What do you know about Autism?

Our children are the most prized possessions and we pin all our hopes on them. Our lives surround them and their well-being. We get agitated when anything happens to them. Nonetheless, there are numerous such parents who have children with autism and are construed as Children with Special needs. Nobody knows the exact reason as to the causes of Autism; nevertheless, scientists and medical researchers believe that genes and the environment play a significant role in this disability. A child with Autism needs special care. It is totally a wrong misconception that a child with Autism does not need friends and cocoons into isolation. It’s just that these children are extremely shy and find it difficult to interact with their surroundings. In this scenario apart from parents and relatives, peers and teachers need to be very sensitive in handling these children.

Special children like the ones who are suffering from Autism need special attention so that they do not feel alienated from the rest of the surroundings. These children might undergo certain stages of uneasiness and might be difficult to handle at times. Unlike any other child, an autistic child may not know the ways of expressing the feelings and emotions, nevertheless feels the same like hunger, sleep, tiredness, fear, pain and other subtle human emotions; just the communication method is different from a normal child. It is a total misconception that children who are suffering from ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) have lower intelligence which is absolutely untrue. These children have normal to high intelligence quotient and can excel in subjects like mathematics, arts and music and other disciplines which require tremendous intellect.

Autism mainly is a neurodevelopment disorder which is defined by impairment of social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication; sometimes observing traits like controlled and repetitive behaviour. This behaviour is noticed in the first two years of a child’s life and not before that. The ASD gets detected gradually in the course of time when a child reaches the developmental milestones at the conventional speed and then starts to degenerate. Parents will become sure of the symptoms before the age of three years. These Special needs children display signs of ASD from early childhood. Although, the causes are highly controversial scientists believe that factors which result to birth defects lead to Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In order to overcome this hurdle, special education schools are set up all across India and also abroad where, children receive special attention and also the required therapies. These schools offer early speech and behavioural interventions which help these children to gain self-confidence, social and personal interactive and communication skills. As per surveys recorded in the year 2013, almost 21.7 million people are said have been affected by Autism. Autism can affect both girls and boys. Some of the famous personalities who are actually ASD victims are Jessica – Jane Applegate, a British swimmer who won a gold medal in S14 200m Freestyle in the 2014 Summer Paralympics, Satoshi Tajiri who is the creator of Pokemon and Issac Asimov who wrote innumerable science bestsellers which includes I and Robot also supposedly was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.

Shruti is one of the best schools for autistic children in Kolkata. Special care for children with learning disabilities, hearing impairment & mental retardation