{"id":345649,"date":"2020-05-01T08:37:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T08:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/defining-autism-in-5-questions\/"},"modified":"2020-05-01T08:37:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-01T08:37:26","slug":"defining-autism-in-5-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/defining-autism-in-5-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining Autism in 5 Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;My child is different.&#8221; This simple observation is often what triggers a great many questions, doubts and worries. Some signs are unmistakable, but others are less obvious when it comes to spotting a form of autism in your child. Autism spectrum disorders are linked by manifestations common to everyone affected by them. Yet abilities and certain behaviours can vary from one extreme to the other depending on the individual. Here is a definition of this disability, which is difficult to pin down.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is autism?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that develop early on, that is, before birth. Once classified into categories of autism, Kanner&#8217;s, Asperger&#8217;s, PDD-NOS, etc., these disorders are now grouped under a single name: autism spectrum disorders (ASD). People with autism show great disparities in intellectual abilities. The first signs mainly appear between 18 and 36 months.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Does autism show itself the same way in everyone?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Signs common to all people with ASD have indeed been identified, in particular:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Impaired social interactions<\/strong>: in other words, there is no openness to others or to the environment. A child with autism establishes almost no contact with the world around them. Their difficulty expressing their own emotions comes together with an inability to understand those of others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Difficult communication: <\/strong>lack of coherence, disorganised speech, or echoed repetitions of words and phrases are observed in children with ASD in both spoken and non-verbal communication.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A refusal of change and stereotyped behaviour: <\/strong>this involves uncontrollable repetitive movements, hand-flapping and rocking of the body, which reflect an autistic disorder. Day to day, these behaviours also show up as a deep need for routine and heightened resistance to the slightest change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These characteristics considerably hinder the child&#8217;s social relationships and almost systematically lead to learning difficulties. Even though these behavioural changes only become apparent over the first years of life, certain signs should nonetheless alert parents from the first few months, and more specifically from 18 months onward:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The child is too calm or, on the contrary, too excitable. They seem indifferent to sounds and to the people around them. They do not respond to their name and react little or not at all to separations and reunions. They do not smile (or rarely) and remain silent. They do not make eye contact, do not play &#8220;peekaboo&#8221;, do not point, and do not try to imitate adults.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Source: INSERM (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Notable differences between children with ASD are found in particular in communication abilities. The disability can indeed prove profound, with a total absence of communication, or conversely it can come with very advanced, even exceptional, language skills, revealing remarkable intellectual potential. The same disparity is seen in the intelligence of people with autism, ranging from severe developmental delay to giftedness.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What causes autism?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There is no known cause for the appearance of autism, or at least none has been established to date. The WHO and the international scientific community agree on an abnormality in brain development during gestation. The origin of autism nonetheless seems to be largely linked to genetics, even though multiple factors come into play. Indeed, it has been clearly shown that genetic predispositions exist. Several people with autism spectrum disorders, at various levels of intensity, are therefore generally found within the same family.<\/p>\n<p>The likelihood of a second autistic child being born into a family already affected is 3%, which is around 60 times higher than in the general population.<\/p>\n<p>Another line of research points to a slowdown in the normal process of pruning synapses (the points where cells communicate with one another) during brain development. Indeed, a real excess of synapses has been observed in both adults and children with autism.<\/p>\n<p>The last serious lead points to harmful environmental factors such as pollution and heavy metals. This theory would suggest that some children could be born typical, but that outside factors could then trigger autism.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Is autism an obstacle to learning?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Although autistic syndrome is not systematically linked to an intellectual disability, the behavioural difficulties that come with it are, most of the time, obstacles to schooling for children with ASD. And yet nothing is impossible, and parents have a decisive role to play. Everything starts with a diagnosis. It must be made as early as possible. Early intervention is a major asset for the child&#8217;s schooling and future life. Once autism is confirmed, associated difficulties can also be treated accordingly, as it is not unusual for <a href=\"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/les-troubles-de-lenfant-la-dyslexie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>dyslexia<\/u><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/la-dyspraxie-trouble-dacquisition-de-la-coordination\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>dyspraxia<\/u><\/a>, or even <a href=\"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/la-dysphasie-les-yeux-qui-parlent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>dysphasia<\/u><\/a> to be associated with it.<\/p>\n<p>France&#8217;s law of 11 February 2005 established the right to schooling for children with disabilities, and in particular for those with autistic disorders. However, autism is classified as a pervasive behavioural disorder, accompanied by difficulties with social interaction and communication.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><em>In France, 60 to 70% of autistic children are not enrolled in school<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Source: Autisme info service<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em> <\/em>On top of this come cognitive problems that hinder understanding of the knowledge taught and how to apply it depending on context. A pupil with autism struggles to process information as a whole or to bring it together. Everything is fragmented in their mind. Planning, adapting and evaluating are not part of an autistic pupil&#8217;s abilities, and their schooling suffers as a result. At playtime, their difficulty understanding emotions hurts their socialisation. Unable to recognise, interpret and anticipate their classmates&#8217; behaviour, these pupils find it very hard to fit in. And yet, with good support and early intervention, a child can open up to the world and find their place:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Between 0 and 3, I didn&#8217;t know him. I couldn&#8217;t reach him. He was overwhelmed by his difficulties. There are still a few rigidities, but he&#8217;s come a long way. We&#8217;ve found a real connection and interact with him much more now. He&#8217;s a very cheerful little boy. He has his place at school and is liked by his classmates.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Testimony from H\u00e9l\u00e8ne, mother of Paul, aged 5, diagnosed at two and a half, for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voixdespatients.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>Voix des Patients<\/u><\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Personalised plans and support services encourage mainstream schooling for pupils with ASD. Among them, the ULIS TED units (specialised inclusion units within mainstream schools) allow pupils who cannot join an ordinary class to be schooled at primary and secondary level.<\/p>\n<p>There are also the UEM (Nursery Teaching Units), whose classes school seven pupils full-time, with early, personalised, comprehensive and coordinated interventions in place, as recommended by the HAS (French National Authority for Health). The Ministry also plans to:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;triple the number of autism nursery teaching units (UEMa) so that all children can be enrolled in school at age 3, including those with more severe disorders.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>National Strategy for Autism 2018-2022<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Can autism be treated?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While there is no curative treatment for autism, early diagnosis and intervention help children learn to communicate with others and cope better with the disability day to day. This support should be reassessed at least once a year in order to adjust the approaches and methods chosen to help the child. This care includes psychoeducational support delivered in a playful way. It develops the child&#8217;s language, motor skills, emotional management and cognitive abilities, working towards a degree of independence and social interaction. The National Strategy for Autism (2018-2022) builds on previous national plans. It is based on the inclusion of people with autism in society, respect for their choices and those of their family, the allocation of resources to professionals so they can act, the creation of an excellence research network, and a focus on care methods recognised as effective because they have been rigorously evaluated.<\/p>\n<p><em>Download the <a href=\"https:\/\/handicap.gouv.fr\/IMG\/pdf\/strategie_nationale_autisme_2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><u>National Strategy for Autism<\/u><\/a> (French government document).<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;My child is different.&#8221; This simple observation is often what  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":345650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,341,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-345649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parental-guidance","category-psychology","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}