Autism in Children Aged 5-12 - Case Study Example

Autism in children aged 5-12 al Affiliation) Introduction Good health means that a person is in good mental, physical andsocial state. Being healthy does not imply that the body of an individual is diseases free. The society is composed of individuals who suffer from a variety of medical problems. Some of these problems are lifelong situations and cannot be treated by the use of medication. Medication can, however, control the effects of these conditions and moderate the patient’s plight. Patients who suffer from such conditions have to; however, live with these conditions for the rest of their lives. The society around these individuals should, therefore, be supportive of them in addition to learning how to live with them. Children are among those affected by such medical conditions, some kids from birth are constantly faced with health challenges, and these health issues may be hereditary or because of negligence of the parents during the pregnancy (Forrester-Jones & Broadhurst, 2007). One such conditions that affects a majority of young children is Autism .this is a disorder in children that causes a variety of effects; these disabilities include the inability to learn and comprehend concepts, such individuals, therefore, always experience difficulty while at school. They take more time that an average student would take to learn something. This results in the patient throwing tantrums or having a very bad temper while at school. A child may be unable to learn completely since other children may make fun of them. The child also faces a challenge in communication, an individual that is born with autism has no body language, this limits the ability to share feeling with other people. Life for an autistic individual is thus quite unbearable. The child also suffers from a diminished ability to express oneself through conversation. This difficulty to communicate means that social interactions for the individual are extremely limited. The child will have difficulty in making friends and thus will have a very limited social life. The lack of friends may also result in depression. An autistic individual also faces inflexibility in their behavior they are unable to adapt to the surroundings and display the same reaction throughout. Autism could also result in mental retardation. The mental retardation though could be positive when the child displays a unique ability to learn and master concepts or negative in instances where the ability to learn is very low. When the ability to learn is extremely high, this individual can use his ability to help in solution of some of the complex problems that are encountered in the world. There are cases where individuals with autism display insensitivity or oversensitivity to certain stimuli. In case of a loud noise the child may find the noise to be extremely irritating, this is a result of suffering shock and may have nothing to do with sound. The sense of touch in certain individuals is also reduced greatly. There is an inability to settle down, inability to sleep, and problems with their emotions they show. In extreme circumstances, though it could result in epilepsy (Forrester-Jones & Broadhurst, 2007). Autism is a lifelong condition; therefore, parents of a child who has been diagnosed with the disease should set up a proper health management program since the child will need proper care. There are several scenarios believed to cause autism but the most common cause hereditary, this occurs when a child receives genetic material that has a gene for Autism. There is no substantial evidence backing the argument that environmental causes are also responsible for autism, the diet of the mother or exposure to toxins during pregnancy may not cause a child to develop Autism. There is concern however, that if an individual has genes that can easily be prone to contracting the disease, environmental factors may catalyze autism. The brain of an autistic child develops very fast and is unable to respond to stimuli during development. This failure escalates during development. This failure escalates as the child grows eventually causing the brain of the child to be very resistant to stimulation (Forrester-Jones & Broadhurst, 2007). Case study Paul is an eight-year-old boy; he has been recently diagnosed with autism. The problem started when Paul was at school, his teachers noticed a sudden change in his behavior, he had began to keep to himself so much. He did not talk to other children and often was always alone. In class, it took him much more time to respond to questions and he had developed a difficulty in his speech. He began to experience a dip in performance causing his teachers to suspect that something had gone wrong. Paul also no longer seemed to be interested making friends. His teacher has recommended to his mother that he be taken for a medical checkup. After the doctor’s examination, the doctored confrimed to Pauls parents their worst fears; the child had been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. This is what had caused the apparent lack of senses as well difficulty in learning capabilities and speech. History The child was born had been born in a stable state and had not experienced any such symptoms before. He had previously suffered from other medical conditions but nothing had been as serious as what was now happening to him. He previously had a large number of friends and was always willing to play with other children and make more friends. His performance at school was above average and he had often passed most of his exams. He was an active participant in class as well as outside the classroom where he took part in outdoor sporting activities. Education The kid had been responding well at school. He was an above average performer. He was also