Archive for March, 2009

Parents whose children, unfortunately, suffer from autism should take cheer that there are many support groups in their community focused on suffering them and their children. Taking lead in this direction is the Autism Society of America dedicated to the improvement of autistic children and their caregivers. It has a net work of people starting with large national partners but coming down to smaller groups within the community that work for more public awareness of the autistic persons.
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These caregivers advocate a wide variety of services necessary for them to achieve their full functioning with their social environment. Their work groups assist and train children with autism to improve their language and behavioral skills. They even help autistic people to secure an employment. Families are kept up to date with latest information on in medical research and advancement in treatment. They listen to you and prop you up during tough times. Their sites online give more information and have chapters close to their community.

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Formed in 1999, the POAC or Parents of Autistic Children focuses on informing parents of the up to date and latest teaching methods for their children. The aim is to create awareness in the community about autism and the method to help individuals. They want to increase the number of qualified personnel specializing in their field. They coordinate with health care professionals and local school officials to conduct workshops to train and teach the autistics and their caregivers.

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Besides these groups focused on helping families with young autistic children there are colleges aware of the affected with different degrees of disorder. Alternative services are offered for them to rise up to their full potential and improve their education.

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In the absence of any specific organization in your vicinity, the National Institute for Health suggests local doctors, health maintenance organizations, mental health agencies and medical universities for guidance, available treatments and groups that can support.

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Online info is always available. The key is to approach any problem with the maximum soundly based knowledge. The added bonus is the chance to communicate with people all over the world to get insight, sound advice and empathy as they realize your happenings with in directly.

Autism brings out a wide range of reactions from total support to careless ignorance as in the case of any mental or physical disorder. Even the supporters of autistic family members, coworkers and friends do not understand autism properly. Stereotypes are the result and the consequent hatred, embarrassment and other unhappy situations. Getting to know more about autism you can be of great help to others in society cope with the disorder.

It is significant to note that all autistic people are not the same while other diseases have their own sets of rules, autism is so complex, that every sufferer reacts differently. There is a functional scale of autistic people where high functional people hold jobs and low functioning people require care for 24 hours. The symptoms of these people are behavioral challenges, uncontrollable movement, speech and communication difficulties and emotional inadequacies. While some exhibit all symptoms, a few show only some and a few more have almost controlled the symptoms and you cannot call them autistic.

Though autistic person is different, the common thing is all is that lack of communication and expression of emotions. Like all normal persons the autistics also feel but cannot express themselves. Strong relationships bond are, however possible for them and quite a good member of them are happily married and in love. It is more difficult for them to form relationships but they can achieve it once a long period of time.

Many are under the illusion that the autistic person is a genius. It is only a myth. Though a few autistic people are extraordinarily brilliant in maths, music and arts skills their numbers are few and far between. Only a few function outside of the normal range in any skill. Movies and television make the best of the story of a talented person fighting disadvantages which makes a good plot. This is not the norm and you cannot expect much from them. Though autism is not a form of mental retardation quite a few suffer from it. Many do not suffer from it and should not be treated as such.

Autism requires from you maximum patience and tolerance. You cannot forego parties in dealing with autistic persons. This shall become easier through learning more about the disorder and disseminate the knowledge to others and create a more tolerant setting for autistic individuals in society.

A few changes in the diet, according to some families, have improved the condition 0f autistic children suffering from a spectrum of disorders. It is in line with a holistic approach to examine all aspects of individual life to alleviate problem areas.

One of the resemblances shown by persons with ASD is an allergy or a low tolerance to certain chemicals or foods. This intolerance an offshoot of behavioral problem is set right by eliminating some foods from diet of the autistic child.

Some proteins like gluten are believed to create problems through raised levels of peptides in their urine indicating that they are not properly processed by the body. The source of the peptides are, foods containing casein and gluten derived from dairy products and plant sources like wheat, rye or oats respectively.

The difficulty in breaking down these peptides causes disruption in the processes of biochemistry and neurology of the brain affecting the person s behavioral pattern. So the only way out is to eliminate these proteins from the diet. This should be taken up slowly but steadily as it includes a number of foods common to our diet and may result in increased withdrawal symptoms. You can study verifiable date to fix a proper diet and provide balanced food.

Many autistic children are believed suffer from excess yeast in their intestinal tract, a source of some behavioral problems resulting in hyper activity and confusion. In such cases the parent is required to consult a qualified nutritionist who can suggest the right course of action and prepare a proper balance of good bacteria in the body.

Vitamin B is the best and one of the most highly rated vitamins used to improve symptoms of autism. It is found through research, that the use of vitamin B, other vitamins and minerals has improved markedly the eye contact, attention span, learning and behavioral problems of autistic children. Parents and caregivers should surely consult the professional nutritionist. He will through a blood test decide what is lacking in the child s system-minerals or vitamins. This is the safest and most effective way to get results.