Perhaps, it is difficult to find now a person who would not know in general terms what it is. But this knowledge can be abstract, since even in medicine there is still no concept of "typical autism". The causes of this disease are also not established reliably. It is believed that it is inherited and, accordingly, belongs to the category of genetic. The only thing that has been well established so far is that the earlier the disease is detected, the more effective the results of treatment will be. But how to do that? What is autism in children? Let's talk about him.
Autism is a symptomatic disease
Cases of autism in the modern world have become more frequent. If at the beginning of the last century autists were extremely rare (1 child per 5000), now it is 1 per 100 people! This is, of course, a warning sign. He suggests that he is trying to isolate himself from reality, hide in his fragile world.an increasing number of people on earth. Obviously, the connection between the outside world and the person is lost, which leads to such sad consequences.
What is autism in children? Symptoms
The insidiousness of this mental illness lies precisely in the difficulty of its detection in the early stages, and time can be irretrievably lost. The first signs can be noticeable from 1.5 years. Knowing what autism is in children, attentive parents, a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher should identify it.
Most often this is a clear lag behind peers in the development of speech. But there are other signs to watch out for:
- the child is extremely reluctant to communicate with others, but it can be vice versa - he does not distinguish between his own and others;
- is jealous of the space around him, not letting outsiders into it;
- reacts weakly to speech addressed to him;
- stubbornly refuses to make eye contact;
- prone to rhythmic movements, tends to arrange everything in a row, has strange habits that absorb him for a long time, for example, the baby loves to swing, tap, rub against something or pull his hair, etc.;
- a special approach to play, for example, the child prefers to play with part of the toy, and not with it as a whole;
- unexpectedly reacts to what is happening: can laugh, hit, or cry in response to a smile, does not like gentle touches;
- does not open the door himself, but uses your hand to do this or instead of asking for something,crying;
- panics at any change in environment, diet or daily routine;
- does not ask questions.
These are far from all the signs hiding under the definition of "autism". Parents can only be helped in identifying it by specialists who should be contacted as soon as possible if at least a few of the listed symptoms are present in your baby's behavior.
What is autism in children in terms of physiology
Researchers have determined that autism is a malfunction of the frontal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for the cognitive process. Because of this, the baby has reduced or no interest in the environment, in people. And this feature causes fear of any changes, aggression and misunderstanding of other people's feelings and emotions.
Violations lead to the fact that the child is not aware of the possibilities of speech, communication and many other processes. He does not understand that some needs can be satisfied with the help of spoken words, and therefore does not respond to the speech addressed to him. This causes an inability to ask for help, answer questions, or empathize with someone.
True, there is another form of autism, in which the patient, against the background of a general lag, has an incredibly developed talent that manifests itself without special training.
