Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Paper

“Diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be difficult, since there is no medical test, like a blood test, to diagnose the disorders. Doctors look at the child’s behavior and development.” (www.cdc.gov) ASD is one of the hardest diseases to diagnose. Doctors cannot just run multiple tests to conclude whether or not a patient is on the spectrum. There are many signs that lead to the diagnoses of autism. Specialists examine many symptoms and behaviors. Symptoms then lead the doctor to a true diagnoses of autism. However, along with autism comes other behaviors. Those diagnosed with autism often struggle with other symptoms like social deficits, language impairments, and repetitive behaviors. First, those diagnosed with autism can sometimes
have social deficits. Some may ask, “Does everyone on the spectrum have problems with social interactions?” No, social delays do not affect every child or adult with autism. Patients with socials problems will struggle with social interaction and communication. They find social interaction to be unnecessary and unnatural, which leads to social delay in everyday life. According to autismspeaks.org, if diagnosed with autism chances are higher that human interactions are delayed. For example, they have difficulties such as “understanding what is not explicitly stated… and nonliteral or ambiguous meanings of language..” Meaning, autistic patients struggle with figurative languages like similes, metaphors, personification, etc. If something is not clearly stated the person has a hard time understanding the information. That is when specialists will work with the patient to find the way their brain functions as well as their way of thinking and problem solving. Furthermore, social deficits in autism include delays in speaking. In children, delays occur when speaking more often than not. Babies have difficulties babbling and talking in “baby talk”. They miscommunicate when being spoken to. A person not affected with autism could say something to an autistic child and he or she could take it a different way. Another difficulty with social deficits in autism is that people have a hard time communicating with other people and responding to emotions.
Autismspeaks.org states, “Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity… from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interaction.” Those symptoms lead autistic patients to be independent. The independence has more to do with not wanting help with a person's needs. Next, a difficulty with social deficits contains not being able to respond to emotions. For example, when a parent's yells at a child and says “Come here right now!”, an autistic person may not be able to tell if the parent is angry. Another emotion an autistic person misunderstands is affection. Trying to comfort and show affection to an autistic person can be extremely difficult. They might not understand the way a “normal” functioning brain would. For example. “Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social context.” With that being said, a child may show deficits in their social interactions because they cannot determine another person's
actions. Social deficits can also lead to bad behavior. Stated before an autistic person cannot pick up another person's emotions, therefore the miscommunication leads to outcries, lose of control, and sometimes extreme disruptive behavior like self inflicted injuries. Psychologist analyzed that most disruptive behavior is inflicted on those trying to help: “There is a much higher rate of aggression towards caregivers in autism than in the general population.” In some cases many children aren’t aware of their surroundings when acting out. ASHA, the American Speech- Language- Hearing Association, did an experiment involving bad behaviors and the communication between an autistic child and a caregiver. The experiment concluded that most autistic children “ develop only a little appreciation or no appreciation at all of other people’s feelings or ideas.” It is an ongoing issue that autistic children cannot have a sustained relationship with their peers. Most disruptive behavior can be fixed with therapy. The therapists leads the patient away from bad behavior and teaches them the correct way to handle situations. Inconclusion, autistic patients struggle deeply with social interaction. Autistic patients may know that they need to communicate but not know how to initiate a conversation in an appropriate manner. Along with social deficits and autistic person may have language impairments. Next, language impairments weigh in heavily on autism.
Almost 25% of people affected with autism are nonverbal. (autismspeaks) The difference between a verbal and a nonverbal autistic child is that a nonverbal child cannot speak by using words or saying. However, those that are verbal still can have issues with language impairments. For instance, a person on the spectrum may not understand what's appropriate for the setting. Autismspeaks.org says, “ deficits in communication for social purposes, such as greeting and sharing information in a manner that is appropriate for social context.” Compare normal playground talk to classroom communication. What is said on the playground, for the most part, would not be said around teachers. Also, language impairments in autism include talking child to child versus child to an adult. The way a person talks to an adult is different from the communication between
children.
Language impairments for nonverbal have to be examined more carefully. Since nonverbal autistic people cannot communicate through speaking, they have to learn a new way to communicate. The process to a new learning is long, however it helps their communication tremendously. They begin therapy with a speech-language pathologist. A speech pathologists will help the patient communicate by evaluating what works best for the person. Most nonverbal autistic people learn ways to communicate by using sign language. They then have a behavioral analysis that “focuses on the core areas affected by autism.. These include social skills, language and communication imitation, play skills, daily living and motor skills.” It is important because a language impairment can negatively affect them from having a functional life.