Autism Literature Review Essay

For the purpose of these literature review a search was done using PubMed which is available through the Medical Library of the National Guard Health Services. This research focus is Autism and its management. Using these four key words "Autism" "definition" , "symptoms", and "treatment". As result, nine papers were found and this literature review summarizes them.

Autism or Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of complex mental development disabilities. Which can be recognized by some significant defects in behavioral events, social interactions, and other mental verbal and nonverbal communication skills in different degrees.(1,2)The phrase spectrum is referred to the board range of level of disability and symptoms that occur in

patient with ASD. Patients with ASD rang from severely challenged to gifted depending on their symptoms. Autism can cause verity of disabilities and defects that affect the daily life of Autism patient which cause that some of them may need significant support to preform basic daily activates while others don’t. (3)ASD is the one of the fastest-growing mental developmental disorders in the U.S affecting 1 in 68 children, moreover, the percentage of ASD in boys are five times higher then girls. (4,3,2)
As mentioned previously Autism disease can be recognized by different symptoms.

It can be noticed by the parents at early age (congenital) or during childhood (from 3 to 6 years). Recognizing ASD is by observing the patients' communication skills, interaction with people and things around him\her and sometimes by some health problems like sleeping problems and gastrointestinal distress. This changes are usually noticeable in the first two years in children because these are the most interactive and transitional years of the children's lives. (2,5) These symptoms are reduced down to three main symptoms which are social interaction, communication, and repetitive behavioral issues. Social impairment is what distinguish ASD from other developmental disorders. Most patient with ASD finds interaction with others difficult and challenging or lack the intuition about people. They also tend to avoid eye contact, fail to respond to their own names, and prefer to be alone. However they form attachments to their primary caregivers. (2,4,5)Second, communication problems which can occur in different verbal abilities from no speech to fluent, but impropriate and awkward. They are noticed when trying to ask for something or tell something, and it can appear as delay in talking or difficulty in following or starting a conversation. (5,6)Finally, is the behavioral issues which mainly are focusing on unnecessary things like the far train's voice, inability to live without daily routine, and stereotyped behavior like hand

flapping.(6)
Autism has no cure, but it can be treated with a combination of Educational/behavioral interventions and medications. There is no unified treatment each treatment plan is specifically designed to suite the patient's needs. The main goal of the treatment is to increase the functional independency and quality of life. The key for the best management of the disease is early diagnosis which lead to early intervention. Medications help treating some related ASD symptoms such as depression, anxiety, seizure, insomnia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The most common drugs are antipsychotic, antidepressants ,stimulants and medication used to treat people with attention deficit. However, the most effective way to treat ASD is behavioral intervention which is skill oriented and highly structured sessions. Those session include Social Skills Training and Speech-Language Therapy, applied behavioral analysis and Sensory Integration/Occupational Therapy. Finally, for better result it is advisable to include the parents and the siblings in those sessions.(2,3,8)