Support for Autistic Children

There are many things parents can do to help autistic children overcome their challenges and get the most of life. From learning all you can about the disorder to getting your child into therapy right away, you can make a big difference.

This article will teach you where to find government and educational services, how to choose effective treatments for your child, and where to look for support. Plus, you’ll also find parenting tips to help make daily home life with an autistic kid easier.

Helping an Autistic Child

If you’ve recently learned that your child has an autism spectrum disorder, you’re probably wondering and worrying about what comes next. No parent is ever prepared to hear that a child is anything other than happy and healthy, and a diagnosis of autism can be particularly frightening. You may be unsure about how to best help your child. You may be confused by conflicting treatment advice. Or you may have been told that autism is an incurable, lifelong condition, leaving you concerned that nothing you do will make a difference.

While it is true that autism is not something a person simply “grows out of,” there are many treatments that can help children learn new skills and overcome a wide variety of developmental challenges. From free government services to in-home behavioral therapy and school-based programs, assistance is available to meet your child’s special needs. With the right treatment plan, and a lot of love and support, your child can learn, grow, and thrive.

As the parent of a child with autism or related developmental delays, the best thing you can do is to get your kid in treatment right away. Don’t wait to see if your child will catch up later or outgrow the problem. Don’t even wait for an official diagnosis. The earlier children with autism spectrum disorders get help, the greater their chance of treatment success. Early intervention is the most effective way to speed up your child’s development and reduce the symptoms of autism.

With the right treatment plan, and a lot of love and support, your child can learn, grow, and thrive.

For Mothers of Children With Autism, the Caregiving Life Proves Stressful

This isn’t the most uplifting pre-Thanksgiving entry, but this new study really resonated with me. Holidays can be particularly challenging for children with autism and their moms. To help Paige (my 13-year-old daughter with autism) enjoy her five-day break from school, I’m going to keep her busy and spend as much time as possible outside.

If you know a child with autism, I know his or her mom would appreciate any moral support you can give. I give thanks daily for the many people in my life who help us in so many ways. The following is a news release concerns research originating out of the University of Wisconsin, Madison:

FOR MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM, THE CAREGIVING LIFE PROVES STRESSFUL

Common wisdom tells us that to be the mother of a child with autism is to assume a heavier caregiving burden in life.

Now, in companion studies, the daily physiological and psychological toll on mothers of adolescents and adults with autism is documented, revealing patterns of chronic stress, fatigue, work interruptions and a significantly greater investment of time in caregiving than mothers of children without disabilities.

“On a day-to-day basis, the mothers in our study experience more stressful events and have less time for themselves compared to the average American mother,” says Leann Smith, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Center who was involved with both studies.

The new studies, which currently (November 2009) appear online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, probe the daily experiences of mothers of adolescent and adult children with autism over a period of eight successive days. On four of those days, the researchers measured levels of maternal cortisol, a hormone released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. Cortisol levels were found to be significantly lower than normal, a condition that occurs under chronic stress, yielding profiles similar to those of combat soldiers and others who experience constant psychological stress.

“This is the physiological residue of daily stress,” says Marsha Mailick Seltzer, director of UW-Madison’s Waisman Center, an authority on families of children with developmental disabilities, and the leader of an ongoing longitudinal study of families of individuals with autism. “The mothers of children with high levels of behavior problems have the most pronounced physiological profile of chronic stress, but the long-term effect on their physical health is not yet known.”

Changes in the pattern of cortisol expression in the general population have been shown to be associated with chronic health problems and can influence such things as glucose regulation, immune function and mental activity. Autism is a widespread condition in the United States, affecting an estimated 1 in 100 children. It occurs on a spectrum of severity and is characterized by deficits in communication and social skills, and the presence of rigid, repetitive behaviors. Many with the condition require lifelong care.

For the “daily diary” study, mothers were contacted at the end of each day and asked a series of questions about time use, episodes of fatigue, leisure activities and stressful events. The data were compared with a nationally representative sample of mothers of children without disabilities drawn from a study known as MIDUS (Study of Midlife in the U.S.), directed by Carol D. Ryff, a UW-Madison professor of psychology.

For a mother of a child with autism, daily life includes at least two more hours of childcare than mothers of children without disabilities. These mothers were also more than twice as likely to be fatigued and three times as likely to experience a stressful event each day. Importantly, nearly a quarter of their days included work interruptions versus fewer than 10 percent of days in the comparison group, suggesting a potential economic impact.

The new findings also reveal a thread of resilience. Compared to mothers of children without a developmental disability, mothers of children with autism were just as likely to have daily positive interactions, serve as volunteers and lend support to others within their social networks. Together, argue Seltzer and Smith, the research results demonstrate the need to develop programs and networks of support for families of people with autism throughout life.

