Autism

Autism

**__ What is autism? __** Autism is a group of developmental brain disorders that appear in the first 3 years of age. People with autism generally have a developmental problem with the way they speak, act, and socialize. People have been researching how autism is caused and a big reason is because of genetics.

**__ Symptoms of autism are … __** There are social, verbal, and motor actions that can show that a child has autism. __**Social:**__ Problems developing skills, such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body movement or language. Unable to establish friendships with children the same age. Not interested in sharing enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other children. Difficulty reading emotions.  Delay in learning how to talk. Repetitive use of language. Difficulty understanding a person’s attitude such as humor and sarcasm. ** __Actions:__ ** Focus on certain toys they are familiar with. Fascinated in a certain topic of interest. Routined. Example: At breakfast they must drink all of their milk before they can eat their toast. Repetitive behaviors.
 * __ Verbal: __**

** __How is autism linked to genetics?__ ** Autism is proven to be caused through genetics. There can be three to 15 chromosomes involved in autism. When a child has autism there is a mutation in the genes that is different and affects the way the child develops. The most frequent genes that are affected in autism are chromosome 2, 7, 15 and 16. There is a weird lapse in the genetic code that has an impact on the brain. Chromosome 7 is where most of the genes for development of the brain are coded and if there is a mutation in chromosome 7 most likely the child will have or has autism.

**__ Are siblings affected? __** This is another reason to prove that autism is genetic. Research has proven that if one sibling has autism there is a 3-6% chance you will have autism. Siblings that are more likely to have autism are twins. Fraternal twins share 50% of their genes so there is a better chance that they will both have autism. It is different for identical twins. If one twin has autism there is a 90% chance that the other twin will have autism because they have the same exact genes.

** __Types ofAutism__: ** Classic Autism, Aspergers Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Rett Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder are just some of the types of autism. Classic autism is the most severe type of autism. It is when children develop motor and language skills late or not at all. Aspergers Syndrome can be shown differently according to the case. Social skills are delayed and they have difficulties with changes. They cling to routines and other things they repetitively use. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder is between the years of 2-4 the child stops making friends, stops socializing, looses skills they learned, and they stop playing. Rett Syndrome Rett syndrome is a neurological and developmental disorder that mostly occurs in females. Pervasive Developmental Disorder describes people with many types of autisms. <span style="color: #c3c3b6; display: block; font-family: 'Maiandra GD','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #128ae2; display: block; font-family: 'Maiandra GD','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">Today, it is estimated that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism. This is a higher percentage than the past years. Boys’ are 4 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism. Current estimates are that in the United States alone, one out of 70 boys is diagnosed with autism.
 * __ How common is it? __ **

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Maiandra GD','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">__**Treatments… **__ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Maiandra GD','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">There are no treatments to autism however if parents, teachers, and aids help kids improve their motor skills by playing with them, talking to them, and teaching them, it will help them to be more independent and helps them create better communication skills.

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