Autism

Assignment 1

Development Disability: Autism

Table of Contents

Introduction. 3

Literature review.. 3

Discussion. 5

Problem description. 5

Current diagnosis. 5

Reflection. 6

Areas of improvement 6

Conclusion. 6

References. 8

The assignment is based on the developmental disability issue called Autism or autism spectrum disorder. A concise literature review is done on this while choosing key journals and articles. It is followed by a reflection where a detailed discussion on the issue is carried out alongside identifying the current diagnosis and recommendations. The focus of the discussion is exploring the literatures associated with autism spectrum disorder and whether these literatures have provided any definitive details regarding the issues associated with the disorder.

Christensenet al. (2019) highlighted that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common developmental disabilities, which is marked by social and communication impairments. Autism is a problem that is developed due to differences in the brain. Due to autism, several problems raise regarding issues in social interactions and communication of children from an early age. Apart from that, the problem with restricted or repetitive behaviour or interest is another issue that develops due to this issue. As a whole, the natural development of intellect among children from an early age gets affected. However, Shawet al. (2020) argued that early determination of ASD among children at least at the age of 4 helps to take required action so that its impacts can be controlled effectively. Hence, there are several ASDS regarding networks and associations working effectively to increase awareness to detect autism in the early stage to address it immediately.

There are several key characteristics and symptoms, which indicate autism including the changes in the behaviour of children in social interactions. According to Maenneret al. (2021),children with autism find it hard to understand the feelings and thoughts of people in social interactions and communication so they feel anxious in different situations. However, Sariet al. (2021) highlighted that individuals having autism face lower peer acceptance as well as higher rejection from peers due to differences in intellect. This affects their education too as they face trouble understanding learning materials and have special learning needs. On the other hand, Sulaimani& Gut (2019) have argued that issues in learning are another key problem for autistic children so that special educational setting is required for those children to have appropriate education in their developmental stage. This way the mental, as well as physical development of children, get hampered due to this problem.

Autism has become one of the most common disability issues in recent times. As per Huangetal. (2020), diagnosing the disease is not so easy because there is no medical test associated with it. The diagnosis is purely done by the doctor while observing the developmental history of a child. In most cases, autism can be detected at the age of 1.5 years or younger. However, it has been seen that some people receive the diagnosis after becoming an adult. On the other hand, as claimed by Marlow, Servili& Tomlinson (2019),developmental monitoring is one of the key diagnoses of the disease. In this process, the growth of a child is observed while assessing whether he or she meets the developmental milestones. Hence, the competency of an individual is judged in the fields of playing, speaking, learning, behaving, and others. There are specific professionals who can perform the diagnosis.

According to Hodges, Fealko& Soares (2020),developmental screening can be stated as a potential treatment for the disability issue. It gives a close look at the development of a child. Compared with the previous process, it is more formal. This form of treatment starts at an early age of 9 months. After that, it takes place twice in 18 months and 30 months. On the contrary, as opined by Levyetal. (2020), the main benefit of the diagnosis process is that it starts early so that a child does not have to face wider implications. In some cases, it is often done at 24 months also. Relating to the treatment procedure, it can be said that screening questionnaires are created where a child is compared with another child of the same age. The questions are related to movement, language, thinking skills, and others. The result of the formal evaluation shows the strengths and weaknesses of a child while informing whether they meet the stated criteria.

Wigginset al. (2020) said thatdevelopmental diagnosis can be considered as a current diagnosis for autism. While implementing this process, an in-depth evaluation is done of the development of a child. In this case, trained specialists such as child psychologists, developmental paediatricians, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and others are needed. On the other hand, as stated by Ozonoffet al. (2018), the key advantage of this diagnosis process is that it can give an accurate idea of the issue that a child possesses. A separate diagnostic is done for various areas such as pervasive developmental disorder, autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, and many others. Based on the results, it can be detected whether a child requires early intervention services. It can be said that a developed health infrastructure is needed to deal with this issue.

Problem description

It has been found that autism or autism spectrum disorder is a common developmental disability among people. This is stated as developmental disabilities because it creates trouble for children having autism to communicate with people in a social context and have regular education having special leading needs. Hence, children having autism require special educational support to have intellectual development. However, this is an issue that can be managed by taking appropriate actions to identify the problem at an early age. Therefore, the detection of autism at an early age is important to ensure the development of children and make them eligible for being employed.

Current diagnosis

It has been found from the literature review that detecting Autism is a difficult process. The main reason behind this is that no particular test is there to identify the disease. Hence, detection is purely done on the basis of observation. A doctor uses to observe the development of a child to understand whether it is normal or not. Following the detection, children undergo different diagnostic procedures. The literature review findings stated that developmental monitoring is one of the basic treatment methods. In this case, certain developmental milestones are set and observation is done on whether a child is meeting them. Moreover, an assessment is done on how the individual behaves while playing, learning, and behaving.

