Autism is a psychiatric diagnosis that comes to light in early childhood (usually at the age of a child about three years old) and accompanies a person throughout his life. This disease is considered incurable, that is, even if it is possible to achieve relative remission and adapt the child to the environment, he will still never be like everyone else. Atypical autism in children does not manifest itself as in the standard course of the disease, there are significant differences.
At what age is autism diagnosed?
The average age of the child when parents are notified of the diagnosis is from three to four years. In fact, the fact of a child’s autism is noticeable much earlier - already a year you can definitely say about the presence or absence of autistic traits. Attentive parents are already wary of the fact that in a year the baby does not pronounce the simplest words, although by neurological standards of development it should already pronounce. Optimally, if the baby gets to a psychologist and begins regular classes with a defectologist at the age of about two years.
The sooner the parents seek advice on those aspects that concern them in the behavior of the child, the better. Modern psychologists use the ATEK test for diagnosis, which will help to identify the degree of autism and predict the further development of the child.
Alas, almost all mothers are distrustful of child psychiatry, and they are simply scared to have a baby. They worry that they will hear an unpleasant diagnosis, psychotropic drugs will be prescribed. Such an approach to health is unacceptable - every month a delay in diagnosis is important, because the child does not receive adequate therapy and does not attend classes necessary for him.
The first signs of autism: what to look for
Here are the symptoms of atypical autism in children, which are noticeable literally from a year and a half. They are as follows:
- the child does not pull his hands to his mother to hug her neck when she holds him in her arms;
- the baby does not have the simplest phrasal speech;
- he reluctantly smiles at the smile;
- it is difficult or impossible to enter into emotional contact with him;
- the baby does not notice peers or does not talk with them;
- he does not like games with animals - most often he simply does not notice furry friends;
- Can’t get used to going to the potty;
- there is no simple imitation of gestures and articulation.
It is important to determine the symptoms of atypical autism in children in time, the treatment will directly depend on their intensity and severity. Most often, the plan of rehabilitation measures is indicated in the IPR. This is a document issued by an MSEC commission during a disability survey.
Features of speech and mental development of the child
Atypical autism in children differs from the classical course of the disease in that the mental retardation in development is not so pronounced. The child can be partially socialized. Speech delay also occurs, but not to the same extent as classic autism. They are most often unable to pronounce even single words.
Signs of atypical autism in children are most often expressed in their inability to master phrasal speech. Separate words are given to them quite easily, subject to constant studies with a professional defectologist. ABA therapy classes, which include applied analysis and behavior correction, are very effective for children with atypical autism. It takes at least ten training hours per week to achieve a noticeable result. In some cases, it is even possible to build the child the basic patterns of phrasal speech, if he is diagnosed with atypical autism.
How to teach a child to talk independently, at home? After all, classes with a professional specialist are very expensive and not every parent has such financial resources. For independent studies, parents will have to read textbooks on the methodology of applied behavior correction, and in some cases even take special courses online or in live communication mode. Self-study with a sick child requires a serious approach and patience, because you have to force yourself to sit at the table at the same time every day and try to teach a screaming, little understanding of the child's speech.
Which doctor to contact
When the parents’ patience is full, and they no longer doubt that something is wrong with their child, they decide to make an appointment with a neurologist. In fact, this doctor does not deal with the problem of atypical autism in children. But parents are often too scared to turn to a psychiatrist at a neuropsychiatric dispensary, they do not want to put the stigma of a mental illness on the baby.
The longer they hesitate to consult a psychiatrist, the worse. After diagnosis, children are offered many free classes, their services are offered by social rehabilitation centers of mental development. The “Special Child” group (atypical autism is also included in the list of diagnoses that they deal with) will tell you the best way to get a disability and child rehabilitation techniques.
Disability with atypical autism
To date, the allowance for a disabled child from the state is 11,900 rubles, as well as approximately 2,500 rubles as part of the payment of EDV. A non-working parent who is forced to quit his job in order to care for a child is paid a benefit of 5,500.
Of course, these amounts are relatively small, but they allow you to partially cover the amount spent on classes with a sick child, and drugs (nootropics, tranquilizing drugs and, in some cases, antipsychotics).
Disability registration procedure
After the child is registered with a psychiatrist for at least six months, he will be given a referral for examination in a hospital. In some cases, a child can have an MRI of the brain in order to exclude the presence of organic brain lesions. An electroencephalogram will be made without fail.
Here is a step-by-step guide for parents on how to formalize disability in children with atypical autism:
- Lie in the hospital and get a confirmation of the diagnosis.
- Go through a number of specialists in the clinic who will write their conclusions about the child’s health status (ophthalmologist, surgeon, speech therapist, clinical psychologist, local therapist, surgeon).
- When conclusions from all doctors are received, make photocopies and go to the attending psychiatrist. He will fit all conclusions to the card for the commission.
- Sign up for MSEC (on average, you have to wait your turn for about a month).
- Go through the commission and get a pink certificate, which is a document confirming the disability of the child.
Medicines that may be prescribed
Modern medicine still cannot give an exact answer to the question: what is atypical autism? There is no accurate reliable data why children develop this disease. The opinion that autism develops due to vaccinations is considered unscientific.
Drug therapy, which could cure manifestations of atypical autism in children, simply does not exist.
Psychiatrists may prescribe:
- tranquilizers;
- antipsychotics;
- nootropics;
- normotimics.
Vitamin-mineral complexes, amino acids, lecithin can also be prescribed.
But all these drugs primarily relieve some symptoms. At the same time, they do not make the child neurotypical (such as everyone else).
Alternative treatments
There are many alternative treatments for atypical autism. Modern medicine rejects their effectiveness. But exhausted parents are often ready for anything, if only to achieve an improvement in the condition of their child.
Alternative methods of treating atypical autism in children include the following methods:
- chelation;
- gluten free diet;
- beskazeyinovy ​​diet.
Before deciding on any of these methods, parents should think carefully. Cases of child death were recorded after attempts at self-chelation. In this case, the responsibility for harming the health and life of the child will be borne by the parents.
Tomatis method for treating atypical autism in children
This method was invented by a French medical examiner who dealt with problems of speech impairment in children and adults. In our country, the Tomatis therapy course can be taken for a fee (the method is very expensive - about fifty thousand per course) or in some specialized rehabilitation centers for free (for example, in the "Sail of Hope", which is located in Voronezh, or in St. Petersburg, at the institute them.Bekhterev).
The method showed a rather high efficiency not only for children with atypical autism, but also with sensory and motor alalia. Children began to better understand speech, their articulation improved and their speech apparatus became more obedient.
Transcranial micropolarization - a physiotherapeutic method of stimulating speech
This method has been actively used for several decades. Special electrodes act on those parts of the brain that are responsible for understanding speech and developing the articulation apparatus. In some cases, a course of transcranial micropolarization helps the child pronounce his first words.
Alas, the method often causes the following side effects:
- the child becomes hyperactive, uncontrollable;
- sleep disturbance;
- social interaction with peers is further disrupted;
- headaches may develop;
- convulsive syndrome may intensify if the child has epilepsy.
Micropolarization should always take place under the supervision of an experienced physiotherapist. If the child becomes ill, it is better to interrupt the session. In some cases, the procedure is not practical, as it will do more harm than good.