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Autism, also known as autism, is a relatively serious neurodevelopmental disorder. The core symptoms are persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction, as well as restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors. patterns and interests. Autism has typical symptoms of social communication impairment, communication impairment, narrow interests and repetitive stereotypes.
Children with autism often have severely impaired social functions, so early intervention is extremely important. Educational training, behavioral therapy, family education and support, environmental therapy and drug therapy are currently the main treatment methods. Many autistic patients are still in a state of severe functional impairment until adulthood and require long-term care. However, if early and planned treatment can be carried out, Medical treatment and corrective education, and long-term persistence, can achieve better results.
Six major symptoms that require medical attention
The cause of autism is currently unclear. Experts believe that it is related to the interaction between genetic factors and environmental factors, as well as brain development and neurobiochemical factors, including genetic factors, chromosomal abnormalities, and genetic abnormalities that may lead to the disease. ; Abnormal brain structure and function. Current research has found that regardless of brain function (such as colliculus Brain , cingulate gyrus, frontal lobe and other brain areas), brain structure (such as cerebellum, brainstem , etc.), compared with healthy children, children with autism have abnormalities; neurobiochemical factors, in recent years, about the brain There are many studies on the imbalance of 5-HT, dopamine , oxytocin in the brains of patients with autism, but further research is still needed.
Patients can go to the psychiatry or psychology department of a psychiatric hospital, or the psychology department of tertiary-level hospital .
Typical core clinical symptoms of autism include the following behaviors.
Social communication disorder: This disorder manifests itself differently in different stages of the patient's life. For example, in infancy, it manifests as a lack of interest in and response to human voices; in early childhood, there is no attachment to parents; in adulthood, it lacks interest in communication and social skills. skills, etc.;
Communication barriers: reflected in both non-verbal and verbal communication;
Narrow interests and stereotyped repetitive behaviors: children often have an interest in toys, cartoons, etc. Lack of interest, but obsessed with watching advertisements;
Sensory and movement disorders: numbness to pain and external stimulation;
Weird behavior: children often have wandering eyes, and it is difficult to concentrate for a long time;
Intelligent and cognitive impairment : Often manifested Because the intelligence is lower than that of peers, there are varying degrees of decline in cognitive functions such as attention, memory, judgment, execution, and understanding.
If the child shows the following signs, you need to be alert to the possibility of autism: when he is one year old, he still does not respond to calling his own name; when he is 14 months old, he never takes the initiative to point to things he is interested in or wants; 18 When he was 6 months old, he could not play imaginary games such as " play house "; he avoided eye contact and preferred to be alone; he did not care about other people's emotions and was very Rarely express their emotions; language development lags significantly behind peers; always likes to repeat the same words; often answers questions incorrectly; is very sensitive to subtle changes in the environment, and is therefore irritable; has some particularly paranoid interests, such as someone who never leaves Toys for hands; likes to mechanically clap, swing, and spin; reacts differently to sounds, smells, tastes, sights, and feelings than others; often puts multiple toys in a row.
Early intervention is extremely important
Children with autism often have severely impaired social functions, so early intervention is extremely important. In terms of treatment, there are mainly methods such as education and training, behavioral therapy, family guidance and support, and drug treatment.
Education and training: Education and training for children with autism in accordance with individualized education plans or programs can best meet the needs of children with autism in all aspects of ability development;
Behavioral therapy: Commonly used methods include: positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement, isolation, extinction method , system desensitization method , etc.;
family guidance and support: autism not only brings huge damage to the social functions of the children themselves, but also brings huge pain and self-blame to the families of the children; therefore It is very important to provide all aspects of guidance and support to families of children with autism in a timely manner.Including: psychological consultation, guidance and support for families; education about disease knowledge; guidance on education and training methods, etc.;
drug treatment: So far, there is no drug that can effectively improve the social interaction and communication barriers of autistic children, but For children with abnormal emotional and behavioral disorders, treatments such as antipsychotics, antidepressants, and central nervous system stimulants have certain effects.
If autistic patients can receive planned medical treatment and corrective education early and persist for a long time, they can achieve better results.
Autism not only affects patients and their families, but also brings losses to society. For patients and their families, because of their limited intelligence and working ability, they are unable to take care of themselves and their families like normal people. Instead, they cause great mental and material losses, and the losses are proportional to the severity of the disease; for society , and also brings certain human and material burdens to the society.
Carrying out premarital examinations, avoiding intrauterine infections during pregnancy and avoiding taking drugs during pregnancy that may have an impact on fetal brain development will play a certain role in preventing the occurrence of autism.
Text/Qiao Ying, Deputy Chief Physician, Shanghai Mental Health Center
