These days, autism has been a very interesting scientific subject in many aspects. On the other hand, recent scientific studies show that autism is not based on a single cause. Autism is thought to have many causes, such as genetic factors and environmental factors, and it may have occurred during pregnancy or may have an impact on birth. Unfortunately, there is no definitive treatment for autism yet. However, it is possible to turn negative conditions into positive status in early diagnosis. For example, eliminating anxiety and stress, improving environmental conditions, and enhancing social and emotional relationships. In particular, increasing interaction with the parent will produce positive effects. Of course, the fact that research is ongoing and the discovery of treatments that can improve the quality of life is promising for future autistic individuals.
What is autism?
Autism is a serious developmental disorder that starts early in life and continues throughout life. It is a neurological disorder and it is caused by problems in the nervous system that affect the structure and functioning of the brain and occurs in the first three years of life. Many years ago people misunderstood or unexpectedly judged autism, they think it was a mental problem and they were going to the mental hospital for treatment. Moreover, some people live the rest of their lives in a mental hospital because people do not know about that illness. The first person to discover autism was a child psychiatrist in 1943, doctor Leo Kanner.
Autism is encountered in all societies, families, and races. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children in the United States today. Also, the research and Dr. Chung show that males were four times more likely than females to be identified with autism spectrum disorder(ASD). Autism manifests itself with some symptoms. These symptoms are social interaction like friendship, eye contact problems, playing games, and difficulty in communication skills, that is speaking, or words used. Also, repeated unusual behavior and different interests. Although very insufficient in previous years, many important steps have been taken in the name of autism. Nowadays, awareness of autism has increased. The reason for this is public attention, public awareness has increased, families are more conscious, and special education has increased. In fact, hundreds of scientific studies on autism have been published each year and there has been a lot of knowledge. In fact, the prevalence of autism is increasing and becoming more frequent because the social sensitivity to autism has increased. Unfortunately, although there are many scientific studies on this subject, there is no definitive treatment and diagnosis of autism yet.
How can parents positively affect autistic children's life?
When the child begins to notice something that is not going well, a state of fear and shock occurs for the family. Add to this, especially in the absence of what is known about autism, the situation becomes even more insurmountable for families. Over time, the family gets used to the situation and develops a whole new sensibility and communication. In the meantime, the family enters the process of raising both themselves and their child. In fact, some symptoms of autism may slow down over time. For example, if the child receives appropriate education, the child with autism becomes an increasingly harmonious part of the family with increased social cohesion.
What are the causes of autism?
According to the Exceptional Children textbook, ' From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, many professionals believed that parental indifference to the emotional needs of their children caused autism. Also, during the 1950s and 1960s, Bettelheim maintained that autism can be attributed to inadequate parenting. In the 1950s, Bettelheim argued and believed that the mothers of children with autism that they were 'cold and refrigerators or the parent unable to develop an emotional bond with their children. On the other hand, this view is invalid today because there is no single reason for the diagnosis of autism. Of course, genes cannot work alone. Gene and environmental interaction are inevitable. Any gene works with both the other genes and the proteins and external conditions they form. When it comes to the environment; it enters the social, chemical, and biological environment.
However, according to Sandin and colleagues, their work is the largest and most rigorous study on the causes of autism. Between 1998 and 2012, researchers looked at the medical histories of more than 2 million children born in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Israel, and Western Australia. All of these children were followed until they were 16 years old. Autism spectrum disorders were observed in more than 22,000 of the group and continued to increase in later years.
Based on the results of these data, approximately 80% of the risks of autism disorder were due to genetic factors, and the rest were due to unidentified environmental causes.
In the article, Autism Speaks If Autism is Genetic 'Why identical twins genetically same everything, but one can be autistic, the other is normal or within normal limits'. They argue that autism is not just genetic. According to TEDx Talks by Dr. Erbaş, autism causes stress in the womb. (( he believed that the baby has autism caused by stress in the womb during the pregnancy)). This stress is psychogenic, metabolic, smoking, or alcohol, such as sugar disease, uniform nutrition, and pregnancy problems. As a result of the experiments conducted by Dr. Erbas, one of the two pregnant mice was fed in a stressful environment and with sugary foods. the other pregnant mouse was provided to feed in a comfortable environment and more healthy. As a result, stress and sugar-fed mice were born with autism. The other is healthy. In addition, Wendy Chung and Dr. Erbas both agree that the vaccine does not cause autism. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports the results of his research: Vaccines do not cause autism.
In conclusion, nowadays, autism has been a very interesting scientific subject in many aspects. On the other hand, recent scientific studies show that autism is not based on a single cause. Unfortunately, there is no definitive treatment for autism yet. However, it is possible to turn negative conditions into positive status in early diagnosis. For example, eliminating anxiety and stress, improving environmental conditions, and enhancing social and emotional relationships. In particular, increasing interaction with the parent will produce positive effects. Of course, the fact that research is ongoing and the discovery of treatments that can improve the quality of life is promising for future autistic individuals.
References
Autism Speaks,' What Causes Autism'. https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-causes-autism
Erbas Oytun, (April 26, 2019). TEDx Talks, 'What We Learn From Autism'. https://www.youtube.com/watch
Chung Wendy,(April 28, 2014). TEDx Talks,' Autism — what we know (and what we don't know yet)'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKlMcLTqRLs
Mundell E.J, Health Day ' Autism Largely Caused by Genetics, Not Environment: Study. https://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-health-information-26/autism-news-51/autism-largely-caused-by-genetics-not-environment-study
William L. Heward, Moira Konrad, Sheila R. Alber-Morgan (2009).
Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (11th Edition). “Autism Spectrum Disorder”.