Overview of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term that refers to a plethora of conditions, which are primarily characterized by challenges associated with repetitive behaviour, social skill, nonverbal communication and speech. Autism has also been associated with a range of environmental and genetic risk factors such as, rubella infection during pregnancy, alcohol consumption, exposure to pesticides,foetal growth restriction, or autoimmune diseases (CDC, 2016). As per global estimates it has been suggested that the condition affected nearly 24.8 million individuals in the year 2015, which was quite higher than the number of people who were affected in the early 2000s (Vos et al., 2016). Reports from developed countries also suggest that as much as 1.5 % of all children residing in those countries had been diagnosed with autism in 2017, which was more than double the rate of 0.7 % in the United States in 2000 (CDC, 2016). This case study will understand and analyse issues and challenges that are associated with autism, in relation to a particular child Charlie, and will also identify the support that can be provided to the person throughout his life span.

Development of early years

The case involves a three year old child Charlie, who has been reported as an energetic, curious and playful toddler. He faces difficulty with his speech and is not able to speak out several words.However, those that he verbalises are often difficult to understand.  His parents admitted him to a child care with the hope of observing an improvement in his speech pattern. His mother had been informed by the educator during midterm that Charlie faced difficulty in interacting with his classmates, and also found it difficult to sit quietly for a longer stretch of time. Some other signs and symptoms reported by his educator were related to difficulty in comprehending his language, eatingbland looking food, being isolated and rough with other children, and walking on tippy toes. His parents became angry on being mentioned about the probability of their child being affected with autism.Upon matching the signs and symptoms, his mother convincedherself that the condition was Asperger’s syndrome and not autism. On seeking help from a speech and language therapist (SLT) and conducting an environmental audit it was found that the chaotic nature of the childcare centre was largely responsible for the behavior demonstrated by Charlie. In a different setting he took efforts to make friends and the signs which were reported by his educator were no longer observed in the new environment. Continuous sessions with the SLT and an occupational therapist helped them to address the challenges that progressed with an increase in time such as, difficulty with loud noise.  Involvement in social skills group also facilitated his easy transition to kindergarten. However, with an increase in educational pressure, Charlie started having a meltdown at home, which could be attributed to the fact that he stressed on selecting all environmental cues that were quite natural to children of his age. 

Case Study of Charlie

Key issues

All people who are suffering from adevelopmental disability such as, Autism Spectrum Disorder share particular difficulties that affect them in different ways, and typically range from mild-to-moderate symptoms (Klin, Shultz & Jones, 2015). An analysis of the case study suggests that Charlie has developmental disability, which might be attributed to Asperger’s syndrome that generally tends to create problems with communication and social interaction, and makes the individual see the world in a way that is different from other people (Anagnostou et al., 2015). According to Duncan and Bishop (2015) such person facing disabilities also have additional learning problems and mental health issues. The same has been reported in the case study as well, where Charlie has been found competent in making friends and playing video games, or with the family dog. Hence, the key issues that are associated with Charlie are problems with eating, dissimilar sensory needs such as, disliking loud noises, communication difficulties, and meltdown.  

Rationale

Early year experience in premature detection is a crucial aspect in helping a child who has been diagnosed with autism, to live a normal life in the society. Taking into consideration the fact that autism can be observed as early as 16-18 months of age, all children must be thoroughly monitored and observed throughout the formative days, in order to identify any warning signs and symptoms for ASD (Daniels, Halladay, Shih, Elder & Dawson, 2014). There is mounting evidence for the fact that early intervention and positive earlier experiences with autism has been found to improve the overall physical and mental development of a child (Taylor, Maybery& Whitehouse, 2014). Such children, who have been given autism appropriate education and necessary support at their developmental stages, display an increased likelihood to acquire crucial social skills, thereby acting in a better way in the community. According to Zwaigenbaum et al. (2015)early experience will also parents of such children, who easily learn the strategies that should be adopted for helping Charlie enhance emotionally, physically, and mentally, throughout the developmental stages, by seeking necessary assistance from support groups and specialist. Furthermore, notable number of studies has suggested that children who had been diagnosed with autism at a young age frequently do not meet the diagnostic criteria later, thus growing out of autism, through the early implementation of behaviour analytics interventions.

Changes and challenges throughout generations

While the core signs and symptoms that are associated with ASD such as, communication difficulty, restricted interest,repetitivebehaviour, and social relatedness persist overtime, presentation of theactual signs and symptoms typically vary over time. In addition, deficits that are allied with social relatedness habitually present themselves as an impediment in play skills (Vorstman et al., 2017). With a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the child who has been diagnosed with such developmental disability,  implementation of tailored therapies that are able to meet the needs of the family reduce the severity of symptoms, which become less noticeable with age (Van Hees, Moyson&Roeyers, 2015). The prevalence of autism has tremendously increased in the last five decades by as much as 35 times. Results from a recent research investigation suggest that the number of autistic symptoms reported by parents have decreased overtime by an estimated 30%. Moreover the number of impairment and symptoms has remained stable amid kids who have been diagnosed with the disorder at early years (Arvidsson, Gillberg, Lichtenstein &Lundström, 2018). Furthermore, the symptoms of ASD typically improve with age, and administration of appropriate behavioral treatment. Although, Charlie’s parents have taken necessary help from an occupational therapist and a SLT for addressing the challenges that their kid encounters, Charlie might experience behavioral difficulties or depressed during adolescence, which would require modification in his treatment, during this transition to adulthood (Jensen, Steinhausen&Lauritsen, 2014). 

