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Autistic Disorder - Etiology
Etiology
Autism is a brain disorder that affects the way the brain uses or transmits information. It occurs in as many as 1 or 2 per 1,000 children and it is found four times more often in boys and occurs around the world in all races and social backgrounds. (Turkington, 1999).
-It is not known what causes Autism, but there are several theories:
- Psychoanalytic Approach (DesLauriers & Carlson, 1969) -
according to Bettelheim in 1967
the autistic child represents an instance of
"dehumanization" consequent to the unconscience (and
possibly conscious at times) wish of his mother that he
not be alive and part of his human family
-felt child should be removed from his mother and
taking steps to humanize the child
- Behavior Theory (DesLauriers & Carlson, 1969)- Lovaas -
imposes on the autistic child what might be considered
a very tight structure. Lovaas utilizes social
reinforcement in his attempts at bringing
some control over the responses of his subjects so that he
can design and set up the contingencies under which the
probability of appearance of the expected or wanted
responses will be increased
-There appears to be a strong genetic basis for autism(Turkington, 1999)
In a few cases, autistic behavior is caused by a disease such as (Turkington, 1999):
- Rubella in the pregnant mother
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Fragile X syndrome
- Encephalitis
- Untreated phenylketonuria
The severity of Autism varies between individuals, ranging from the most severe (extremely unusual, repetitive, self-injurous, and aggressive behavior) to very mild, resembling a personality disorder with some learning disability.
Early studies of autistic children have indicated that many had abnormal brain-wave patterns. Other types of neurological examinations also revealed signs of damage in many autistic children (Davison & Neale, 2001).
It is still not known, though, exactly what causes autistic disorder. These are just several theories.
History
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prognosis
Society and Autism
References
Send E-Mail to: Julie.Whiting@houghton.edu
Copyright © 2001 Julie Whiting and Cheryl Ploetz. All Rights Reserved