Autism is one of the serious developmental conditions under the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that emerges in early childhood. The diagnosis can be heartbreaking for parents: autism affects three to six out of every 1,000 children in the United States. Three crucial areas of development: social skills, language and behavior, are affected in autism (from the Mayo Clinic website):
1. Social Skills
• Fails to respond to his or her name
• Has poor eye contact
• Appears not to hear you at times
• Resists cuddling and holding
• Appears unaware of other’s feelings
• Retreats into his or her “own world”
2. Language
• Starts talking later than other children
• Loses previously required ability to say words and sentences
• Doesn’t make eye contact when making requests
• Speaks with an abnormal tone and rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
• Can’t start a conversation or keep one going
• May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn’t understand how to use them
3. Behavior
• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
• Develops specific routines or rituals
• Moves constantly
• May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car
• May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch and yet oblivious to pain
Doctors will look for these specific symptoms if they suspect that a child is autistic:
• Doesn’t babble or cue by 12 months
• Doesn’t gesture by 12 months
• Doesn’t say single words by 16 months
• Doesn’t say two-word phrases by 24 months
• Loses previously acquired language or social skills at any age
There have been huge debates about the cause of autism, from the “refrigerator mother” in the 1950s to vaccinations triggering symptoms. However, new research may explain more. MRIs from a recent study, as reported by CNN, show that the amygdala of an autistic child is 13% larger than that of a non-autistic child. The amygdala, which is involved in emotion, has a huge role in autism: autistic children have difficulty in joint attention (processing faces and emotions) and this process is located solely in the amygdala. Nevertheless, this is not a key to preventing autism, rather an indicator that autism could develop. The enlarged amygdala can be documented in children as young as 6 months, but an official diagnosis of autism doesn’t usually occur until age 2 or 3. This new information does open new doors for research in the causes of autism. Future studies may explain the cause for why some children develop a larger amygdala, and a possible way to prevent it.
For more information on Autism:
Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/autism/DS00348
CNN Article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/autism.brain.amygdala/index.html
Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch is a bachelor's of science candidate in neuroscience at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. She's the senior co-editor of the Feminist Scholarship Review and Women Unite!