Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(AUTISM)
A Research Presented to
PANABO CITY
Submitted by:
JESSYL L. VISILLAS
Student
1
DEDICATION
I humbly dedicated it
first
Is to my instructor in
Thank You!
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title ……………………………………………………… 1
Dedication ……………………………………………………… 2
Problem ……………………………………………………… 7
Chapter I
Problem I ……………………………………………………… 8 – 11
Chapter II
Problem II ……………………………………………………… 12 –
14
Chapter III
Bibliography ……………………………………………………… 17
References ……………………………………………………… 18
3
INTRODUCTION
The reason of this research is to have a clear vision about autism. Autism is a
brain development disorder or development disability that impairs social interaction and
communication. Autism usually showing up in children before age three (3). It may be
the result of a disruption in the development of the brain before a baby is born. It affects
early brain development, and its effects usually continue throughout a person’s life.
Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child’s life. Early behavioral or
cognitive intervention can help children gain self-care, social, and communication skills.
Few children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood and some become
successful.
Autism, according to the experts, there is nothing wrong with the brain matter,
only in the aspect of organization or mental processing. It is like a child has a world of his
own and cannot connect with the outside world. An autistic child is like someone inside a
prison cell and would like to communicate, but the brain process has no ability to do so.
They perform things repetitively like rocking their bodies or banging their heads.
How ever, children who have this problem do not have the same level of autism.
Some are trainable and can perform simple jobs, but their activities need to be regular and
permanent. A sudden change in their routine can disrupt their abilities and may cause
In a few research, no medical test can diagnose autism. The diagnosis is made by
observing the way a child communicates and behaves. The characteristics that indicate
autism can range from mild to severe and occur in any combination. Language may be
slow to develop, or the child may used gesture instead of words or attach unusual
4
meanings to words. Other characteristics that may indicate autism includes little interest
in making friends, preferring to spend time along rather than with others and not
responding to smiles.
A child or adult with autism often has other medical conditions. Some of these
Like Auditory and vestibular pathways in the brainstem were implicated in some
studies (Ornitz, 1985; Ornitz & Ritvo, 1968) but these findings could not be replicated in
autistic subjects, these have not been specific for autism and have also been found in non-
Kemper and Bauman (1993) reported small, densely packed cells in the
hippocampus and amygdale and suggested that this reflected an immature pattern of
immature in the diagonal band of Broca, which projects cholinergic afferents to the
THE PROBLEM
What is Autism?
Chapter I
PROBLEM I
5
What is Autism?
mild disorder all the way to a severe disorder, and everything in between. That's why it is
called a spectrum disorder, because it covers a wide range or spectrum of the severity of
the disorder. It is also called a disability, or learning disability. It is something that you are
born with, and so far, doctors and specialists do not know what causes it. The way it is
diagnosed is there are a list of specific behaviors, and if a child has or exhibits a large
number of those behaviors, they are considered to have autism. The specific behaviors
include: not making direct eye contact with another person, they prefer to play alone
rather than in a group, they generally don't like physical contact like being hugged or
touched in other ways. Also, kids with autism either never speak, or learn to speak early
on, then stop speaking all of a sudden. Some people with autism do speak, many in an
echolalic manner (meaning they repeat what is said to them, and usually do not start a
conversation.) Children (and adults) with autism usually like things done in a certain
order, and do not like change or disruption of their routine. Some may look at their hands
while flapping them close to their face, or may take an object like a piece of paper or
fabric, and flip it back and forth while staring at it. Often, a child with autism has a more
severe learning disability and have some degree of mental retardation (but not always.)
Some may be very smart, even learning numbers and letters by memory, or recognize
pictures or people, after only seeing them one time. People that are verbal, will often
show a great deal of intelligence in certain areas like remembering peoples names, dates,
geography, numbers and many other things. Also, if their routine is changed, they may
become very upset for no apparent reason other than change in routine. Some people with
6
autism can read, write and do math, while others may never do those things. It is a very
complicated disorder, and everyone with autism has a set of behaviors that is different
from others. They do not always show every behavior mentioned above.
Autism is a disability that occurs when there has been a disorder to the central
nervous system of the body. Often, persons may confuse autism with a mental disorder,
which is incorrect. Autism impacts the ability of the individual to communicate and
interact with other people, but is not a sign of mental deficiency.when it comes to what
actually causes autism, there are many different opinions. Some favor genetic origins of
autism, what others believe autism is more rooted in environmental factors. There is one
and vaccines. The fact is there is not currently any agreement of what factors can lead to
autism, and which autism causes are more common than others.
There are number of symptoms or behavior patterns that indicate the presence of
autism. As an example, a child with autism may not respond when his or her name is
called. A person with autism will be unable to articulate that he or she wants a glass of
water. Words come slowly to the person with autism. Autism may be present if the
individual finds it hard to work or play with others. A person with autism may fear being
touched by another human being. A person with autism may be slavish in following a
certain way to do things, such as always putting on a shirt before putting on pants.
When it comes to treatment of autism, the types of therapies used to deal with
autism will vary, often depending on the symptoms that are displayed. There is no
miracle drug that reverses the effects of autism, nor is there one single form of ongoing
therapy that would be considered a core therapy that would be modified in order to meet
the demands of different cases of autism. Even so, there are many of the therapies
7
employed to help a person with autism that depend a great deal on repetition and positive
Chapter II
PROBLEM II
The answer is yes, there is a possibility to inherit autism, since autism has many
causes. Some individuals may have a genetic form of autism. If possible, the underlying
8
cause for the autistic-like behavior must be identified. Several inherited disorders are
determine whether the behavior is the result of one of these well known genetic disorders.
