By Syed Noha Farooq
The world shatters in front of us when we hear the very diagnosis of “Autism”! According to MIT researchers, nearly half of the population will be autistic by 2025. The incidence has been increasing drastically worldwide.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave. Although autism can be diagnosed at any age, it is described as a “developmental disorder” because symptoms generally appear in the first 2 years of life.
Every person with autism will be affected differently. Some people have a more challenging time with social, learning, or communication abilities. They may need help with everyday tasks and in some cases aren’t able to live alone. Many people call this “low-functioning autism.”
Other people may have autism with less obvious symptoms. They often do well and school and have fewer problems communicating. People usually call this “high-functioning autism.”
Usually parents who are unaware of the symptoms wait for their child to learn speech at a slower pace. They quote a far relative who was speech delayed and waste their time in prompt analysis by a child psychiatrist. This misses out on early intervention phase when the child is still very young and can learn quickly.
The most distressing factor is the time when either parent or both are in denial! This makes it even more challenging for the child to cope with the challenges ahead !
One has to be open to accept all the possible outcomes when trusting a resource to treat their child. Often the most traumatizing experience relates to changing of one center to another for both parents and the child .
In today’s growing population, the challenges often lie in finding the best center or school for treating autism. The ability to step away from a fake and a trusted source is really a tough job with the dangerous possibility of falling prey to the “money-makers”!
Most parents have the “Trail and Error” method in which they take the fake encounters as trials before falling for another. The reviews can be bought and people post it to trap innocent parents.
Special children as such, have not much privilege when it comes to schooling or therapies in India. The rising cost of living and expenses if there are other school going children in the same family, increases tension for the parents.
Financial crisis is always a huge underrated factor when it comes to planning a special child’s education and therapy. With no proper guidelines, people who are not graduated in the field take up teaching as experts gaining confidence from parents though their style of talking . This increases their demand in the job market because they are easily available for a small amount compared to those who have higher degrees in the same field.
When compared to the damage done to the child at the hands of these “ so called experts”, it’s a very costly and misfortunate journey. The child who is non verbal, cannot express his needs verbally, usually fall prey to physical, mental and emotional trauma which takes years to come out of. It aggravates their behavior and often ends up in a complex scenario.
A child can be taken in greedily by a school or organisation and can be left unattended or even locked in a room where he can experience fear. This can be worse if he has any impending phobia such as closed spaces or unventilated areas, dark spaces etc.
Medically speaking, such kids maybe like any other child without any additional factors. Some studies suggest dietary supplements of Omega 3 fatty acids to children to assist in the development of the brain while it grows at a very fast pace in the early stages of childhood.
Those who consume eggs and fish early during childhood in their meals can skip this. The dilemma is often seen with the consistency of particular slimy wet foods such as fruits, souls etc which children are sensitive to and often avoid.
Their likeness to a particular kind of food leads to often different kinds of deficiency in their body manifested in their skin, hair and nails . Its often best to consult a family doctor whom the child is comfortable with.
The plasma GABA and glutamate levels are altered in children with ASD. This imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms in the GABA and glutamate neurophysiology has been linked to other neurodevelopmental disorders such as global developmental delay and mental retardation, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.
Most children have noted sleep disorders. Increasingly, researchers are recognizing that sleep is critical for brain development and health. “Sleep disturbance impacts cognition, it impacts mood, and it impacts behavior,” she says — domains that are also affected by autism. By improving sleep, symptoms in these areas may also improve.
Half of children who have autism have trouble falling or staying asleep, which may make their symptoms worse. Scientists are just beginning to explore what goes wrong in the midnight hour.
It’s unclear exactly why or how sleep is derailed more often in people with autism than in the general population, but a few theories or school of thought blames malfunctions in the body’s 24-hour biological ‘clock’ — called the circadian rhythm — perhaps due to dysregulation of the hormone melatonin, which is involved in controlling the sleep-wake cycle. Poor slumber is known to arise from any number of other causes, too: medication side effects, too much stimulation at bedtime or medical disorders ranging from anxiety and epilepsy to restless legs syndrome and gastrointestinal problems.
Poor sleep exacerbates some of the classic difficulties of autism, such as being easily excitable, prone to repetitive behaviors and having trouble with social interactions, communication and attention. Chronic lack of shut-eye can intensify stress and anxiety in fatigued mothers and fathers, too, which may in turn affect their parenting and interactions with their children.
A recent National Autistic Society survey found 47% of autistic people fall into the severe anxiety category based on GAD diagnostic criteria.
Difficult social situations and sensory environments can increase stress and increase anxiety for autistic people.
Another significant cause of anxiety is a sense of being misunderstood and/or not accepted by non-autistic people. To ‘fit in’ and not be seen as different, autistic people might mask or camouflage. This can increase anxiety and have a negative effect on their mental health.
Other reasons that autistic people may experience anxiety include:
1) A change to routine, particularly an unexpected change
2) Difficulty identifying, understanding and managing emotions (also known as alexithymia).
Experiencing such high levels of anxiety can lead to exhaustion and meltdowns. It may also lead to autistic fatigue and burnout. This can significantly affect a person’s quality of life, such as their physical and mental health, work/school and social life.
Although there are many interventions including yoga, water therapy, heavy blankets , routine exercises that require tiring activities like heavy bucket lifting or calming activity like blanket roll, massages, it depends upon the expertise and the approach to the child. The children sense aggression in an Individual hence those who are not passionate on helping children and show rude or aggressive behavior often tend to get a reciprocate response.
The most common concern of the mother’s is either the idleness of the child or his exploring nature tending to end up in a mess. Hence they let the child watch television while the are done. This becomes an addiction so much so that without the television, the child won’t even have his meals. Much to the parents dismay , they have to give in to the demands of the child.
Screen time has caused a lot of damage to young children’s brains mostly during the COVID outbreak . As the household responsibilities increased, the children got addicted to additional screen time. Lack of proper coordination and family time made them stuck to a certain level where they were before COVID . If the child was born as compared to a child who was already 2 years of age, there was a remarkable difference in the development of speech . The child showed delayed speech in the new born depending on his screen time but the one who was already saying few words declined all the way to no words at all . This is one of the signs of autism where there is a total loss of language after a certain level of speech noted by parents or caregivers
A lot has been done primarily at the level of the home to tune back speech into the young minds. Some families have taken up joint lunch programs where they make the children sit together and have their meals without any device. This at the end of the program, the children enjoy their meals without the need of any screen !
Their minds begin to explore the possibilities and their curiosity is led by their brain . This is a crucial period where a child can regain his lost connection with the real world . The virtual world takes time to step out but the curiosity of the things around the child makes them think of what to do next .
It’s is a process that needs complete patience, perseverance and dedication and continuing effort to let the child lead with confidence. Continuous input is needed to get step by step results. Nothing can be achieved overnight . No school is magic and no therapist can work wonders in a day.
The most important thing is the role of a mother. She is the most powerful tool in shaping her children . The stronger and dedicated she is, the sooner the best results are achievable.
The future will certainly have men and women autistic at different levels in different walks of life. Marriages will happen between autistic individuals and life will continue. Linguistic ability may differ but the world will have to accept the new norm.
By Syed Noha Farooq
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