:English Project
Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASD
Submitted by: Ariel Levi, Noa Cohen, Ophir
.Rachmani, Agam Noah and Hila Berman
Table Of Content
2.........................................................................Introduction
3.................................................Chapter 1 – What Is ASD?
7...............................Chapter 2 – Different Types of Autism
8..........................Chapter 3 – Busting Myths About Autism
14........................................................................Reflections
15......................................................................Bibliography
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Introduction
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a serious neurological disorder
that has the potential to disrupt the social skills, intellectual skills,
and many other aspects of life of the people living with it. Over the
years, many myths have evolved in our society about ASD and
unfortunately, the people diagnosed have to deal with nasty and
unaccepting attitude on a daily basis that isn’t based on anything
but false information and biased negative opinions. We have
chosen the subject because over the last years, as social medias
have become our main form of communication and opinion
expressing, we've heard more and more autistic people sharing
their story and their own unique view on the disorder. We became
more and more invested and interested and decided we were
going to research ASD for our project. Our main goal is to educate
ourselves and our peers as much as possible about the disorder,
it’s pathophysiology, living with it and much more while hopefully
also help debunk some of the myths mentioned above.
To get information as accurate as possible we will read studies
published about ASD and watch interviews with autistic people and
if we get lucky we might even get to interview a few ourselves.
During the project we expect difficulties arriving to a solid
understanding about the disorder. Another obstacle we may hit is
reading medical articles as the terms used can be written in a very
high English level but on the whole we will do out best to make this
project as precise as possible and to enjoy writing it.
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Chapter 1 – What Is ASD?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition related to brain
development that impacts how a person perceives and socializes
with others. The term "spectrum" in autism spectrum disorder
refers to the wide range of symptoms and severity. During our
project we will discuss and dive into specific characteristics related
to ASD.
History
The term autism first was used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in
1908. He used it to describe a schizophrenic patient who had
withdrawn into his own world. The Greek word ''autós'' meant self
and the word “autism” was used by Bleuler to mean morbid self-
admiration and withdrawal within self.
In 1943, child psychiatrist Leo Kanner studied 11 children that had
difficulties in social interactions and adapting to changes. These
kids probably had Classic Autism - the most serious form of
autistic spectrum disorder also known as "severe autism" but
at the time Kenner coined the term "early infantile autism". In 1944
Hans Asperger described a phenomenon similar to classic autism
known as "Asperger syndrome". Those were the first two
documented forms of ASD.
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Epidemiology
It is estimated that about 1 in every 100 children has ASD and also
that the disorder is 3 times as common among boys than it is
among girls. There is no genetic test that can diagnose ASD.
Children often show symptoms of autism within the first year. A
small number of children appear to develop normally in the first
year, and then go through a period of regression between 18 and
24 months of age when they develop autism symptoms.
Early signs
There are a few preliminary signs to ASD that can be noticed even
before the age of 2 years. Mostly an absence , delay or poor
quality of social behaviors suitable for their age such as : social
interest in people rather than just in still objects or toys , attention
seeking using vocal signs , facial expressions , pointing or body
gestures , etc… Additional signs are a lack of response of the kid
to a call by his name or hyper-focus on unusual activities such as
lining toys up. When said signs appear the child should see a
professional.
Diagnosis
The official diagnosis of ASD isn’t based on a single test , rather
than that there are several tests that lead professionals to a final
diagnosis. Amongst them :
An interview with the patient’s parents that contains
questionnaires about the patient’s development and behavior
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Observing the patient’s ability to communicate with others
and the quality of those connections
Receiving information from other professionals that are
familiar with the patient
And finally assessing the patient’s verbal and cognitive abilities ,
and according to those along with the severity of other symptoms
determining the level of the support required for the patient.
Causes
ASD has no single known cause. Given the complexity of the
disorder, and the fact that symptoms and severity vary, there are
probably many causes. Both genetics and environment may play a
role.
Our genome – the total genetic information carried in an organism,
is what affects our protein synthesis in cells which ultimately will
determine the unique ways in which our body will function.
Mutations (changes in genes) can disturb these processes. In
order to figure out whether ASD had a genetic cause, scientists
compared the DNA sequences of affected and unaffected family
members. First, they tested their theory on identical twins and
found out that in case one of the twins is affected, his/er identical
twin has a 60-90% chance of being affected as well. Later on,
other studies using the same method have found up to 230 Genes
that when mutated, has a direct link to ASD appearing in said
children. ‘Neurexine 1’ is an example of a gene identified in autistic
people. This is a gene we all have, and it’s important for
communication within the brain. Problems (or ‘disruptions’) in this
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gene are a known factor in autism. But because the disruption by
itself is not enough to cause autism, it means there must be other
factors involved in causing autism. In autistic children, the brain
tends to grow faster than average during early childhood,
especially during the first three years of life. The brains of autistic
babies appear to have more cells than they need, as well as poor
connections between the cells. Also, pruning - the disconnection of
extra brain connections - doesn’t seem to happen as much in
autistic children. This means that information might be lost or sent
through the wrong connections. The lack of pruning might also
explain why the brain seems to be growing faster in autistic
children than in typically developing children.
Several other factors that aren’t related to genetics have been
linked to an increased likelihood of autism:
older parents
poor growth of the fetus in the womb
lack of oxygen when a baby is born
premature birth
exposure to air pollution during pregnancy.
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Chapter 2 – Different Types of Autism
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Chapter 3 – Busting Myths About Autism
Due to the differences between autistic and non-autistic people, a
gap was created in society.
The characteristics of autism vary from person to person but are
generally divided into three main groups: difficulties with social
communication, social interaction, and social imagination (or the
theory of mind).
