AUTISM

Parenting a child With AUTISM

Introduction to Autism

● Autism is a divelopmental disorder that appears in the first years of life and affects brain development.

● These disorders are characterized in varying degrees by difficulties in social interaction,verbal and non verbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

● Changes in the amaygdala,cerebellum or cerebral cortex

Signs of Autism

● Delayed or lack of speech.● Poor or lack of eye contact.● Hyperactive,repetitive/stereotype movements.● Persistency to do things,rubs mouth/licks

hands.● Mysterious/different from other child's.● Lonely some times.

Related Disorders

● Pervasive Developmental Disorder.● Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. ● Rett Syndrome.● Aspenger Syndrome.

Children and Autism

● Autism effects boys 4 to 5 more times than girls.

● 1 in 68 child's in US is on the spectrum.● 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are

diagnosed in US.● Family costs $60,000/on average per year.

Symptoms

● Pretend play/social interactions.● Lack of speech/verbal non verbal

communication.● Persistence and repetitive actions.● Sensitive to sight,hearing,touch,smell,taste.● Low senses in danger,high tolerance for pain.● Low or high noises/focused or unfocused.

Social Interaction

● Does not play interactive games,stay lonely.● Not very good at making friends,prefers to

spend some time by themselves.● Initially does not respond and/or avoids eye

contact.

Play and Behavior

● PLAY:Does not imitate others,play alone not pretend play.

● BEHAVIOR:No or short attention span,mysterious/different,may be aggressivity.

Tests

● EEG-engephalographima,blood,hearing,lead,

IgE,visual tests.● Developmental skills/language lack-lossing.● Social interaction,play,gesturing,occupational

and speech tests.

Medicine-Treatment

● Used to treat behavior,hyperactivity,anxiety,attention problems,aggressivity,sleep difficulty,irritability,mood swings.

● An experienced team to support child's needs(ceneticist,neurologist,psychologisttherapists,teachers;),medications depending on needs/behavior,occupational and speech therapy,other therapies.

Diet

● Some children with Autism react well to gluten free foods.

● Medication can help.

Strategies-Help

● Generally:Get attention before to talk.● It's better to show to do something rather than

talk even its simlpe words.Visual helps better childs,can remember even they see something one time.

● Work with what the child likes rather than what you like,they can understand all you say/do.

● In meltdowns talk and encourage softly.

Occupational Therapy

● Occupational therapy can make DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE of an AUTISTIC child ,lead in productivity,address social interactions,build relationships with others.Later can help adults in kinesiology,body awareness,social recognition,behavior,control,communication, engagement in activities.

Speech-Language Therapy

● In order to help people having communication/disorder problems,swallowing problem. Language-voice disorders,hyperactivity,anxiety,autism,depression,apraxia of speech,intelligible speech,sound production.

● Prognosis depends on the cause,type,age,persistency of the therapy motivation and environmental variables.

Actions to Support

● Full state/insurance assistance,doctors,therapists,teachers.

● Financial assistance,school assistance.● Educate pediatricians,teachers,new parents.● Lectures and Events.● Home Equipment/needs.● Better coordination between ministries of health

and education for intervention.

Conclusion

WE ARE HERE TO SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AUTISM BECAUSE WE STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT:

''Success loves Preparation''

Thanks

Andreas Andreou:Parenting a child with AUTISM.

andreasenosis@hotmail.com

www.mybusinessmavepr.weebly.com

Public Responsibility

Ammoxostou 47,Nicosia,Cyprus

0035799423240

END

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION