Approach to a Child with Autism

Autism is a developmental disorder that presents with findings such as limitation in social interaction, significant delay in communication level, limitation in interests and repetitive behaviors in children.

This disorder usually begins to show signs before the 36th month, and it is 4 times more common in boys than girls. While the incidence of the disorder was 1 in 500 in 1995, the current figures are reported as 1 in 80. The main reason for the change in the incidence of the disorder over the years is the fact that families can scan and notice the symptoms more easily due to the increasing social awareness of autism.

In studies on the cause of autism, a clear mechanism that can explain the pathology of the disorder has not been revealed yet. There are many reasons for doubt in this regard. The most prominent reasons are that there may be a defect in the chemical substances that carry messages between cells in the brain or in the anatomical structure of the brain.

We can examine the symptoms of autism under four main headings. The first is the findings of inadequacy in social interaction, which are the absence of eye contact or very short eye contact during mutual communication, the findings such as not looking when called by the name, which can become clear enough to raise the suspicion that there may be a hearing problem by the families, and giving the impression of not hearing. However, another autism symptom group is significant delay in communication level. Speech is delayed in these children, language development is behind, it may be noticed that they are inadequate in using body language or understanding body language, these children have difficulty in understanding the feelings and thoughts of others. The third symptom group is the limited interests of children with autism. These children are mostly indifferent to games and toys, they do not play imaginary games, generally families complain that they do not play games with their peers, children with autism tend to spend time alone. The last symptom group is repetitive behaviors such as hand clapping, flapping wings, waving, swaying, and turning around, which can be easily recognized from the outside, and these behaviors are generally resistant to change. In addition to these symptoms, symptoms such as hypersensitivity in the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste or touch, insensitivity to the sense of pain, hyperactivity or inactivity, and insensitivity to dangers may be seen in these children.

The way of communication is of great importance in the approach to children with autism. It is necessary to speak in clear and short sentences in a language that these children can understand. For example, instead of saying, ‘You shouldn’t throw garbage in the room, everyone hates it, pick up the garbage and throw it away cleanly’ should be more clearly directed to ‘trash’. In fact, our requests can be explained with pictures and an easier communication can be established in this way. During communication with these children, methods such as using a lot of mimics, adjusting the tone of voice with ups and downs, leaning up to eye level, talking by looking at the child’s face are beneficial. Families can help these children increase their social skills by playing imaginary games such as housekeeping, feeding toys, sleeping, bathing, taking toys to the imaginary doctor, taking them to the barbershop. The last important issue in the approach to children with autism is to ensure their safety. As we mentioned before, these children may show insensitivity to the feeling of pain and danger, and may experience tantrums. In order to prevent the child from displaying hurtful behaviors towards himself or the people around him, the physician you consult may start drug treatment when necessary.