Difficulties in communication involves difficulties in
understanding communications from others (including
misunderstandings) and difficulty in knowing how to
communicate with others.
Difficulties with interaction include the desire for social
interaction but also the exhaustion and frustration of finding
interaction uncomfortable, dull, or confusing. More so ever,
initiating interactions, responding to others, or using interaction
to show people things or to be sociable.
Understanding and relating to other people.
Taking part in everyday family, school, work and social life.
Understanding the Connection Between Social Skills and Autism:
All of these social skills problems are rooted in some of the basic
elements of ASD:
• Delays and difficulty in acquiring verbal communication skills
• Inability to read non-verbal communication cues
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• Repetitive or obsessive behaviors and insistence on an
adherence to fixed routine
• Overwhelming sensory inputs.
What can we, as a part of society, do?
Here are ideas you can try while interacting with an autistic person
to support communication development for autistic people to help
them fit better in our society :
1. Follow their lead
Follow the person's lead, rather than directing them. They will
be more likely to pay attention to the activity, more likely to
focus on the same thing as you, and will learn how to make
choices for themselves.
2. Try gestures and visual supports
- When offering a drink, gesture the action of drinking by
pretending to hold a glass in one hand and bringing it your
mouth.
- Nod/shake your head for "yes" and "no". Wave your hand for
"hello" and "goodbye”.
- When talking about people, show a photo of who is being
spoken about.
Other visual methods that can be used to increase
understanding include picture timetables, line drawings, cue
cards and object/picture schedules.
3. Give feedback
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Reward attempts to understand and communicate. By doing
this you can increase the likelihood that they will try and do it
again. By using praise and commenting on what has been
achieved, the person can make a connection between their
own actions and your specific words.
4. Find opportunities to interact
When an autistic person isn't interested in doing any of the
activities presented, you might still be able to find opportunities
for communication and interaction.
Although awareness of autism is growing, there are still a bunch of
misconceptions and myths about autism and people with autism
discorder.
These myths about autism can be offensive, harmful, stigmatising
or just plain misleading, so making sure we spread the word about
what autism is and isn’t is important to ensure that autistic people
receive the support, help and understanding they need and
deserve
Common misconceptions about autism spectrum discorder are:
1. Autism is a disease
One common misconception among the myths about autism
is that it is a disease. Some people think that autism can be
cured with medicine and treatment like an illness and
assume that autistic people are therefore “sick.”
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The truth - Autism is not a disease. Autistic people are
definitely not ill. Autism cannot be cured.
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder
that impairs an individual’s ability to communicate and
interact with others. There is more than one type of autism
caused by different genetic combinations and environmental
factors. Individuals with autism have issues with
communication, social interactions, and activities. However,
that is who they are, not what they have; they are not sick.
Autism is treated as an entity in order to allow the individual
and their families to live comfortably and happily.
2. Individuals with autism do not want to build friendships.
The truth - most children with autism lack the appropriate
social skills needed to develop friendships so they seem
unfriendly .Therefore, Many autistic children are very lonely
and would like to have friends but don’t know how to
communicate their interest.
Autistic children are often anxious in social situations, which
may lead them to avoid other children.
3. Bad parenting causes autism.
There was a theory called the “refrigerator mother
hypothesis” in the 1950s that suggested autism is caused by
mothers weren’t emotionally warm.
The truth - research has proved that this is not true,
Parenting style is definitely not the root cause of autistic
behaviour.
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4. Vaccines cause autism
There are some people who mistakenly believe that vaccines
can cause autism. Even though this is a relatively commonly
known myth, it’s actually just not true.
The truth - The story behind this myth is that in the late
1990s a study was published in a journal that drew a highly
tenuous link between vaccines and autism. Not only was the
experiment that was conducted not up to scientific standards,
it was later completely debunked as deceptive, and non-
indicative of such a conclusion. The physician behind the
study was infact stripped of his medical license later.
Unfortunately, the myth has preserved. Over the last few
decades despite there being no evidence that there is any
link between vaccines and autism.
5. Every autistic individual has a special talent.
Another common misconception is that all autistic people
have savant skills. A savant skill, caused by savant
syndrome, is a very rare condition in which someone exhibits
extraordinary and exceptional mental abilities. This might be
related to memory, art, music or rapid calculation.
The truth - What is a myth is the assumption that ALL
autistic people have a savant skill. In fact, no more than 1 in
10 (or 10%) of people with autism display some advanced
level of a particular skill. Even among those who do have a
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‘savant skill’, the skills themselves are very varied both in
type and degree. Autistic individuals often exhibit very
specific and focused interest in a singular topic, sometimes
to the exclusion of everything and anything else. This means
that they might have a higher than average level of
knowledge on the specific subject. Understandably, this
might lead to confusion regarding whether they have savant
abilities, but in reality it is more likely than not simply an
expression of their keen interest in the topic.
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Reflections
Ariel Levi
For me, the process of making the project was enjoyable. I had a great
time learning new things during the research and putting the knowledge
Iv'e aquired into something that other people could learn and educate
from. Working in a group was a little hard for me but overall, it was fun
and educating – Iv'e learned to listen to the group and work in a team.
During the making of the project Iv'e learned so much about Autim and
even rebutted some thoughts I had had about ASD and the people wh
live with it.
Hila Berman
The project was interesting. Working on a team went well, we did some
parts together and some parts we did on our own. The difficulties for me
were to choose what information to put in and what is unnecessary. I
learned about the social conditions that autistic people suffer from and
how can we help.
Noa Cohen
During the making of the project,Iv'e learned so much about Autism and
now I'm more familiar with the types of the autism and the disease
itself. Also, while writing the project, I felt my English was getting better
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and I have learned a lot of new words and terms that I wouldn’t have
known If I hadn't participated in the project.
Bibliography
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