An Exploratory Study on the Life of Autistics

Autism, the severe disorder that develops in an early age among children is neither good nor bad for a number of reasons.

Submitted By: Huma Mahmood Submitted To: Miss Munazza Bajwa Supervisor: Miss Munazza Bajwa Major: Statistics

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Autism is a brain disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and respond appropriately to the external world. People with the condition often exhibit repetitive behavior or narrow, obsessive interests. Other characteristics of autism include problems with verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. Scientists aren't certain what cause the disorder, but it's likely that both genetics and environment play a role.

1.1 Types of Autism

There are two form of autism. Classic (born with) Regressive (child develops normally, then acquires autism)

1.2 Autism is a wide-spectrum disorder

Autism (or ASD) is a wide-spectrum disorder. This means that no two people with autism will have exactly the same symptoms. As well as experiencing varying combinations of symptoms, some people will have mild symptoms while others will have severe ones. Below is a list of the most commonly found characteristics identified among people with an ASD.

1.2.1 Social skills

Isolated Destructive Unimaginative Lack of eye contact Non responsive when name called

The way in which a person with an ASD interacts with another individual is quite different compared to how the rest of the population behaves. If the symptoms are more severe, the person may seem not to be interested in other people at all. If the symptoms are not severe, the person with ASD may seem socially clumsy, sometimes offensive in his/her comments, or out of synch with everyone else In many cases, if the symptoms are not severe, the person can be taught that eye contact is important for most people and he/she will remember to look people in the eye.
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A person with autism may often miss the cues we give each other when we want to catch somebody's attention. The person with ASD might not know that somebody is trying to talk to them. They may also be very interested in talking to a particular person or group of people, but does not have the same skills as others to become fully involved. To put it more simply, they lack the necessary playing and talking skills. Research has suggested that although children with autism are attached to their parents, their expression of attachment is unusual and difficult to read . To parents, it may seem as if their child is not connected at all. Parents who looked forward to the joys of cuddling, teaching and playing with their child may feel crushed by this lack of the expected and typical attachment behavior.

1.2.2 Lack of Empathy

Difficulty in recognizing and understanding other persons feeling or perspective

His/her ability to instinctively empathize with others is much weaker than other people's. However, if they are frequently reminded of this, the ability to take other people's feelings into account improves tremendously. In some cases - as a result of frequent practice - empathy does improve, and some of it becomes natural rather than intellectual. Even so, empathy never comes as naturally for a person with autism as it does to others. Almost everybody on this planet prefers to talk about himself/herself more than other people; it is human nature. The person with autism will usually do so even more.

1.2.3 Abhorrence of Physical contact

A number of children with an ASD do not like cuddling or being touched like other children do. It is wrong to say that all children with autism are like that. Many will hug a relative - usually the mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, teacher, and or sibling(s) - and enjoy it greatly. Often it is a question of practice and anticipating that physical contact is going to happen. For example, if a child suddenly tickles another child's feet, he will most likely giggle and become excited and happy. If that child were to tickle the feet of a child with autism, without that child anticipating the contact, the result might be completely different.

1.2.4 Sensory Sensitivities

Hyper or hyperactivity to Pain Sounds Crowds Tastes Smell Colors Light and others.
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A person with autism usually finds sudden loud noises unpleasant and quite shocking. The same can happen with some smells and sudden changes in the intensity of lighting and ambient temperature. Many believe it is not so much the actual noise, smell or light, but rather the surprise, and not being able to prepare for it - similar to the response to surprising physical contact. If the person with autism knows something is going to happen, he can cope with it much better. Even knowing that something 'might' happen, and being reminded of it, helps a lot.

1.2.5 Speech
Flat or high pitched, absent, delayed. Repetition of words and phrases Reluctance to initiate or continue conversation

The higher the severity of the autism, the more affected is a person's speaking skills. Many children with an ASD do not speak at all. People with autism will often repeat words or phrases they hear - an event called echolalia. .

1.2.6 Repetitive behaviors

Going through the motions again and again is very much part of his/her life. To others, these repetitive behaviors may seem like bizarre rites. The repetitive behavior could be a simple hopskip-jump from one end of the room to the other, repeated again and again for one, five, or ten minutes - or even longer. Another could be drawing the same picture again and again, page after page. People without autism are much more adaptable to changes in procedure. A child without autism may be quite happy to first have a bath, then brush his teeth, and then put on his pajamas before going to bed - even though he usually brushes his teeth first. For a child with autism this change, bath first and then teeth, could completely put him/her out, and they may become very upset.