If specific testing indicates one of these disorders is responsible for the behavior, the
age and ability. Its defining features, impairments in socialization, communication, and
imagination, (Frith, 1991) are present in different forms at all stages of development. One
of the earliest signs thought to be specific to autism is a lack of pointing and looking to
share interest and attention with another person. However, in children with global
developmental delays, this behavior would also be expected to emerge later, and hence
would lack specificity to autism. Losche (1990) reviewed early home movies of autistic
and nonautistic subjects and concluded that the timing and sequence of developmental
gains differs between normal and autistic children only from the second year of life. It
may therefore be difficult to make the diagnosis of autism with confidence prior to ages
Among children diagnosed with autism, the grade school years bring divergent
paths of development which may represent different subtypes of the disorder (Cohen,
Paul, & Volkmar, 1987). With some exceptions, language and general intellectual ability
go hand in hand (Frith, 1991). In AS, fluent speech is usually achieved by the age of five
9
In adolescence, the AS individuals may vaguely realize that they are different
from others and that they are excluded from many interpersonal relationships (Kanner,
1971). Although they amass many facts about the world, their knowledge remains
fragmented and they continue to have difficulty in the meaningful, integrated execution
and adequate academic abilities are often described as lacking in common sense.
typically remain egocentric and isolated (Volkmar, 1987). Use of language and gestures
remains stilted, and they seldom enter the natural flow of conversation. Difficulties often
arise in living and working with other people and psychiatric intervention may be helpful
(Frith, 1991).
Chapter III
PROBLEM II
Genetic Causes
epidemiological studies. Estimates for sibling frequency have ranged from 2-6 %, 50-150
times the frequency in the general population (Rutter & Bartak, 1971). Ritvo (1989) in a
study of a relatively large autistic sample estimated the overall risk of recurrence to be
10
8.6%. In Ritvo's sample, if the first autistic child was male, the recurrence risk was 7%; if
the first autistic child was female, the recurrence rate was 14.5%. In an overview of these
studies, Ciaranello & Ciaranello (1995) concluded that all of the studies may
underestimate the recurrence rate due to a tendency to stop having children after the birth
of an autistic child. However, the extent to which these stoppage rules apply among
the disorder; diagnostic ambiguities; and stoppage rules. Smalley et al (1988, 1991) have
proposed that autism is the result of multifactorial inheritance and genetic heterogeneity.
Twin studies further support a genetic basis for autism. Studies completed by a number of
researchers (e.g. Ritvo Freeman, Mason-Brothers, & Ritvo, 1985; Steffenburg, Gillberg,
Hellgren, & Anderson, 1989) concur that there is a much greater degree of concordance
Why the increase? No one knows for sure. Some epidemiologists point to a
key contributing factors. Others consider the potential impact of environmental factors
(e.g., toxins) as a contributing cause. As more and more research is funded and completed
instances, the autism is said to be idiopathic, meaning that the behavior is secondary to an
unknown cause. These non-specific answers can be frustrating for parents or family
11
CONCLUSION
In this research study, the researcher includes individuals and families with
idiopathic autism because these are the individuals most likely to carry the gene or genes
For families that have one child with idiopathic autism, there is an increased risk
of having another child with autism. This recurrence risk is estimated to be about four
percent which is greater than that found in families that do not have a child with autism.
the hypothesis that autism may be a metabolic disease which arises from a defect in some
12
biochemical pathway. With the exception of the occasional association of autism with a
that implicates neuronal maturation defects, particularly in the cerebellum and limbic
structures. These deficits do not appear to be reflected in the size or metabolic activity of
implicates the cerebellum and the limbic forebrain, at the cellular level, suggesting
In a study which compared PET results of young men with AS and normal
controls, both groups showed increased regional blood flow in the left frontal lobe in
connection with metalizing tasks. However the specific area of activity differed between
the two groups. These researchers suggested that difficulty in metalizing activity may be
associated with dysfunctional activity in the medial portion of the left frontal lobe
13
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ornitz, E.M. & Ritvo, E.R. (1968). Perceptual inconstancy in early infantile autism.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 18, 76-98.
Ritvo, E.R., Freeman, B.J., Mason-Brothers, A., Mo, A., & Ritvo, A.M. (1985).
Concordance for the syndrome of autism in 46 pairs of afflicted twins. American Journal
of Psychiatry, 142, 74-7.
Volkmar, F.R. (1987). Social development. In D.J. Cohen, A.M. Donnellan & R. Paul
(eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. New York: Wiley.
Wing, L. (1991). The relationship between Asperger's syndrome and Kanner's autism. In
U. Frith(Ed.) Autism and Asperger Syndrome (pp. 93-121). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
14
Kanner, L. (1971). Follow-up study of eleven autistic children originally reported in
1943. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1, 119-45.
REFERENCES
Cohen, D., Paul, R. & Volkmar, F. (1987). Issues in the classification of pervasive
developmental disorders and associated conditions. In D. Cohen, A. Donnellan, & R. Paul
(Eds.), Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. New York: Wiley
& Sons.
Ciaranello, A.L. & Ciaranello, R.D. (1995). The neurobiology of infantile autism.
Annual Review of Neuroscience, 18, 101-28.
Frith, U. (Ed.) (1991). Autism and Asperger syndrome. Cambridge UK: University Press.
Ozonoff, S., Rogers, S.J., & Pennington, B.F. (1991). Asperger's syndrome: Evidence of
an empirical distinction from high-functioning autism. Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, 32, 1107-22.
15