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Contact WebMaster@NewVisionAutism Center.com regarding this site.
Contact WebMaster@NewVisionAutism Center.com regarding this site.
An outreach of New Vision Children’s Services, a California Public Benefit 501(c)(3) Corporation
What is Autism?
Autism is a complex, neurobiological pervasive developmental disorder with multi-system involvement. In everyday language, that means that it is a very complicated disorder that affects all areas of a person's life and many parts of the body are involved. Much of the world still considers autism to be a disorder you are born with and there's really not much that can be done. The truth is, autism is treatable!
Many of the cases of autism today are regressive. A child is developing normally until 12-24 months and then begins to regress, losing language, eye contact, social skills, and cognitive ability.
Autism is one diagnosis of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is a group of disorders that have similar features but vary in complexity and severity. The spectrum is generally accepted as including (listed in order of severity):
Many of the cases of autism today are regressive. A child is developing normally until 12-24 months and then begins to regress, losing language, eye contact, social skills, and cognitive ability.
Autism is one diagnosis of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is a group of disorders that have similar features but vary in complexity and severity. The spectrum is generally accepted as including (listed in order of severity):
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Asperger's Syndrome
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High Functioning Autism
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Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)
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Rhett's Syndrome
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Childhood Integrative Disorder (CID-Autism with onset after 3)
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Autism
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Multi-plex Disoder (Autism w/ schizophrenia)
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Many practitioners today also include ADD and AD/HD on the low-end of the spectrum. Research done at UCLA in 2007 indicates that the damage done to the myelin sheath in children with ADD and AD/HD is the same as that with children with autism, and many children with an autism diagnosis have a concurrent diagnosis of ADD or AD/HD.
Signs of Autism
There are very clear warning signs for autism. If at any time you think your child is not meeting their developmental milestones or that something is wrong, seek help from your pediatrician and be insistent. All too often parents are told, "boys develop more slowly than girls," or "he is a late bloomer." Every minute counts. Look for these signs in your child:
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May avoid eye contact
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May prefer to be alone
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Echoes words or phrases repeatedly
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Doesn't make any/very little original speech
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Spins objects or self
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Insists on things being the same
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Does the same things over and over again
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May only play with one thing, and seems obsessed with it
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Laughs or giggles at inappropriate/unusual times
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Doesn't want to be hugged or cuddled
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Has difficulty expressing needs, may use gestures to do so
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Doesn't respond to your voice or other sounds
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Has no real fear of danger
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Has an insensitivity to pain
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May play alongside other children, but not WITH other children
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Doesn't waive or signal hello or goodbye by 12 months
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Doesn't use simple words by 16 months
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Doesn't use two-word phrases by 24 months
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