“Help for the Child With
Autism”
Lange, Nicholas, and Christopher J.
McDougle. "Help for the Child with Autism" Scientific American
Oct. 2013: 72-77. Print.
Jayden Hannon was diagnosed with
autism when he was 22 months old. Autism is a disorder of brain development
that can be characterized by: difficulties in social interactions, verbal or
non-verbal communications, and repetitive behaviors. Autism can be treated a
number of ways. Jayden goes through intensive therapy to improve his
communication skills, but scientists have yet to pinpoint the cause of autism.
They believe it could be a molecule, a gene, brain size, or an electrical
activity in the brain circuit. Yet, Jayden’s future, like all other autistic
children, is looking up with new advances in research and therapies.
The
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends examining all children between 18-24
months for early telltale signs of autism. The earlier ASD is caught, the
earlier it can be treated and improved, due to massive brain developments that
occur at a young age. One of the most effective ways to treat autism is with
ESDM, which is a type of therapy. This therapy draws the attention on the
having the child understand social cues: facial expressions, gestures, and
words spoken. ESDM, along with other therapy approaches, try and draw the
child’s attention to faces and voices. ESDM had proven effective, with their children
scoring higher on cognitive tests, and paying more attention to faces than
other autistic children. Also children, who received ESDM, had the regular
brain responses of a typical four-year old. Children that had ESDM had more
brain areas activate when they saw a face, than other autistic children. These
changes happened after 2,000 hours of therapy, but those hours were worth the
work, because it clearly made improvements.
Though there is no drug to directly
treat autism, oxytocin, or the “cuddle chemical” has been proven to reduce the
effects of autism. Oxytocin basically is a hormone that is naturally in a
human’s body, and it allows a person to trust others, develop relationships,
and pick up moral clues. For example, a child with autism cannot distinguish if
a stranger is good or bad, but oxytocin allows them to detect the difference.
Also people with autism have fewer oxytocin receptors, which decreases the
level in their body. Yet, there is not enough evidence to show that oxytocin
can become a routine part of treatment.
Some researchers believe that genetic
mutations could be rooted in the effects and cause of autism. There is evidence
showing that people with autism have mutated genes in common, which others do
not have. Other researchers have been manipulating stem cells, to see if they
could become brain cells, which would help in the diagnosis and treatment of
ASD. With research like this, doctors may be able to prescribe medicines,
treat, or cure the effects of autism.
The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum
disorder has grown 10% to 17% annually in the last few years. More and more
people have developed autism, and it affect roughly 2 million Americans. Researchers
believe because Autism is developed at such an early age, it can be treated
effectively if they could pinpoint what causes it. A combination of genetic and
behavioral therapies could essentially reshape the nervous system at a cellular
and molecular level improving the effects of autism. If that worked, we could
say we are nearing a cure for autism, so children like Jayden do not have to
live with it anymore.
This article makes some very
interesting points. It used statistics, which I liked because they helped me
further comprehend the research. But during some parts, the article became
repetitive, and hard to comprehend. The authors could have rephrased some of
their points to make it more straightforward. But overall this piece really
touched on the recent discoveries in autism, and was very informative.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYou summarized the main point of the article very well in your review. You also gave the reader a lot of background information on the disease and explained the issue with trying to find a cure, which made the subject easier to understand. You stated statistics on how many people that have autism and that it had increased, which was good because it gave the reader an understanding of the relevancy in society. One thing that I found interesting in your review was your information about oxytocin because I did not know that there was a chemical that allowed us to develop relationship and pick up moral clues. One thing that impressed me was that autism is treated with therapy and that the children that get this treatment improves by a lot. I did not know that the main cause of autism is not fully known and that scientists are still trying to discover it. I also did not know that 2 million Americans have autism. Overall you did a great summary of the article and topic in your review but you could have developed your relevancy paragraph further.
ReplyDeleteYou described the disorder of Autism clearly and concisely, allowing the reader to understand what is Autism, what causes it and what therapy is being provided to help treat it. The statistics of the American Academy of Pediatrics allow the reader to make comparisons between people inflicted with Autism and see the effects of the disorder on a larger scale. Furthermore, the summary is presented chronologically and all the ideas are interconnecting. I did not know that scientists are still unsure of how Autism develops, with 2 million Americans diagnosed as autistic. Secondly, I did not know there were so many different therapies recommended and how they can greatly improve the behavioral patterns of someone with Autism. I found it interesting that something as minor as cuddling is a form of treatment, being that it releases Oxytocin. In addition, I found it interesting to read about all the forms of treatment for Autism. I worked at a school for children with Autism over the summer, and was able to forge connections and see that the treatments discussed in the article were used on the children at the school. One suggestion I would make is to include more theories of how scientists think Autism develops and more personal anecdotes from people, such as, quotes.
ReplyDeleteAnsley you did a really good job with your article and really helped me futher understand what Autism is. Your article very much helped explain the treatments and causes of Autism that I did not know before. I also really liked how you reveiw showed us how very important this disease is and how serious it is espically with the increasing rates of diagnosis. I really liked the way your reveiw flowed and it was not too long to enable me to lose interest. I thought it was very intersting that there are so many different factors of Autism and I am assuming most people do not know these factors which is really scary!. It also was very intersting how the doctors had only found factors that cause Autism not the the real cause. However it is very impressive that these doctors have picked up on all these kids having Autism and are really doing something to try and cure the disorder. I also thought that the treatment of people was Autism was very impressive because it was helping the people with Autism even helping some recover. I thought your reveiw was great but next time maybe you could connect the topic better.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way you organized your current event report, specifically the way in which you began with a personal story to draw the reader in, and how you then went back to that in your relevance paragraph. I also thought you did a great job at breaking down your summary into separate points, including ESDM therapy, oxytocin, and genetic mutations, because it made it much easier for me to follow and showed that you truly understood the content of your article. In addition, you did a fantastic job at elaborating on terms that people who are not familiar with autism would know, and you were able to do so in a concise way which is all the more impressive. I also learned multiple things about autism and the hope for its cure by reading your current event report. For instance, I learned that while as of now there is no concrete cause and therefore cure for this disorder, therapy treatments like ESDM have been able to tackle many of the prevalent symptoms, such as social cues and cognitive development, when begun at an early age. I also learned that humans possess a hormone, oxytocin, that allows them to trust others, maintain relationships, and detect the normalities of a social situation, and I am now able to understand how hard it must be for those with autism who have decreased levels of this hormone in their body. If you could improve upon one thing, I might suggest that you better distinguish and add to your relevance paragraph how a cure for autism would affect the world. All in all, you did an amazing job at shedding light on a complicated subject, Ansley.
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