Autism can be defined as “a severe disorder of communication and behavior, usually beginning at birth, invariably presented by the age of 3 years. It is characterized by self absorption, profound withdrawal from social contacts, including mother, a desire for sameness, preoccupation with inanimate objects and disorder of developmental language”. Repetitive behavior is one of autism’s core trait and some parents are sick of trying to disengage the child from the repetitive acts and engage in other activities.
Autism is neurodevelopmental disorder and is rapidly becoming a public health issue. In the US health officials have estimated that autism affects about 1 in 150 children. Our school systems lack in infrastructure and in manpower training to deal with autism and other psychosocial disorders in children.
In one side there is increasing social concern and on the other side scientists are trying to find solution for autism. Recently a New York researcher Dr. Keith Shafritz, an assistant professor o psychology at Hofstra University found a brain region in children with autism with reduced neural activity. He compared brain images of children with autism to those with normal youngsters, in a series of high tech mapping involving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He found deficit in specific regions of cerebral cortex, the outer layer of grey matter linked to all higher human functions, including repetitive behavior of autism.
Repetitive behavior is called self stimulatory behavior. One of the common forms is body rocking. A child will do it for hours. Another type of repetitive behavior in children with autism is that a child may wave his/her hands back and forth in front of the eyes. This is called hand flapping. Some kids take things like hundreds of crayons and line them up over and again. If you move one of them they get very upset and might lead to tantrums, which is a major outburst behavior. Sometime the child repeatedly slams their head against the wall.
Dr. Shafratz found a relationship between the newly identified area and nearby areas linked to schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Both these disorders are related to problem with social interaction.
Treatment of autism is not very encouraging. Children should be trained to do routine things by themselves. Teachers also should be trained to help and handle the autistic children. Behavioral therapy is the only management available.
