Autism in children

Autism in children is a very difficult disease to treat, and it is often ignored because the children are young and their parents do not understand this aspect. Children with autism are often called "star children". Due to lack of communication with the outside world, they lock their hearts in a closed environment. These children usually show symptoms such as intellectual retardation, and parents need to discover and treat them early.

What is autism in children

Childhood autism is a subtype of pervasive developmental disorder, which is more common in males. The onset of the disease begins in infancy and is mainly manifested by varying degrees of speech development disorders, interpersonal communication disorders, narrow interests and stereotyped behaviors. About 3/4 of the patients have obvious mental retardation, and some children have good abilities in certain aspects despite their general intellectual disability.

Causes of autism in children

Although autism cannot be diagnosed through a single test, the major factors that lead to autism in children can be determined through symptom characteristics, medical history data and social function.

1. Tense family atmosphere

According to statistics, the number of children suffering from autism is currently about 3.5 times that of the past. This is related to the fact that parents are busy with work and have no time to accompany their children or they are impatient and lack patience towards their children. The incidence of autism in children used to be around 2 per 1,000, but now it is around 7 per 1,000.

2. Environmental and information pollution

Autism ranks high on a list of so-called "modern diseases," and one of the main culprits for the increasing number of autistic children is environmental and information pollution. Human beings are surrounded and overwhelmed by information, causing some people to subconsciously reject information and become tired of interpersonal communication, which is then "projected" onto future generations. The intensification of social competition and the increase in survival pressure have led to a lack of family love, which is also a major cause of autism.

3. Genetic factors

Among 20% ​​of autistic patients, their families can be found to have intellectual disability, language delay and other autism-like characteristics. In addition, 10% of autistic boys have chromosomal fragility.

4. Related to the organism itself

After five years of research, the chromosomes that cause autism in children were discovered. This discovery has completely solved the mystery of autism and brought new hope for the prevention and treatment of autism. Until now, the brain development and activity of children with autism have not been observed.

5. Abnormal immune function

The human immune function is a very important component. When a child is injured, the number of lymphocytes with immune function will decrease, and the ability to resist infection will also decline. Research shows that children with autism generally have lower immunity than normal children of the same age and have poorer physical constitution.

6. Neurotransmitter factors

Children's behavior is closely related to neurotransmitters. Research surveys have shown that a decrease in the activity of serotonin or dopamine in the central nervous system is a key factor leading to autism. Abnormalities in neurotransmitters can cause children to become lonely and unable to establish harmonious relationships with people around them. Children with this disorder will have language and cognitive impairments and try their best to avoid eye contact with people.

7. Brain injury

Factors including incomplete brain development caused by distressed miscarriage during pregnancy, premature birth, difficult labor, neonatal brain injury during delivery, and brain damage caused by encephalitis, meningitis and other diseases in infancy may increase the chance of autism.

8. Brain tissue damage

If the mother is stimulated or traumatized during the embryonic period, it will cause certain damage to the child's brain nerves and damage the brain tissue. These will cause children to suffer from neurological syndromes, which will be very detrimental to their future development.

9. Viral infections during pregnancy

A woman may be infected with measles or influenza virus during pregnancy, which may damage the brain development of the fetus and cause autism.

10. Metabolic diseases

Congenital metabolic disorders such as phenylketonuria cause dysfunction and disorders of brain cells, which will affect the function of brain nerve information transmission and cause autism.

Specific manifestations of autistic children

1. Being lonely and isolated, unable to establish normal connections with others

Children with autism do not like to be close to others since infancy. They feel alienated even when facing their parents and have no response to their parents' calls or attempts to get close to them. When his family members want to pick him up, he doesn't stretch out his hands to show that he wants to be held, and he doesn't feel uncomfortable when his parents get off work.

2. Lack of social skills

Children with autism will not interact with other children. When they try to play with other children, they often suddenly slap people's bottom or pull off their clothes, then turn around and leave. Most of the time I just play there by myself or stare outside in a daze.

3. Indifference to others around you

Children with autism are often indifferent to things around them, and seem to be deaf and blind. They do whatever they want, without any scruples, as if no one is around. What happens around them seems to have nothing to do with them and it is difficult to arouse their interest and attention. Their eyes change frequently and they do not easily stay on things that others ask them to pay attention to. They seem to live in their own little world. In addition, they do not look at others or even avoid looking at others. Their eyes are also wandering during normal activities. When looking at people, they often squint, glance sideways or with peripheral vision. They rarely look directly at others, rarely smile, and never say hello to others.

4. Prominent language barriers

Most children with autism speak very little, and some may remain speechless for life. Even if some can speak, they are reluctant to do so and just use gestures or repeat monotonous words in a low voice or to themselves. Some children can only imitate what others say, but cannot communicate in their own language. Many children cannot ask or answer questions, and their language communication is often confused and reversed in the use of pronouns, such as often using "you" and "he" to replace himself. Many autistic children often scream, and this situation sometimes lasts until they are 5 to 6 years old or even longer.

5. Narrow interests and repetitive behaviors

Children with autism often focus on one or several games or activities for a long time, such as being obsessed with rotating pot lids, arranging building blocks in a monotonous way, being keen on watching TV commercials and weather forecasts, but having no interest in cartoons, children's TV, and movies that children usually like. Some children eat the same meals every day, take the same route when going out, and require the same toilet for defecation. If there are any changes, they will cry and make a fuss, showing obvious anxiety reactions. They are unwilling to change their original habits and behaviors and have difficulty adapting to the new environment. Most children also show purposeless activities and excessive activities, such as monotonous and repetitive jumping, clapping, waving, running and spinning, and some even engage in self-harm, such as repeatedly picking their noses, picking their mouths, biting their lips, and sucking.

6. Intellectual development is delayed and unbalanced

Most of them have slower intellectual development than their peers, while a few have normal or near-normal intelligence. However, some of them are surprisingly good in some aspects of intellectual activities, which is incredible. Many children have strong mechanical memory, especially the memory of text symbols. For example, a 3- or 4-year-old child particularly likes to recognize words. When he sees a word, he will actively ask what it means to read, and he will remember it after asking only once. Therefore, he can read children's storybooks fluently and effortlessly, which shows that he has mastered a lot of vocabulary. However, when he wants to use words to express his meaning, he has obvious difficulties, which shows that they have impairment in their ability to understand and use language.