Autism Info

Autism Info

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Melbourne

Phone
321 751-1313

Parent Support Group
B-Focasd

BFOCASD Brevard Families of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (or Similar Disabilities).
BFOCASD meetings are the first Wednesday of every month from 7-9 p.m.
Brevard County, Florida

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674 N Wickham
Melbourne, Florida 32935

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Autism Info

Autism is the most common of a group of conditions called pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). PDDs involve delays in many areas of childhood development. The first signs of autism are usually noticed by the age of three. Other characteristics may include repetitive and ritualistic behaviors, hand flapping, spinning or running in circles, excessive fears, self-injury such as head banging or biting, aggression, insensitivity to pain, temper tantrums, and sleeping and eating disturbances. Autistic individuals live a normal life span, but most require lifelong care and supervision. Many individuals who are autistic also develop epilepsy, a brain disorder that causes convulsive seizures, as they approach adulthood.

Leo Kanner first identified autism in 1943 when he described 11 self-absorbed children who had "autistic disturbances of affect contact." At first, autism was thought to be an attachment disorder resulting from poor parenting. This has been proved to be a myth. Most specialists now view autism as a brain disorder that makes it difficult for the person to process and respond to the world. Autism has been observed in several members of the same families. Therefore, many scientists believe that, at least in some individuals, autism may be genetic. Scientists have identified some genes as playing a possible role in the development of autism.

The brain disorder autism begins in early childhood and persists throughout adulthood affecting three crucial areas of development: verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and creative or imaginative play. The brain disorder autism begins in early childhood and persists throughout adulthood affecting three crucial areas of development: verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and creative or imaginative play.

There is no outward physical difference between a child with Autism and a typical child. The only differences are behavioral.
A child with Autism will exhibit at least some of the following:
Poor speech and language skills
Inappropriate play eg. child may continuously spin the wheels of a toy car rather than push it
May line up toys or other objects
Trouble interacting with others
Poor eye contact
Walking on toes
Hand flapping
Tendency to have narrowly focused and odd interests
Not asking for things in the same way as other children
Failure to show objects to others
Failure to orient to one's name being called
Failure to engage in reciprocal play where there is a back-and-forth between two people
Failure to copy others' motor movements
May not use pointing to direct another person's attention
May resist social touch such as hugging

Autism is one of the most common developmental disabilities. Individuals are of all races and ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Current estimates suggest that approximately 400,000 individuals in the United States have autism. Autism is three to four times more likely to affect boys than girls. Autism occurs in individuals of all levels of intelligence. Approximately 75 percent are of low intelligence while 10 percent may demonstrate high intelligence in specific areas such as math.

Sources:http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/autism.asp

The biochemical basis of Autism

An imbalance in serotonin is believed to cause many of the characteristic symptoms of autism. This serotonin imbalance can lead to sleep disturbances, speech delays, and sensory integration problems, as serotonin regulates

*sleep
*mood
*speech
*sensory integration
*body temperature
*appetite

This imbalance occurs when the neurotransmitter serotonin does not properly carry the message to the proper portion of the brain. Rather, the serotonin is prematurely 'swept away' for reuse in the re-uptake process before the brain has a chance to receive and make sense of the incoming messages.

The brain chemicals / neurotransmitters (like Dopamine, Serotonin, Norepherine) are dependant on proper digestion. Therefore if the digestion is inadequate, the production of neurotransmitters involved in brain function and attention will also be inadequate.
Learn more about this topic

Our best products to balance neurotransmitters is our Balance Formula 1.
For those that can not swallow pills please check into the Theanine spray or Prevamine drink.
Or click on the supplements button on the top bar

Digestion And ADHD/Autism

Digestive problems and stool abnormalities may be present in a large portion of children with ADHD / Autism. Many autistic children display chronic indigestion and gas. One study that examined a small group of randomly selected autistic children found that 40% (6 1/5) had bulky, odorous or loose stools or diarrhea. Interestingly, many parents of ADHD / autistic children report a worsening in behavioral symptoms occurring in conjunction with a flare-up of gastrointestinal problems.

"Although gastrointestinal symptoms frequently accompany the manifestations of autism" points out pediatrician Karolyn Horvath, M.D., and his colleagues at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, "little attention has been paid to this aspect…"Dr. Horvath’s team performed gastrointestinal evaluation on 36 children with severe autism and found several striking abnormalities. The children often showed signs of chronic inflammation in the gut, including the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Because of the enzyme deficiencies, many of the children had trouble digesting and absorbing carbohydrates a possible cause for their chronic loose stools and gas. These abnormalities may be closely linked with sudden behavior changes in the children such as irritability, aggression, and nighttime awakenings.
More info on Digestion and Enzymes

Another reason to be concerned about digestion, is that about 80% of our serotonin is synthesized in the chromaffin cells of the gut. Serotonin is essential to brain function. Indications of low serotonin may be carbohydrate cravings, Migraines, PMS, Depression, Insomnia or problems falling asleep, obsessive-compulsive behavior and panic attacks.

