Autism in children is a syndrome caused by brain, nerve and genetic diseases, which has been paid more and more attention in modern society. The main symptoms are social and language communication barriers, as well as abnormal interests and behaviors. Autism in children is a widespread developmental disorder, which is characterized by serious and extensive social interaction, impaired communication ability and rigid behaviors, interests and activities. Common causes and influencing factors include heredity, brain organic diseases and social psychological factors. Because of the early onset age and special symptoms of childhood autism, there is no effective treatment, and there are no completely cured cases so far. At present, there is a unified view that the key lies in early detection and early intervention, and through behavioral intervention and special education and training, they can improve their self-care ability, cognitive ability, social communication ability and ability to adapt to society. Effective clinical intervention methods include behavioral intervention, structured education and language training.
It should be said that this is a disease that people have only faced up to in recent years. There used to be, but it's less than now. However, the change of incidence rate is more due to the improvement of diagnostic methods and the popularization of public awareness. According to American statistics, the incidence curve of mental retardation is opposite to that of autism. It can be seen that the abnormal increase in the incidence of autism is more due to the lack of relevant research and diagnostic tools in the past, which makes many autistic children diagnosed with mental retardation. The incidence of autism in the United States is 14.9. According to the statistics all over the world, the incidence of autism is about 5/10000, and it is estimated that there are about 500,000 people with autism in China.
Basic characteristics of autism
Generally speaking, children with autism will have the following three basic characteristics before they are three years old:
(1) Social development:
Not interested in external things, unaware of the existence of others;
Lack of eye contact with people, unable to actively communicate, share or participate in activities;
In terms of groups, imitation ability is weak, social skills are not mastered, and cooperation is lacking;
Imagination is weak, and symbolic game activities are rarely carried out through toys.
(2) communication:
Language development is slow and has obstacles, and the content, speed and tone of speech are abnormal;
There are different degrees of difficulties in language understanding and nonverbal communication;
May lack the ability of oral communication.
(3) behavior:
In daily life, adhere to certain methods and procedures, refuse to change habits and routines, and constantly repeat some actions; ? Narrow interest, will be extremely involved in some objects, or be particularly interested in some parts of objects or some shapes of objects. In addition, autistic children may also have the following related characteristics:
(1) perception mode:
Be restless or react strongly to certain sounds, colors, food or light;
The response to cold, heat and pain is very weak, so there is a lack of vigilance and appropriate response to dangerous behavior;
I will constantly turn my body or explore things in unusual ways and indulge myself in some kind of sensory stimulation.
(2) development:
About 30% have normal mental development, and 70% have mental retardation or IQ below 70.
The development of abilities in all aspects is uneven, and the development process is different from that of ordinary children.
(3) Emotion and behavior:
Because of communication difficulties, they can't adapt to changes, so they are more likely to be stimulated by emotional or environmental factors and show impulsive or harmful behaviors.
(4) Living habits:
Will resist a certain taste, color or food that has never been eaten, thus forming a serious partial eclipse behavior;
It will be difficult to sleep.
(5) Advantages and interests:
Some patients may have abnormal memory;
There may be particularly outstanding performance in personal interests and skills.
(6) Social aspects:
I seldom make eye contact with others, and I don't pay attention to other people's expressions and emotional changes. It is even more difficult to infer others' thoughts, wishes and intentions from their words and deeds or to understand others' feelings.
Sometimes there are inappropriate emotional expressions and social behaviors, such as laughing when others are unhappy, saying inappropriate things on some occasions, or not sharing happiness with others.
Why do children get autism?
1, genetic factors
Twin research shows that the autism prevalence rate of identical twins is as high as 665,438+0% ~ 90%, while fraternal twins have no obvious autism prevalence rate. The recurrence rate between brothers and sisters is estimated at around 4.5%. These phenomena indicate that autism has a genetic tendency. Studies have shown that some chromosomal abnormalities may lead to autism.
2. Infection and immune factors
As early as the late 1970s, it was found that pregnant women infected with the virus made their offspring more susceptible to autism. Later, several studies suggested that there may be a certain relationship between pregnancy infection and autism. At present, the related pathogens are rubella virus, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus, herpes simplex virus, Treponema pallidum and Toxoplasma gondii. At present, it is speculated that the antibodies produced by these pathogens enter the fetus from the placenta and cross-immunoreact with the developing nervous system of the fetus, which interferes with the normal development of the nervous system and leads to autism.
3. Physical and chemical factors during pregnancy.
If pregnant women have a history of taking thalidomide and sodium valproate antiepileptic drugs and drinking alcohol in the early pregnancy, the probability of their offspring suffering from autism will increase. According to these studies, the offspring of pregnant 12.5 d rats who were injected with a large dose of sodium valproate intraperitoneally showed autism-like behavior. Another study found that exposure to repeated freezing stimuli during pregnancy will also increase the chances of autism in future generations; Repeated freezing stimulation of pregnant rats also showed the behavioral characteristics of autism in their offspring.
4. Metabolic diseases
Congenital metabolic disorders, such as phenylketonuria, cause dysfunction and disorder of brain cells, which will affect the function of nerve information transmission in the brain and cause autism.
5. Brain injury
Including brain hypoplasia caused by embarrassing abortion during pregnancy, premature delivery, dystocia, neonatal brain injury during childbirth, infant infection with encephalitis, meningitis and other diseases, may increase the chance of autism.