20 Important Fact About Autism That You Need To Know
There is a list of fact about autism that you need to know. Autism comes under the category of developmental disabilities that affects people of all socioeconomic groups, racial groups, and ethnic groups all around the world.
Autism spectrum disorder is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder that is prevalent in a large part of children all around the world. For the proper treatment and ensuring a better life, the earlier autism spectrum disorder is diagnosed, the earlier the treatment is given, and the earlier the children with autism can go for the betterment of their lives.
This article lays out some facts about autism that are meant to educate the people about this disorder.
What is Autism?
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that gets the detection during early childhood and affects the social skills, communication skills, self-regulation, and relationship building of an individual.
Autism comes under the general category of autism spectrum disorders that include Classic Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD).
Autism is a developmental disability that appears during early childhood, including significant challenges, causing intellectual disability, language and communication problems, and social skills problems.
Causes:
There are multiple causes of autism. Autism spectrum disorder is caused by both genetic as well as non-genetic factors, together with environmental factors.
Diagnosis:
Autism generally appears before the age of 3. Unlike other diseases, there is no specific blood test or diagnostic test available, but early diagnosis and free evaluation of childhood vaccination of childhood autism can help using early intervention services.
The early intervention services and behavioral interventions offered by certified medical professionals help the diagnosis of the condition in children with autism. If the condition is diagnosed earlier, the child qualifies for the treatment earlier and can live a better life.
The professional looks into the behavioral analysis of the children with autism go into the developmental history of the child, checks for the autism prevalence in the family, and goes for the formal diagnosis.
Early diagnosis of autistic people can help the healthy development of children with autism to help them excel better in life.
Treatment Options:
Although autism spectrum disorder is not curable, there are some treatment options available that can help alleviate the condition and help the individual live a better life.
Some of these treatment options or disease control measures are:
Early intervention
Medication
Nutritional therapy
Occupational therapy
Speech therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Applied behavior analysis
20 Fact about autism:
Below is the list of some facts about autism spectrum disorder that can help you in getting broad as well as general information regarding this disorder.
Some important informational facts:
1) Etymology:
The term ‘Autism’ stems from the Greek word ‘Autos’, which means ‘Self’. As per the literal sense, autism means ‘alone’.
2) Number of affected children with autism:
According to an estimation, autism statistics show that every 1 in 160 children all around the world is affected with an autism spectrum disorder. This accounts for the prevalence of this disorder in 1% of the children affected with autism in the general population.
3) Boys are more likely to be diagnosed:
According to the research, boys are 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as compared to girls. Although the blame for more diagnosis in boys is put on the less diagnosis of this condition in girls, these facts about autism are in the statistics.
4) Discrimination
The unique fact about autism is that it is prevalent in all socioeconomic classes, races, ethnicities, religions, creeds, sexes, and nationalities. It does not discriminate between them and it affects all the groups regardless of their identities.
5) Autism differs in each individual:
A unique fact about autism is that each individual on the spectrum is different. This difference is the same as the difference between every two individuals in this world. Some young adults are better able to excel in practical life, while some face challenges. Likewise, some have an intellectual disability, some are intelligent. Some are good in social communication, some are not at all.
6) Early intervention:
Research suggests that there is a large number of individuals who are working and contributing to the well-being of their societies and communities. This is made possible through the early intervention and treatment of children with autism in their educational years.
7) Fastest growing developmental disorder in the USA:
Another interesting fact about autism is that it is amongst one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the United States. When the stats are gathered together, Autism is more prevalent all around the US than AIDS, diabetes, and childhood cancer combined.
8) Creativity:
Researchers suspect that individuals with autism hold creativity in them and can achieve big success by utilizing their creativity in the fields of art, music, theater, etc. They may find talent and ultimately a passion in this area which earn them a big success.
9) Gender differences:
There are gender differences when it comes to the diagnosis of autism. On average, 1 in every 34 males is diagnosed with autism, whereas 1 in every 144 females is diagnosed with autism.
Some regard this gender difference in autism diagnosis to the development of coping mechanisms in females, or they are generalized by society as the typical ‘being a girl’ behavior, especially regarding social skills.
10) Employement and Higher Education:
Acoording to a survey, nearly half of the young adults with autism are prone to unemployment and not getting enrolled in higher education. Other children who don’t have this disorder have a better chance to excel in life.
Minority groups tend to be less diagnosed with autism and this adds to the situation getting even more worse.
Here are some important technical facts:
11) Co-morbid medical conditions:
Individuals having autism spectrum disorder may also face many other comorbid medical conditions other than developmental regression, social communication, and daily living skills, including feeding disorders or digestive disorders, fragile X syndrome, sleeping disorders, sensory integration dysfunction, and persistent viral infections.
12) Identical twins and fraternal twins:
According to a recent study funded by Autism Speaks, if one identical twin gets reliably diagnosed with autism, there is a 60-90% chance that both identical twins will develop autism.
Whereas, in the case of non=identical twins or fraternal twins, this percentage decreases up to a chance of 24% that the other twin will be diagnosed with autism.
13) Economic Costs of Autism:
Another important fact about autism spectrum disorder is related to the economic costs or medical expenditures. According to a study, it costs approximately $233,610 to raise a child with an autism spectrum disorder to the age of 17 years.
Another study conducted by Autism Speaks specifies an estimated cost of $1.4 to $2.4 million to raise children with an autism spectrum disorder.
14) Average intelligence of autistic people:
As per a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine, 55% of the children with autism spectrum disorder out of 75, had an intellectual disability. Out of these 75, only 15% were found out to have moderate to severe intellectual disability. 28% of them had average, and 3% had above average (greater than IQ of 125) intelligence.
15) Life span of autistic people:
Another important fact about autism is that it can affect the life expectancy of an individual.
The health factors associated with autism spectrum disorders affect people throughout their life span. According to a published report by CNN, an autistic person can live till the age of 36 years on average.
Another study indicates that people with autism generally make it to their 40s and 50s.
16) Risk factors of autism:
Many children born to older parents have more chances of being exposed to autism as genetic mutations related to autism in sperm and egg cells increase with age. Having a sibling with autism also increases the chances of developing autism in people.
Furthermore, certain environmental risk factors are also associated with the development of autism spectrum disorder in a child. For example, prenatal exposure of toxic chemicals to the pregnant mother can generate a higher risk of having a born child with autism spectrum disorders.
17) Other related disorders:
If not treated properly, together with the early diagnosis and intervention, individuals with autism can be exposed to other related disorders like depression, anxiety disorder, down syndrome, etc.
This in turn will greatly affect the individual’s life whether it is social communication or life at the educational institution or workplace.
18) Major causes of autism:
There are several causes related to autism spectrum disorder. Some of them are genetic, some are nongenetic, and some are environmental risk factors.
Unlike the misconceptions, childhood vaccinations do not affect the children and do not cause the development of this disorder.
19) Diagnosis of autism:
Certain behaviors after the medical detection and the developmental screening help the medical professionals to detect the presence of autism spectrum disorder.
A child’s behavior and developmental behavior are assessed for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
20) Treatment options for autism:
There are some treatment options that are available like applied behavioral analysis, occupational therapy, nutritional therapy, CBT, speech therapy, etc.
Early intervention and proper treatment can help individuals in managing their lives better and some can even manage to live independently while reaching adult life.
Wrapping Up Facts About Autism
All the individuals with autism must be helped by society, institutions, parents, teachers, and peers to help them live a good life and excel in this competitive world, being the special individuals. This article is meant to give you a brief overview regarding the list of unique aspects of every single fact about autism.
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