1.2.7 Developmental Discrepancy

While a child without autism will develop in many areas at a relatively harmonious rate, this may not be the case for a child with autism. His/her cognitive skills may develop fast, while their social and language skills trail behind. On the other hand, his/her language skills may develop rapidly while their motor skills don't. They may not be able to catch a ball as well as the other children, but could have a much larger vocabulary.

1.2.8 Learning Problems

How quickly a child with autism learns things can be unpredictable. They may learn something much faster than other children, such as how to read long words, only to forget them completely later on. They may learn how to do something the hard way before they learn how to do it the easy way.

1.2.9 Physical Tics

It is not uncommon for people with autism to have tics. These are usually physical movements that can be jerky. Some tics can be quite complicated and can go on for a very long time. A number of people with autism are able to control when they happen, others are not. For many, going through the tics is enjoyable, and they have a preferred spot where they do them - usually somewhere private and spacious.

1.2.10 Self-mutilation
Autistic children have a tendency to lose control, particularly when they are in a strange or overwhelming environment, or when angry or frustrated. At times, they may break things, attack others or hurt themselves. In their frustration, some bang their heads, pull their hairs or bite their arms. Engaging in repetitive movements, such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior, such as Cutting the skin with a knife Frequent arm biting or self-biting Self-scratching Self-pinching Ingestion of air Finger or arm sucking and so on.

Studies on autism have concluded that self injury in children with autism and individuals with developmental disabilities without autism to be notably similar. Self injurious behaviors can be seen as a class of behaviors, often highly repetitive and frequent, that result in physical harm to the individual displaying the behavior. Furthermore, such self injury occurs without an obvious purpose or intentional self harm. It is important to distinguish between behaviors, such as suicide, that are associated with deliberate wishes of self harm, and self injurious behavior found in individuals with developmental disabilities, which may occur in connection with biological causes or are more a result of environmental factors.

1.2.11 Obsessions
Autistic children have passionate interests and obsessions with favorite topics, objects, places and activities. Some autistic people are obsessed with a single subject or object, constantly bringing a topic of conversation around to their obsession. Not only do many of them lack social skills, but they can repeatedly bring up their obsessions at unsuitable times. Staring for hours at objects such as a clothes dryer or playing with running water is another trait of some adults. Sometimes, when this obsession is with something like a subject like math, chemistry, etc., or a particular activity like solving puzzles, remembering numbers, etc., the autistic child may turn
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out to be exceptionally talented. This extraordinary proficiency in one or more areas, found in autistic children, is known as Savant syndrome.

1.3 Etiology
1.3.1 Genetic risk factors
Studies have consistently found that the prevalence of autism in siblings of autistic children is approximately 15 to 30 times greater than the rate in the general population.

1.3.4 Prenatal and Perinatal risk factors

A number of prenatal and perinatal complications have been reported as possible risk factors for autism. These risk factors include maternal gestational diabetes, maternal and paternal age over 30, bleeding after first trimester and use of prescription medication during pregnancy. While research is not conclusive on the relation of these factors to autism, each of these factors has been identified more frequently in children with autism compared to non-autistic children.

1.4 MMR Vaccine controversy

The MMR vaccine controversy was a case of scientific misconduct which triggered a health scare. It followed the publication in 1998 of a paper in the medical journal The Lancet which presented apparent evidence that autism spectrum disorders could be caused by the MMR vaccine, an immunization against measles, mumps and rubella. Following the Lancet article, vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland dropped sharply, which in turn led to greatly increased incidence of measles and mumps, resulting in deaths and severe and permanent injuries. The research was declared fraudulent in 2011. The scientific consensus is that no evidence links the vaccine to the development of autism, and that the vaccine's benefits greatly outweigh its risks.

1.5 Myths about Autism

A person with autism feels love, happiness, sadness and pain just like everyone else. Just because some of them may not express their feelings in the same way others do, does not mean at all that they do not have feelings - THEY DO!! It is crucial that the Myth - Autistic people have no feelings - is destroyed. The myth is a result of ignorance, not some conspiracy. Therefore, it is important that you educate people who carry this myth in a helpful and informative way.