Challenges and Issues Associated with ASD

Raising a child suffering fromASD also culminates into an overwhelming experience for the family members and parents. Thesevere and pervasive deficits that are often present in kids diagnosed with ASD are typically correlated with a plethora of problems faced by caregivers, such as, reduced parenting efficiency, increasing physical and mental health problems and augmentation in parenting stress, when compared to parents of children who suffer from other developmental disorders, or are typically developing kids (McStay, Trembath&Dissanayake, 2014). In the words of van Tongerloo, van Wijngaarden, van der Gaag and Lagro-Janssen (2014) physical stress is commonly faced by the affected offspring as well as their parents, as evident in the case study. This in turn gets compounded by quite a lot of psychological stressors concerning the wellbeing of the child, due to the fact that the person with autism is not able to express the basic needs, in a manner that is expected of them. Hence, Charlie’s parents are left playing a guessing game, and determining the needs of the child. Sudden meltdown demonstrated by Charlie can also result in self-injurious or aggressive behaviour that will directly threaten his safety,and that of his siblings and parents.

Maladaptive behaviour is another concern that prevents the family from taking their child out into the community (McConnell, Savage &Breitkreuz, 2014).Another major challenge is the development of co-morbidities and syndromes that complicate the difficulties associated with ASD such as, cognitive problems, gastrointestinal problems, learning disability,and complexity with major motor skills (Polyak, Kubina&Girirajan, 2015). Although Charlie’s transition to kindergarten has been smooth due to the continuous sessions that he has been made to attend, the family members would face problems due to exhaustion of looking after a child with such disability, and might also become frustrated while trying to cope with the prejudice, ignorance, and attitudes of the society towards this developmental disorder.

Support needs required 

The major goals that are associated with treatment of children who have been diagnosed ASD are allied with lessening the associated deficits, thereby reducing family distress, and increasing functional independence and quality of life. TypicallyhigherIQs have been correlated with larger responsiveness to the intervention, and subsequent enhanced treatment outcomes. Nonetheless, no single intervention has been recognised best for ASD, thus need to be generally tailored to meet the individual preferences and needs of the affected child. Major support for addressing these concerns should encompass services carried out by special educator teachers,behaviour analyst, licensed psychologist, and speech pathologist. According to Roane, Fisher and Carr (2016) Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) has been considered as a gold standard for management of the condition, and is typically grounded on behaviour theories that focus on the idea of applying consequences and rewards for accomplishing measurable specific goals. Speech education will also confer several benefits by addressing the communication challenges. 

Importance of Early Intervention and Tailored Therapies

Improvement of spoken language, helping him learn nonverbal communication skills such as, gesture for signs, and teaching him communication with the use of alternative methods such as technology or pictures will meet their needs (Schreibman&Stahmer, 2014). The parents can also seek support from special education programs that will allow their child to acquire self-care and emotional skills, which will reduce symptom severity. In addition, parent training models are also required that will educate the parents on the different strategies required for implementation of the therapy techniques, thereby allowing them to disseminate the various strategies by themselves. Under circumstances when behavioural interventions fail to integrate Charlie into his kindergarten or home, anticonvulsant or psychoactive drugs like aripripazole or risepridone might be required, by weighing their side-effects against the probable benefits (Schubart, Camacho & Leslie, 2014). However, administration of only medications will not be able to release the core symptoms of communication and social impairment. The parents must also be provided help from support groups to promote autism awareness (Pepperell, Paynter& Gilmore, 2018). Providing training and education, promoting advocacy for the child, and raising awareness and understanding of ASD will create a positive impact.

Reflection

One of the latest challenges in practice is to leverage the combined knowledge of all people associated with the domain that spans several generations. The major impact of changes on such generational knowledge and practice is that it has increased my awareness on ASD,  besides providing a sound understanding of the different types of ASD  that are commonly diagnosed among children, based on their dissimilar symptoms. Taking into consideration the fact that alertness on the broad range of conditions that are typically characterized by these disorders is quite low, the changes facilitated my familiarity and helped me comprehend the importance of early year detection and experience. I was also able to appreciate the emotional, physical, and financial pressures that families with such children have to endure, while acting as their caregivers. This helped me comprehend the need of addressing such difficulties in a way that is tailored according to the needs and demands of each child. In future practice, I will be exclusivelydevoted to promoting good practice with kids and adults with Asperger’s syndrome. 

Conclusion

To conclude, the early signs and symptoms are generally noticed by parents during the formative years of the child, and these signs develop progressively. However, certain children having autism have been found to reach developmental milestones at a regular pace, sooner than their symptoms get worsened. Asperger’s syndrome describes a distinctive type of ASD, whereby the affected children report fewer problems with comprehending language, when compared to other ASD affected children. Charlie has been diagnosed with ASD at an early age, which will facilitate his easy transition and development over time. Assistance from speech therapists, behaviour analysts and medications will help in eliminating undesirable behaviour from Charlie. 

Effective Treatment Options and Support Systems

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