“We need to find more ways to be supportive of these families,” says Smith, noting that the added caregiving burden and potential health problems associated with chronic stress can be a devastating combination. More and better programs of respite for parents and flexible policies on the part of employers, she says, are good places to start. In addition, Seltzer notes that interventions that reduce behavior problems can improve the health and quality of life of both the child and the caregiving mother.

Both studies were funded by the National Institute of Aging, with additional support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In addition to Smith and Seltzer, co-authors of the daily-diary study include Jan S. Greenberg, Jinkuk Hong and Somer L. Bishop, all of UW-Madison, and David M. Almeida of Pennsylvania State University. Co-authors of the cortisol study include Greenberg, Hong and Almeida, as well as Christopher Coe of UW-Madison and Robert S. Stawski of Pennsylvania State University.

Early Signs of Autism Identified in Infants

Findings Could Lead to More Effective Treatment. Canadian researchers say they can recognize the early signs of  autism in children as young as 6 months old, and they hope their findings will lead to  better early treatments for the disorder.

In their ongoing study that now includes autism centers across 14 cities in Canada and the U.S., the researchers are following the progression of younger siblings of children with autism.

According to the National Alliance for Autism Research, a child born into a family in which an older child has been diagnosed with autism is 50 times more likely to develop the disorder than a child with no afflicted siblings.

In this study, researchers show that by age 1, siblings who are later diagnosed with autism may be distinguished from other siblings by early developmental behaviors.

“This is groundbreaking work that is pushing the frontier of what we know about the biological nature of autism, and why it emerges so early in life,” says researcher Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, MD, of Ontario’s McMaster University. “Our hope is that it will lead to the development of new and earlier treatments that could make a huge difference for these children.”
High-Risk Kids Followed From Birth

Autism is typically diagnosed in children around the age of 2 or 3 years, but parents often have concerns about developmental delays much earlier. There is strong evidence that autism has its origin in abnormal brain development early in prenatal life, write the authors.

In an effort to better understand the early signs of autism, Zwaigenbaum and colleagues have been observing more than 200 younger siblings of children with autism, many of whom have been followed from birth.

They developed a 16-point observational checklist called the Autism Observational Scale designed to map the development of infants as young as 6 months.

Specific markers include making infrequent eye contact, not smiling in response to smiles from others, and, in older children, exhibiting delayed language skills.

Even as early as 6 months of age, the researchers found that certain behaviors tended to distinguish siblings later diagnosed with autism from siblings who developed normally. These behaviors included passivity and a decreased activity level at 6 months of age, followed by extreme irritability, a tendency to fixate on objects, reduced social interaction, and lack of facial expression.

At 1 year, these same children also tended to have difficulty with language and communication, and they used fewer gestures. Zwaigenbaum noted that almost all of the children in the study who were diagnosed with autism by age 24 months had seven or more of these markers by the time they were a year old.

The findings are reported in the latest issue of the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. While the checklist may be useful for recognizing signs of autism in very high-risk children like the ones in the study, its relevance as an observational tool for other children is not yet known.

Self-Sufficiency Tips for the Mentally Challenged Child or Adult

Sure, there are varying degrees of mental disabilities, and some mentally challenged people function fairly well whereas others struggle with even small issues. There are plenty of ways to make life easier on the latter, though, simply by following a few tips and techniques for making huge hurdles seem like small steps.

Just as with any other person, most mentally challenged kids grow and learn, to become adults that know a lot more than they did as a child. But, for mentally challenged kids and adults, some things can never be learned. Limit that list by starting early to teach the child helpful things for his future. If the child is already grown it’s still not too late to show him some new tricks to make life easier.

First and foremost is a wallet, zip purse or another small item that the child will carry practically from birth. If he does this from infancy it will seem second nature to him later. The wallet – or what have you – should contain identifying information in case the child is ever lost. Limit the information to name, phone number(s), address, allergies, medications and pertinent information. Many mentally challenged kids cannot speak clearly – if at all – making the wallet or other holder a must. Clip the tiny wallet onto a back belt loop, sew a clear plastic pocket into the inside of his coat, or otherwise attach it to where the child cannot play with it or lose it.

Try to give your child an array of things to do, see and participate in as he grows. Lots of learning disabled kids grow to have fits if their patterns in life are broken. For example, if a child has cereal every morning, then his babysitter gives him toast instead, he’s liable to have a fit and she’ll never know what hit her. Teaching a child that days are different, furniture arrangements can vary, and that they don’t always have to watch the same shows on tv can be a big help in producing a well-rounded adult.

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