Friday, March 27, 2009

Caring for Children with Autism and Aspergers

Before taking this course, it is recommended that you take both the Child Development and Inclusion course. These courses will provide you with important information and alert you to valuable resources. (If you are taking this course for child care hours, you only need to make three comments or two comments and one question.)

There are three common indicators of Autism. They are:
Unusual and repetitive behaviors and/or narrow obsessive interests
Poor communication &
Poor social skills, to include:
Lack of or difficulty with joint attention &
Significantly to extremely guarded interactions.

Do not diagnose Autism on your own, if you suspect a child may have autism, the earlier s/he is identified and diagnosed and receiving appropriate intervention the better. Please refer the child (if your own) or the child’s parents to a qualified medical practionaire, psychologist, or early intervention practionaire who can diagnose Autism. If you do not know who to contact, look at the reference information under Child Development. If you still do not know who to contact, click here and ask for additional information. If you live in the United States , there may be resources that can help you to better provide for the needs of the child and help him or her develop to their best capacity. If the child enters a program or is already in a program there are a number of well researched quality program indicators that you and the parents should be aware of.

From the perspective of the child with autism; (some of these ideas are borrowed from Dr. Richard Solomon of the PLAY Project

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

MY QUESTIONS IS,WHY DO KIDS WITH AUTISUM NEED MEDICATION? IS IT A HAVE GIVE MEDS TO KIDS WITH AUTISM I ALWAYS WONDER IF SOME KIND OF THERAPY WOULD WORK
RENEE WOODS

CR Petersen said...

They do not all need medication. Sometimes medication is given for associated behaviors. Particularly younger children respond well to the right kind of therapy. Please see: http://www.collaboration.me.uk/q.php
CR Petersen

Anonymous said...

I'm currently working with a child with Autisum. She is almost 3. I have found it very rewarding at times and very difficult at other times. I work with people from Child Services. As I read the other comments, I found myself suprised by the word " Medication "
It's a new question for me ask at our next meeting. Its never been mentioned to me.... Thank You

Anonymous said...

i want to take courses but im not sure how to email you with my info? my email is danforth25@gmail.com my childcare website is http://www.danforthlearningacademychildcare.webs.com thanks!!

amber said...

I have a four year old that lives in Washington with my mother right now. I am trying to get him back, my mother likes to tell everyone that he's autistic. I don't know why because even the doctor said that he didn't think he had it. Anyways for the sake of argument, lets say he did have autism. He's been staying with her for the last 3 years. Would I damage him even more when I finally get to bring him home?

sheri said...

I would like to know if children grow out of autism or if it can lesson with age? sheri

CR Petersen said...

I won't say that it never happens but usually if a child just grows out of autism it is because they were misdiagnosed in the first place and never had it. Can children get better with the right intervention? Yes. Almost all children can get better with the right intervention. Can they improve enough that they no loger have the diagnosis of autism, some children with the right intervention can improve to that point. They may still have some quirks; but the can get to the point where they no longer classify for the diagnosis. Right now, and I'm sorry to say this, there are few children who do improve this much...but more could.
Go to http://www.childdevelopment.me.uk for more information.

Kristina said...

I believe my son is on the autism spectrum however he is not yet diagnosed... his father was recently diagnosed with aspergers syndrome. Is autism something that is genetic?

CR Petersen said...

It can be genetic. Ask your local school district to do evaluations and/or find someone to do an ADOS. There are other assessments that are also sometimes used. If he has autism, you want to get him in services asap. If he has a speech delay, which is typical, you want to get him into speech services asap. Talk with the school about all of this. They should be able to help.

Melita said...

One source on here in the Mapping Milestone says 1 in 88 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum and this sections says 1 in 150 children are diagnosed. Which is correct?

CR Petersen said...

1 in 88 is probably more correct. There are a number of variables and the number has been updated.

Anonymous said...

MY QUESTION IS,HOW DO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS PLAY?

Shannon K said...

How do children with autism play?

CR Petersen said...

It depends on how sever, their age, and what they have been taught. You can get the full range from play which is the same as any other child to parallel play only to only be absorbed in something of interest.

Misty said...

Each child has a different learning ability and play style but does this also help in the decision making if the child needs medication based on his or her growth per say or do they attempt therapy before choosing medications?

Anonymous said...

Do children with severe autism have normal life spans?

CR Petersen said...

Do children with sever autism have normal life spans?
It depends on what else is going on. Quite often there are co-occurring medical problems that impact life spans.

Jessica said...

It is good to know the resources available in your community so if you have any concerns you know where to turn to without trying to deal with the situation on your own

Kaitlyn Hannem said...

My son's preschool teacher recently told me she thinks my son might have autism. She said she suspects it would be high functioning autism, but I was curious if autism really could be that black and white? high functioning versus low functioning?

CR Petersen said...

It's now classified as ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder and there is a very wide range in intelligence and functioning. Personally I think they should be different disabilities, but I didn't get to vote.

Unknown said...

very good words for the Autistic spectrum. There is many signs and many diagnoses.

Unknown said...

Is it best to just walk away and let a child that is having a break down and let them cool off by themselves if it's at home and they are not endangering themselves or others in the process? Then come back to them and try and talk it out with them once they have claimed down.