It can be said that developmental screening is an effective procedure for the treatment of Autism. It takes place at three ages such as 9 months, 18 months, and 30 months. In different instances, it also takes 24 months. However, accurate diagnosis is not exactly done by these two methods. In this context, developmental diagnosis is suggested. There is a need for specifically trained professionals in this case like an occupational therapist, developmental paediatrician, child psychologist, and others. Hence, it is true that this process is the most viable one and it is capable of generating accurate outcomes. It has been found that the correct developmental area is known from this diagnosis. Therefore, proper diagnosis can be done. The role of medication should be potential in treating Autism. However, it can be said the health infrastructure of a country must be efficient to treat the disease properly.

Reflection

Though it has been found that autism regarding awareness has increased among people and early detection and diagnosis have been ensured in most cases of autism. Apart from that, in terms of current diagnosis developmental monitoring, developmental screening and developmental diagnosis are incorporated till now. Moreover, special education has been given so that developmental disabilities can be addressed appropriately and the children or young adults having autism can be employable. However, according to my understanding, this is not enough. This is because though the taken actions are effective still these are slow processes to consider to make effective development of intellect among autistic people so their employability can be confirmed and make them self-dependent. Therefore, there is a scope of areas to improve to make sure effective mental and physical development of autistic people.

Areas of improvement

According to my understanding, based on the information obtained from the literature review it can be said that not only developmental growth monitoring but screening and diagnosis are also enough to ensure the intellectual development of autistic children and make them self-sufficient. Hence, there is a requirement for training regarding social interaction development from family and schools. However, special education has been developed highly pivoting on meeting the learning needs not having significant planning for providing skill training from an early age along with study. Therefore, there is a requirement for continuous stimulation for autistic children at their developmental stage regarding enhancing their skills. Hence, this is another important area to pivot on. On the other hand, according to my understanding of the developmental stages of children having autism the teachers and trainers play an important role to influence the students appropriately to understand their learning needs. Hence, this is another area of development as there is a requirement for the incorporation of advanced technologieslike Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to develop support for autistic children to enhance their learning and skills.

From the discussion it can be said conclude that autism spectrum disorder is a significant developmental disability evident in children. However, in response to treating this disability developmental monitoring, screening and diagnosis are incorporated. Nevertheless, this is not enough to ensure the strategic development of autistic children so there is the requirement of training regarding social interactions and other skill development using advanced technologies to ensure growth.

Christensen, D. L., Maenner, M. J., Bilder, D., Constantino, J. N., Daniels, J., Durkin, M. S., … & Dietz, P. (2019). Prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 4 years—early autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, seven sites, United States, 2010, 2012, and 2014. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 68(2), 1.Retrievedfrom:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6476327/

Hodges, H., Fealko, C., & Soares, N. (2020). Autism spectrum disorder: definition, epidemiology, causes, and clinical evaluation. Translational pediatrics, 9(Suppl 1), S55. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082249/

Huang, Y., Arnold, S. R., Foley, K. R., &Trollor, J. N. (2020). Diagnosis of autism in adulthood: A scoping review. Autism, 24(6), 1311-1327. Retrieved from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1362361320903128

Levy, S. E., Wolfe, A., Coury, D., Duby, J., Farmer, J., Schor, E., … & Warren, Z. (2020). Screening tools for autism spectrum disorder in primary care: A systematic evidence review. Pediatrics, 145(Supplement_1), S47-S59. Retrieved from: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/145/Supplement_1/S47/11563

Maenner, M. J., Shaw, K. A., Bakian, A. V., Bilder, D. A., Durkin, M. S., Esler, A., … & Cogswell, M. E. (2021). Prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years—autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2018. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 70(11), 1. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8639024/

Marlow, M., Servili, C., & Tomlinson, M. (2019). A review of screening tools for the identification of autism spectrum disorders and developmental delay in infants and young children: recommendations for use in low‐and middle‐income countries. Autism Research, 12(2), 176-199. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aur.2033

Ozonoff, S., Young, G. S., Brian, J., Charman, T., Shephard, E., Solish, A., &Zwaigenbaum, L. (2018). Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder after age 5 in children evaluated longitudinally since infancy. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(11), 849-857. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235445/

Sari, N. P., Luijk, M. P., Prinzie, P., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Jansen, P. W. (2021). Children’s autistic traits and peer relationships: do non-verbal IQ and externalizing problems play a role?. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 15(1), 1-12.Retrieved from: https://capmh.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13034-021-00421-2

Shaw, K. A., Maenner, M. J., Baio, J., Washington, A., Christensen, D. L., Wiggins, L. D., … & Dietz, P. M. (2020). Early identification of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 4 years—Early Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, six sites, United States, 2016. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 69(3), 1. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7119643/

Sulaimani, M. F., & Gut, D. M. (2019). Hidden Curriculum in a Special Education Context: The Case of Individuals with Autism. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 9(1), 30-39.Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1278191.pdf

Wiggins, L. D., Durkin, M., Esler, A., Lee, L. C., Zahorodny, W., Rice, C., … &Baio, J. (2020). Disparities in documented diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder based on demographic, individual, and service factors. Autism Research, 13(3), 464-473. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7521364