other symptoms

The signs of autism are extremely varied, and therefore there are some of them that cannot easily be classified into any of the above categories. For example, some people with autism display far below average intelligence but exhibit extraordinary ability in a particular field, such as math or memorization.

Other symptoms have to do with sensory sensitivity. Many people with an autism spectrum disorder show great discomfort in the face of cold or heat, or are able to perceive sounds that are barely audible to others.

Types of autism

There is no single type of autism, but different disorders are considered to exist within the autism spectrum. Although there is no general consensus on what they are, below we will look at some of the most common.

- Asperger syndrome

Formerly this syndrome was considered a separate disorder from autism, but today it is believed that it is actually a more moderate version of it because its symptoms are very similar.

People with Asperger's often have normal or above-average intelligence, but they have certain difficulties in their communication, their relationship with others, and other related areas.

Normally, Asperger's syndrome allows the person who suffers it to function with a certain normality in their day-to-day life. Depending on the level of intelligence of the individual, the symptoms will be more or less evident for the rest of the people, although generally they will cause difficulties in different areas.

- Autism

What is known today as autism proper is one of the most severe forms that autism spectrum disorders can take. Although some of the people who suffer from it can lead a more or less normal life, most need the help of others to be able to manage correctly in their day to day life.

As we have already seen, the symptoms of autism vary enormously in each case, but generally have to do with the presence of a below-average intelligence, difficulties in the field of communication and social skills, and a series of rigid behaviors or stereotyped.

- Disintegrative Disorder of Childhood

Considered the most severe version of autism spectrum disorders, childhood disintegrative disorder occurs in children who are apparently developing normally but who suddenly lose almost all of their social and language skills until they develop symptoms of autism more severe for the rest of his life.

Causes

To this day, it is not known for sure what the causes of autism spectrum disorders are. Formerly it was thought that they could have to do with certain problems in attachment or in the relationship with parents, but currently this hypothesis has been completely discarded.

On the contrary, today experts think that autism is caused by a series of environmental and genetic factors that are interrelated to cause the symptoms that we have described above. However, it has not yet been possible to determine exactly what these factors would be.

On the other hand, there is an alternative theory that raises the possibility that autism is simply a different way of interpreting reality, and that therefore it should not be considered as a disorder.

Treatments

There are some documented cases of people who had symptoms of autism during their childhood but who managed to overcome them in different ways. However, nowadays an effective treatment for this disorder is not known, and therefore the interventions are more focused on alleviating the most severe symptoms.

Thus, depending on the specific characteristics of the person being treated, different techniques can be used to help them manage their emotional distress, improve their social skills, promote their ability to speak and generally allow them to function more easily in your day to day.

References

1. "What is autism?" in: Autism Speaks. Retrieved on: April 19, 2020 from Autism Speaks: autismspeaks.org.
2. "Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)" in: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on: April 19, 2020 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: cdc.gov.
3. "Autism: Symptoms and Signs" in: Medicinenet. Retrieved on: April 19, 2020 from Medicinenet: medicinenet.com.
4. "What Are the Types of Autism Spectrum Disorders?" in: Web MD. Retrieved on: April 19, 2020 from Web MD: webmd.com.
5. "Autism" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: April 19, 2020 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.