an active participant in class. His speech was clear and audible and he had never experienced inability to express himself. His teachers at school were very fond of him. He was also very social with his peers. Paul has however begun to have trouble in learning and at times throws tantrums. Family history Paul is the first child in the family, his younger brother James who is around five years of age. His mother Jane is thirty-five years of age, she diagnosed with type 2 diabetes three years ago. She is married to mark a long distance truck driver. Mark is rarely at home since he spends most of his time on the road. Jane has realized that she is some weeks pregnant and this time she hopes to give birth to a girl. Jane has worries that she may suffer from postnatal depression as she had when she gave birth to James. At that time, she had been at her lowest point. Before the pregnancy, Jane had gone back to school. She also has a part time job as an attendant at a supermarket. She is thus short of time to run and she instead prefers to attend training at a local gym. Mark is very happy that Jane is pregnant and is in the process of looking for alternative employment to be with Jane. James has not experienced any serious medical issues, he previously had incidence of earache and tonsillitis and was sent to see an ENT specialist. He attends nursery school just was diagnosed with dementia. The Use of DSM 5 Diagnosis to determine what kind of diagnosis This is a criterion for determination of autistic spectrum disorder. Medical experts use this method when evaluating their patients for autism and a majority of other disorders. The societal communication disorder The criteria used for diagnosis Constant inabilities to use both verbal and non-verbal modes, the key signs are: Having difficulty in using communication for socializing, the patient is unable to greet other individuals; the individual may also be unable to share information adequately. The person experiences an inability to change a mode of communication to match the needs of the listener. These cases include speaking slowly as opposed to loud noise while in a library, being able to talk differently to a child and an adult. The patient is unable to distinguish between all these scenarios. The individual thus, just talks to everyone in a similar fashion. Problems when following the normal regulations that guide conversations, these include not being able to let other people take turns to contribute to a conversation, not being able to say something in a different perspective for purposes of clarity and failing to recognize the use of non verbal modes to communicate. Trouble in understanding fact not clearly stated. In case in a conversation a person uses a figure of speech the patient is not able to deduce the meaning. The difficulties result in an inability to effectively communicate, inability to take part in social functions, an inability to maintain a relationship, difficulty in academic matters and lack of the ability to fully undertake task at work incase employed. These symptoms are seen at the very early stages when the disease is beginning to develop but it may not be full blown until the individual is unable to communicate effectively. These symptoms have not been linked with any other illness that causes loss of ability to use speech to communicate. Autism spectrum disorder This is characterized by the constant inability to communicate and to take part in social interactions; these events may have taken place at a past time or in the present. Inability to reciprocate feelings, this may be due to using social approaches that are not normal and failure to maintain a conversation with other individuals. This may also be in form of incapability to disclose interests and emotions, inability to start or take part in social interactions and total inability to make use of both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication, inability to interpret and understand body language, incapability to maintain eye contact when conversing and total deficiency of facial expression when engaging in conversation. Moreover, there might be problems in establishing and maintaining and understanding what a social relationship entails, the incapability to align one’s behavior with various societal contexts as well as the inability to make friends and lack of interest in associating with peers. The level of sternness of the disease is based on the inability to create a social conversation and the constant occurrence of similar patterns in behavior (Baldwin, 2003). This includes an individual’s instance to constantly do the same activities repeatedly, Carrying out motor movements repeatedly, insisting on a particular way of doing an activity, an inflexible approach toward doing out tasks or a constant display of verbal and non-verbal methodologies (Zimmerman, 2008). Examples are developing intense feelings of distress incase of just a mere upset. A high level of attachment being shown towards unusual objects (Veague, 2010).The level of responsiveness to stimuli is extremely high or very low in certain instances. All the above symptoms must be present at the very beginning of the process, though the amity to interact socially has to exceed and individuals’ capabilities, These symptoms may result in a medical inability to carry out normal functions at work, within the society or any other important functions currently being undertaken. When all the above symptoms are present then diagnosis has shown that the individual is autistic. This conclusion should however be arrived at if the inability to comprehend concepts and the inability to speak is not caused by any other condition resulting either from genes of from the environment (Baldwin, 2003). The level of complexity of the autistic disorder encountered can be