Reference

Horvath K, Papadimitriou JC, Rabsztyn A, Drachenberg C, Tildon JT. Gastrointestinal abnormalities in children with autistic disorder. J Pediatr 1999; 135:559-63.

Other Interventions. First is "Floortime"-developed by Stanley Greenspan for developmentally disabled children including autistic children.

For many people, knowing exactly where to start or how to create an educational environment can be challenging. Play Along With Me!™ was created for just this reason.

Play Along With Me!™ is an active learning system that, through interactive, one-on-one playtime, strengthens adult/child bonding, a key ingredient for successful sensory development. It was especially designed to give you an active, hands-on role in the most vital aspects of your child's development. The audio CDs, interactive videos and inviting, tactile educational toys work seamlessly together to provide the stimulation necessary to promote the development of your child's cognitive, motor, social and language skill sets

In studying the autistic brain, researchers have found that the musical portion of the brain is frequently unimpaired in a child with low receptive language and no expressive language. There is a direct correlation between the musical portion of the brain and the language area in the opposite hemisphere in autistic children. Filtered and gaited musical sound patterns can lead to a better understanding of language sound patterns.

The Listening Program most commonly reported benefits to a child in the Autistic Spectrum are in the following areas;

Increasing Engagement
The listening experience can help improve self image and lead to a better sense of body in space. As listeners become more comfortable in their body and surroundings, and have a reduction in tactile defensiveness, they may initiate more contact and respond better to others. They often start to pay more attention and start to make eye contact. An important aspect with increased engagement includes a reduction in aggressive behavior and a desire for more affection.

Emerging Skills
Sound stimulation has commonly shown an accelerated rate of progress with therapeutic, neurodevelopmental, academic, and behavioral programs. As these areas are addressed with individualized programs, listening helps facilitate better integration and organization in the sensory and motor systems leading to a more rapid rate of skill acquisition and desired outcomes.

Auditory Processing
We can only process a sound if we can hear it well. We monitor our communication through listening to others and ourselves. The Listening Program helps to improve the rate and accuracy of sound perception. As the brain learns to better process sound, there is a corresponding improvement in auditory processing and receptive language. As this improves the ability to perceive enhances often resulting in improved communication.

Reducing Sound Sensitivity
Hypersensitivity to sound can be debilitating for anyone, especially those with additional sensory processing problems. The Listening Program provides sound stimulation which helps the nervous system to better modulate sensory input. With a better ability to modulate sensory input there is often a reduction in abnormal sensory perception, especially the perception of sound. Reducing sound sensitivity allows one to be more comfortable in their environment as they no longer have to protect themselves from unwanted incoming sounds.

We also recommend that use of behavior analysis with those that are not verbal. The combination of applied behavioral analysis along with our programs will enhance the total well being of anyone on the autism spectrum. Information of behavior analysis services for Brevard County FL is on the bottom of social skills page.

Please see the social skill groups page for more information. There are also links to games that build skills you need at home.

Another intervention is Neurosensory (sensorial integration, over stimulation and patterning, auditory training, facilitated communication, daily life therapy). We have dedicated several pages to this topic.
For info on sensory Integration Start here-Basic Sensory Development.

We have an extensive list of products that you can find links to on the Therapeutic Products section of the side bar of this page.

It takes alot of extra work to teach autistic/Aspergers children social skills. Teaching verbal individuals (including those called "high functioning" and "Asperger's") many of the unwritten social rules and body language signals that people use in social interaction and conversation is more difficult thatn with a normal child. Carol Gray uses a technique called "social stories" to help illustrate these social rules in a variety of situations and appropriate responses. Social stories and "scripting" are also used with nonverbal individuals to teach appropriate responses and prepare the individual for transitions. In very young child, they may be in the form of photographs or pictures. You will find alot of pages and products dedicated to that cause on this website. Start here

Source of some of this information:http://aba.insightcommerce.net/main.php3?primNavIndex=5

***It is important to understand that without any therapy or intervention, a child with Autism or PDD will absorb far less information and knowledge from the environment than a typical child.

A typical child will start to talk at 1.5 to 2 years with almost no help from his parents or siblings. He will then acquire around 6 new words a day and will have a vocabulary of an amazing 10,000 words before the age of seven. A child with Autism may become verbal much later and have poor language and social skills if he is not given speech and behavior therapy.

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