Autism A Very New Diagnosis - 1870 Words

Autism is a fairly new diagnosis in the healthcare industry. A rapidly growing number of children are being diagnosed annually. There have been many rumors about how children are developing autism, and many treatment options are being attempted. There is currently no cure for this condition. Autism, as a diagnosis, did not exist until early 1908. Doctors began to notice that they had several patients who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but did not exhibit all of the same symptoms and characteristics that supported that diagnosis. They were more distant from their peers and did not interact well in social settings, along with other misaligned characteristics. They started diagnosing these people as being autistic. The word†¦show more content†¦Those behaviors are now known as applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapies. It is the only therapy approved by the U.S. Surgeon General (1998). Another therapy that is having great success among small children aged 2-5 is comp lementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. They help the children learn problem-solving and social skills. Despite the advances in treatments in the past 40 years, autism was classified as an epidemic in 2000 because of how many children were being diagnosed in a short amount of time. A study was published in 2009 stated that 1 in 110 children are on the spectrum. Also, a 2012 study conducted in South Carolina manifested that more children will be diagnosed with autism this year that with diabetes, AIDS, and cancer combined. As I said earlier, autism is caused by genetics, environmental factors, and delayed brain development. Everyone on the spectrum is effected by autism in their own unique way. The effects of autism are broken down into five main categories; communication, social interaction, sensory impairments, play, and overall behavior. Some things that autistic individuals struggle with in regard to communication is that their language develops slowly, they use their own made up hand signals instead of words, and have short attention spans. Next, autistic children do not attempt to make friends because they would rather spend time alone, and they struggle with social cues