segmented into three portions depending on the level of support the patient would require to continue discharging his duties. If the patient is in need of a small amount of support then the individual is said to be at level 1, if the amount of support needed is more than average this patient is at level 2, incase extreme amounts of support are required the patient will be at level 3. Using the DSM 5 diagnosis on Paul Paul had shown most of the symptoms above, he had very reduced level of social interaction, continuously kept to himself and no longer bothered to make any friends. His ability to perform academically had dropped largely and he regularly performed very poorly in his class work. Paul had also developed a tendency to throw tantrums each time he was faced with any serious task that he could not accomplish (Raingruber, 2014). Since there are no significant environmental and or genetic factors that may have caused the sickness. This is aside from the fact that his paternal grandfather had been diagnosed with dementia. We are able to conclude that Paul had autism. The level may have been very low probably level one since he was still able to attend school on his own. He still did everything as he had earlier done though now he constantly keeps to himself and his grade shad substantially began to drop (Baldwin, 2003). The diagnosis is thus very conclusive that Paul was suffering from level one autistic spectrum disorder. Diagnosis for autism by occupation therapists Occupational therapists employ the usage methods of treatment to sustain the living and vocational skills of a person who is suffering from autism (Jordan et al. 2012). Occupational therapy works to identify what the client wants to achieve from the treatment. Once this has been indentified the therapists then works with the aim of fulfilling the client’s goals. The activities of the therapy focus on making the client adapt to his new environment, teaching the client the skill that were previously known to him, and giving the patients family adequate guidance on ways to deal with the patient so as to improve his performance at doing daily activities(Sharma & Branscum, 2013). Occupation therapist also uses the same procedures to classify a case of autism before beginning to treat it. They will analyze the patient to determine what skills they previously had that they have lost. This will include communication, ability for social interaction as well as ability to deliver. Once the therapist is able to determine the extent to which the patient is unwell, they will then embark on procedures to try to rehabilitate the patient (Baldwin, 2003). Treatment for autism Each case of autism is unique in its own way; the treatment will thus vary from one individual to another. Treatment can take place in many modes. It can be done through the prescription of medication or rehabilitation of an individual’s behavior. Autism also cause the manifestation of other medical conditions like lack of sleep, may also cause seizures, and problems with ones digestive tract. Dealing with these side illnesses can massively contribute the improvement of an individual’s attention capability and ability to learn (Varin-Mignano, 2008). Intensive management through rehabilitation of behavior will involve the entire family of the patient. A specially trained therapist does this. The therapist would come to the patient’s home and provide the necessary guidance to all the family members on the procedures to follow in order to help rehabilitate the patient. These therapy sessions could also be done to the child at school (Jordan et al. 2012). For very young children there are also varieties of treatment options available for them. Scholarly results have proven that young children can be effectively be rehabilitated. This rehabilitation can result in improved ability to learn, enhanced ability to communicate and the social skills get better. Children respond differently to the rehabilitative treatment. Scientists however maintain that all the children gain positively from the treatment. The training for the young children involves many hours of therapy. Highly trained professionals give this therapy. The child is taken through learning activities; the training mainly focuses on the skills affected by autism. These are the social interaction, communication and language. The parent sto the children are also included in part of the training to ensure that the children are able to continue the learning process even back at home (Sharma & Branscum, 2013). The treatment for autism can work or fail to work, these factors are largely dependent on the individual who is suffering. In certain instances, people have managed to successfully return to a state where they can classify as normal. This is a case where an individual is able to communicate, carry out social interactions and master language (Viswanath et al. 2008). How occupational therapists treat autism Once the diagnosis has been done, the occupational therapist can now begin the treatment process for the patient. Traditionally there was a laid out procedure for this activity. But recent developments have come with new ways through which the treatment is administered. This treatment is aimed at rehabilitating the patient and may not necessarily completely cure the autism. This is because autism is a condition and substantial rehabilitation can make the patient relearn every aspect of life that the person had lost. The therapist takes the patient through a series of procedures; they are aimed at teaching the patient to be able to regain the skills lost. The therapist would first determine what the goals of the patient are. Once the patient’s goals have been clearly defined then the therapist works with the patient towards attainment of the set goals. A serious case of autism