AUTISM

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Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition. Autism is characterised by two main features, including difficulties with social communication and interaction, and restrictive and repetitive patterns of behaviour. Autism is a spectrum condition, so every autistic individual presents and experiences differently from one another, including a wide variation in challenges and strengths possessed by each autistic individual.  

Many parents and individuals may not become fully aware of the differences until social demands increase or the individual encounters challenging situations or environments. Autistic individuals may experience the following: 

• Social interaction differences, such as difficulties in understanding and interpreting social cues. Individuals with autism can also have challenges with forming and maintaining relationships, reasons ranging from difficulties adjusting behaviour to suit different social contexts, or absence of interest in peers.  
• Social communication differences, such as using less eye contact, facial expressions, and/or nonverbal communication, e.g., gestures. Other social differences may include delayed language development, repetitive or unusual speech patterns, and/or difficulties understanding abstract language.  
• Restrictive and repetitive behaviour, such as engaging in stereotypes and repetitive motor movement (i.e., hand-flapping or lining up items) or speech (i.e., echolalia).  
• Having strong passions and interests.  
• Prefer and insist on sameness or routines, such as rigid thinking patterns, difficulties with transitions, or extreme distress to small change.  
• Sensory differences, such as being over-sensitive or under-sensitive to certain sights, for example, sensitivity to loud noise or busy environments.  

Autistic individuals may develop strategies and actions to navigate the social demands in order to interact with others, such as mimicking other people’s behaviour or mannerisms.  

Diagnosing Autism can pose challenges as there is no specific medical test, like a blood test, available for identifying the disorder. Autism is diagnosed by observing your child behaviour and looking at your child development using the Autism Diagnosis Observation Schedule (ADOS) assessment. ADOS is used to assess your child's communication, social interaction, and play or imaginative use of materials.  

Autism can sometimes be detected at 18 months of age or younger, depending on the child’s development. At the age of 3, an ADOS assessment is considered reliable. However, some individuals do not receive diagnosis until they are much older, and some are not diagnosed until they are adolescents or adults. Some of the reasons for the delayed diagnosis includes parents' unawareness to signs of Autism, systemically missed information, and social stigma associated with Autism and therefore some parents or caregivers may deny or delay seeking evaluation due to fear of stigma.  

Autism is a complex condition with multiple risk factors that have been identified and many that are interrelated, that may make an individual more likely to have Autism, including environmental, biologic, and genetic factors.  

While specific causes remain elusive, the existing evidence indicates that certain factors may elevate the risk of ASD in children: 

• Experiencing complication at birth.  
• Having a close family member or siblings with Autism 
• Being born to older parents.  
• Having certain genetic or chromosomal conditions, such as fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Rett syndrome, or Down syndrome.  

Although these factors are important to consider as they increase the likelihood of Autism, they do not guarantee that a child will develop autism. Additionally, not all individuals with autism have the same risk factors, and some individuals may have Autism without any known risk factors.