I have done some research on what the autism sepctrum actually is. I have worked with a child that they thought was on the spectrum, but wasnt severe. This morivated me to look further into what the autism spectrum is. I used this website to give me the information I needed for this topic of research.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders
According to this website listed above, there are different classifications of autism. Some are not as severe as others. Those classifications are aspergers syndrome, persuasive development disorder (PDD), autistic disorder, rett's syndrome, and childhood disentegrative disorder.
*Aspergers is a very mild form of autism. The child is typically obsessed with one topic in school and talks non stop about that. I have heard of this form a lot. The child is high functioning, but has issues with being socially awkward.
*PDD is more severe that aspergers but the child is still considered to be high functioning. The child will deomonstrate interest in something typically one thing, may demonstrate repitive behaviors, and has issues with being socially awkward.
*Autistic disorder is more severe and the children tend to have seizures and mental redardation as well.
*rett's syndrome is something that happens to girls almost always compared to little boys. It is a genetic mutation and therapy is needed to help with development and speech
*Childhood disentegrative disorder is very severe. The children lose ability to be coordinated, to speak, and often have many health risks in their lives.
This is very interesting to me because I didnt know there were this many classifications. I understand now that almost every form of autism makes the child socially awkward. I wonder how hard it is for families to cope with a child that is socially awkward. Especially in the childs younger years, it has to be difficult. Young children are very social throughout their schooling with their peers. Next time im going to look into some blogs about how families have coped with their child being socially awkward due to autism.
I find it interesting when parents differentiate where their child is on the spectrum. I wonder if there is any literature that discusses this.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of all the different classifications of autism. It's interesting to me they are different in their own ways, but yet each one involves the child having trouble socially. I can only imagine what it would be like to try to raise a child in these conditions. I know many parents only want their child to be accepted, make friends, and fit in socially, so to have a condition to make this a little more difficult I can only see it being challenging to deal with.
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