is when the patient has list his ability to communicate; this would mean the individual loses the ability to establish social interactions. This patient has to be taught all these skills again. The therapist thus works together with the family of the patient to ensure that the individual is continuously engaged throughout the period (Baldwin, 2003). Children are much easier to rehabilitate, they are first through language to enable the learn how to communicate. Once they are able to communicate their ability to establish social interaction will be equally boosted (Higashida,2013). The children will also now be able to communicate. In the case of the children the parents are also included in the training process, this is to enable them continue with the training even in the absence of the therapist. Children, however respond differently to treatment, some will be able to establish language fast while others take a much longer period to be able to talk and establish social communication. Rehabilitation however can be continuously done throughout the life of the patient this may finally get to improve the health of the patient. Autism cause a large variety of side diseases, intensive intestinal discomfort is one such sickness. These sicknesses are treated by use of medicine. a reduction in the pain that an autistic person is undergoing will greatly improve their concentration. This improvement in concentration will result in the patient being able to learn. In addition to use of rehabilitation, the therapist can administer medicines to the patient. This will also contribute toward the healing by the patient. There is not accurate way that has been determined that can be used in the treatment of autism. Once an individual is diagnosed with this disorder, it is something that is relatively permanent; the only option is to try to rehabilitate the individual. Though rehabilitation sometimes fails to work, it has a very high success rate mainly among children. If a child is properly rehabilitated, over time the child will be able to learn communication procedures. The child will also master language. These two skills once learned will enable the child is develop interaction capabilities with the environment. Over a period, the child will be able to learn concepts and slowly move to be almost normal (Viswanath et al. 2008). Autism is a learning disorder; it has numerous effects on a patient. A person suffering from autism losses the ability to interact with the external environment, they lose the ability to express feeling. This includes facial expression and the sense of touch. The individual is this not able to interact with peers and often resort to secluding themselves (Higashida, 2013). The condition can get worse even resulting in the loss of speech, this completely shut down the life of an autistic patient since in addition to loss of sense of touch the speech is also lost. The individual is thus not able to establish any social relationship, since all the senses become ineffective. Inability to have a social life may result in the patient going into depression. Autism also limits the individual’s ability to learn and interpret concepts. This means that an autistic child will be unable to keep up with peers. This can cause the patient further trauma. There are many procedures that are used to treat autistic individuals but the most common of all is the use of medication and rehabilitation (Raingruber, 2014). Rehabilitation is aimed at trying to restore the patient to their original state before they were diagnosed. Rehabilitation is performed by a professional who takes the patient through therapy, a patient undertaking therapy is taught three important factors the first factor is language; language will enable the patient to establish a means of communication(Raingruber, 2014). The second is communication that will enable the patient to establish social interaction. This interaction will expose the patient to the other people. This will enable the depression to disappear, the patient will begin to regain confidence and the mental capability will begin to grow. During rehabilitation, the family of the patient is also included in the process. This is to ensure that the patient is continuously rehabilitated (Higashida, 2013). Autism comes with numerous side effects, these side effect cause the patient to experience a lot of discomfort, medication is used to treat these side effects. If the side effects are properly treated, the patient is able to gain concentration. This concentration is important since the patient will be able to learn some concepts. Autism essentially has no real cure but treatment efforts are directed towards rehabilitating the patient. This helps the patient be able to live a long and successful life irrespective of their medical condition. Rehabilitation should however been taken at the very initial stages when the illness begins to develop (Viswanath et al. 2008). References Baldwin, C. (2003). Autism. Chicago, Ill: Heinemann Library. Forrester-Jones, R. V. E., & Broadhurst, S. 2007. Autism and loss. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. 2008. Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Higashida, N. (2013). The reason I jump. Jordan, R., Jones, G., & Morgan, H. 2012. A Guide for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Autistic Spectrum Disorders, 1(1), 1-49. . Raingruber, B. 2014. Contemporary health promotion in nursing practice. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Sharma, M., Atri, A., & Branscum, P. 2013. Foundations of mental health promotion. Burlington, Varin-Mignano, R. (2008). Autism: A holistic view. S.l.: Createspace. Veague, H. B. (2010). Autism. New York, NY: Chelsea House. Zimmerman, A. W. (2008). Autism: Current theories and evidence. Totowa, N.J: Humana Press. Read More