SUBMITTED BY:

Sabroso, Shery Love C.

Ricardel, Lalaine

SUBMITTED TO:
Marc Patrich R. Sanchez, R.N,MAN,PN
Clinical Instructor
DEFINITION
 Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social
interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior.

CHARACTERISTICS

Autism is a highly variable neurodevelopment disorder that first appears during

infancy or childhood, and generally follows a steady course without remission. Overt
symptoms gradually begin after the age of six months, become established by age two
or three years, and tend to continue through adulthood, although often in more muted
form.  It is distinguished not by a single symptom, but by a characteristic triad of
symptoms: impairments in social interaction; impairments in communication; and
restricted interests and repetitive behavior. Other aspects, such as atypical eating, are
also common but are not essential for diagnosis. Autism's individual symptoms occur in
the general population and appear not to associate highly, without a sharp line
separating pathologically severe from common traits.

Social development
People with autism have social impairments and often lack the intuition about
others that many people take for granted.

Autistic infants
 show less attention to social stimuli
 smile and look at others less often
 respond less to their own name

Autistic toddlers
 Differ more strikingly from social norms; for example, they have less eye
contact and turn taking, and are more likely to communicate by manipulating
another person's hand. 

Three- to five-year-old autistic children

 less likely to exhibit social understanding
 imitate and respond to emotions
 communicate nonverbally
Communication
About a third to a half of individuals with autism does not develop enough natural
speech to meet their daily communication needs.  Autistic persons may experience:

 delayed onset of babbling

 unusual gestures
 diminished responsiveness
 vocal patterns that are not synchronized
 Repeat others' words (echolalia) or reverse pronouns.

Autistic children may have difficulty with imaginative play and with developing symbols
into language.

Repetitive behavior
Autistic individuals display many forms of repetitive or restricted behavior,

 Stereotypy is repetitive movement, such as hand flapping, making sounds, head

rolling, or body rocking.
 Compulsive behavior is intended and appears to follow rules, such as arranging
objects in stacks or lines.
 Sameness is resistance to change; for example, insisting that the furniture not be
moved or refusing to be interrupted.
 Ritualistic behavior involves an unvarying pattern of daily activities, such as an
unchanging menu or a dressing ritual. This is closely associated with sameness and
an independent validation has suggested combining the two factors.
 Restricted behavior is limited in focus, interest, or activity, such as preoccupation
with a single television program, toy, or game.
 Self-injury includes movements that injure or can injure the person, such as eye
poking, skin picking, hand biting, and head banging

Symptoms
Symptoms of autism typically appear before a child is 3 years old and last throughout
life. Children with autism can display a wide range of symptoms, which can vary in
severity from mild to disabling. General symptoms that may be present to some degree
in a child with autism include:

 Difficulty with verbal communication, including problems using and understanding

language.
 Inability to participate in a conversation, even when the child has the ability to
speak.
 Difficulty with non-verbal communication, such as gestures and facial expressions.
 Difficulty with social interaction, including relating to people and to his or her
surroundings.
 Inability to make friends and preferring to play alone.
 Unusual ways of playing with toys and other objects, such as only lining them up a
certain way.
 Lack of imagination.
 Difficulty adjusting to changes in routine or familiar surroundings, or an
unreasonable insistence on following routines in detail.
 Repetitive body movements, or patterns of behavior, such as hand flapping,
spinning, and head banging.
 Preoccupation with unusual objects or parts of objects.

CAUSES
The exact cause of autism is not known, but pointed to several possible factors,
including genetics (heredity), certain types of infections, and problems occurring at
birth.
Some people have a genetic predisposition to autism, meaning that a susceptibility to
develop the condition may be passed on from parents to children. Researchers are
looking for clues about which genes contribute to this increased vulnerability. In some
children, environmental factors may also play a role. Studies of people with autism have
found abnormalities in several regions of the brain, which suggest that autism results
from a disruption of early brain development while still in utero.
Other autism theories suggest:
 The body's immune system may inappropriately produce antibodies that attack
the brains of children causing autism.
 Abnormalities in brain structures cause autistic behavior.
 Children with autism have abnormal timing of the growth of their brains. Early in
childhood, the brains of autistic children grow faster and larger than those of
normal children. Later, when normal children's brains get bigger and better
organized, autistic kids' brains grow more slowly.
TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT

There currently is no cure for autism, but treatment may allow for relatively normal
development in the child and reduce undesirable behaviors. Children with autism
generally benefit most from a highly structured environment and the use of routines.
Treatment for autism may include a combination of the following:
 Special education: Education is structured to meet the child's unique
educational needs.
 Behavior modification: This includes strategies for supporting positive behavior
and decreasing problem behavior by the child.
 Speech, physical, or occupational therapy: These therapies are designed to
increase the child's functional abilities.
 Medication: There are no medications currently approved to treat autism, but
medications may be used to treat specific symptoms, such as anxiety,
hyperactivity, and behavior that may result in injury. A drug often used to
treat schizophrenia in adults, called Risperdal, might benefit children with
autism.

Repetitively stacking or lining up objects may indicate autism.