Autism is becoming more and more common in our children today. Five in every one thousand children have autism. While there are many theories surrounding the cause of autism, if you have an autistic child, the most important information isn't why it happened but the signs and treatment for autism. This article will look at both of these issues to help give you some answers.

What Is Autism?

Autism is not a disease; it’s a disability of the neurological system. These neurological problems affect your child’s normal functioning of his brain. The areas that are affected are the parts of the brain that control social interaction and communication skills.

Signs of Autism

The signs that indicate your child may have autism first appear during your child’s first three years of life. It is common for most children with autism to show no signs of the disability within their first few months. For some children it may take two or three years for the disease to become noticeable.

If your child has autism, you will notice problems with communication – verbal and nonverbal. Your child will perform repetitive activities that seem unusual to you and they will not be interested in the normal activities of children their age. Unfortunately, you can't fit autism into a neat little box. Just like all children are different, autism is different for each child.

Many people think that the only signs of autism are ones of communication and social skills but this isn't true. Other signs are mental issues, digestive difficulties, and problems with seizures. Sensory and motor skills are also affected and autistic children are often overly sensitive to light, noise, and crowds.

Treatment

There is currently no cure for autism so there are many different therapies and treatments that are being experimented with. The most common approach is through diet and nutrition. Many parents have seen improvements in their autistic child’s sleeping habits and attention span when they gave their children high doses of vitamin B6 and magnesium. They found that this also helped decrease their hyperactivity, aggression, and irritability.

Massage therapy is also being used with some success. Children often have trouble expressing feelings and love. They avoid contact so by conditioning autistic children with massage therapy, parents are seeing improvement in these areas with their children. Autistic children are learning to associate touch as a positive experience with massage therapy.

Play therapy is another type of treatment for autistic children. The emphasis here is to teach them to play and interact with other children and adults. By starting play therapy with their parents, whom they trust, these children are gradually learning to play and increase their language and social skills.

It has been noted that by recognizing the signs of autism early and intervening early, autistic children respond much better to therapy and improve in their communication skills. If you suspect your child is autistic, talk about your concerns with your pediatrician. Intervene early for the sake of your child.

Jason Ladock

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