1.6 Facts about Autism

In 1983, 1 in 10,000 people had a diagnosis of autism. Today, autism affects 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys. ASD affects four times as many boys as girls. There are over 20,000,000 children and adult on the autism spectrum worldwide. Every 21 minutes, a child is diagnosed with autism worldwide. Autism shows a 17% growth per annum, Autism is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. 6

Autism doesnt discriminate. It occurs in all racial, ethnic and social groups. The centers for disease control & prevention (CDC) have called autism international public health crises whose cause and cure remain unknown, despite worldwide research. There is no proof that genetics alone play a part in autism. There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic. There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

Rationale of the Study

The purpose of this study is to gain more insight into the symptoms, causes and ways of treatment of autism in order to equip mainly the parents and others to effectively cope with autistic children and to identify the risk factors that are causing the rise in this pervasive disorder. And finding the other factors that are stimulating most in the increasing rate of autism.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Nirit Bauminger and Connie Kasari (2000) conducted a study on the Loneliness and Friendship in High-Functioning Children with Autism. Loneliness and friendship were examined in 22 highfunctioning children with autism and 19 typically developing children equated with the autistic children for IQ, CA, gender, mother's education, and ethnicity. Children between the ages of 8 and 14 were asked to report on both their understanding and feelings of loneliness and the quality of their friendship. Compared to typically developing children, children with autism were both lonelier and had less complete understandings of loneliness. Although all children with autism reported having at least one friend, the quality of their friendships was poorer in terms of companionship, security, and help. Fewer associations were found between loneliness and friendship for the autistic than for the non-autistic children, suggesting less understanding of the relation between loneliness and friendship. Implications of these results are discussed for conceptualizing the social deficits in autism. Qualitative differences in social interaction style exist within the autism spectrum. Anke M. Scheeren, Hans M. Koot and Sander Begeer (2012) examined whether these differences are associated with (1) the severity of autistic symptoms and comorbid disruptive behavior problems, (2) the childs psycho-social health, and (3) executive functioning and perspective talking skills. The social interaction style of 156 children and adolescents (619 years) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) was determined. An active-but-odd social interaction style (it inludes children who albeit in an unusual way e.g., holding a monologue about a particular interest, or standing too close to a conversation partner) was positively associated with symptoms of autism, attention deficit and hyperactivity. Furthermore, an activebut-odd social interaction style was negatively associated with childrens psycho-social health and positively with executive functioning problems. Social interaction style explains part of the heterogeneity among children with HFASD. According to research done by M. Mary Konstantareas and Soula Homatidis (Journal of Marriage and Family ), (1992) on Mothers and Fathers self-report of Involvement with Autistic, Mentally Delayed, and Normal Children, ninety-six mothers and fathers reported involvement with their autistic, mentally delayed, and normal children for two days when both parents were home. Parents were asked to record the length and to rate the quality of interactions. Parents of normal and mentally delayed children reported greater involvement than parents of children with autism. Across groups, mothers reported longer involvement than fathers, with mothers of autistic children reporting less contact than mothers of the mentally delayed. Fathers of autistic children were also less involved than fathers of mentally delayed children. Best predictors of low involvement for fathers was having an autistic and a first-born or only child. For mothers, a large family size, having an autistic child, and an older child predicted lower involvement. Parents of normal children were the most likely to report contacts with their child as being fun.

Hill and Furniss (2006) assessed children with autism and compared them with a matched control group to determine if children with autism were more likely to experience emotional and behavioral disturbances than their peers. Individuals with autism were found to have a significantly higher occurrence for behavior disorders such as organic disorder (mental illness that results from a physical cause), mania (mental disorder that involves extreme optimism and excessive energy, often accompanied by uncontrollable irritability and anger), anxiety, selfinjury, eating and sleeping disorders and depression. Hill and Furniss (2006) clarify that it is difficult to resolve whether the differences between autistic and non-autistic groups reflect specific patterns of co-morbidity or simply reflect greater generalized behavioral disturbance in persons with autism. In a similar study, Spence (1997) noted that the most significant behavioral manifestations of autism are: separation anxiety separation anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Therefore, the core characteristics of autism including repetitive behaviors, difficulties in social relationships, and altered mood contribute considerably to the abnormal behavior of children with autism (Hill & Furniss, 2006).

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of the study is to: Determine the increasing rate and its impact. Determine the highest rate between boys and girls. Identify the major risk factor of autism. To assess Quality of Life in patients with autism. To measure the extent of autism in the community.

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