Autism 自閉症

1. What is Autism?

Autism is a brain disorder which affects three main areas of human development: speech, communication, and social interaction. It is a spectrum disorder, meaning that two people with autism may have very different symptoms or characteristics.

2. What are the signs of autism?

Children have autism may have the following characteristics in their behaviors and may vary greatly in the degrees of severity.

Spin objects or self
Sustained unusual or repetitive play
Little, avoid or no eye contact
Prefer to be alone
Delay in language development
Insistence on sameness
Uneven physical skills
Laugh, cry, or show distress for unknown reasons
Over-active or under-active
Difficult to express needs, use gestures instead of speaking
Repeat words or phrases in meaningless way
Inappropriate attachment to objects
Reject or avoid personal touch such as holding or hugging
Unresponsive to normal teaching methods
Oversensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
Failure to develop peer relationships

3. How can I know if my child has autism?

There is no medical test for autism. An autism diagnosis must be carried out by a team of professionals through observation and testing of the child. Usually, this can be diagnosed when the child is 2 -3 years old.

4. What causes autism?

Up to now, no single cause or cure has been identified although there is wide research on the subject. However, autism is definitely not a result of poor parenting or the children being spoiled. Some researches seem to suggest that it is caused by both genetic and environmental factors such as vaccines or environmental toxins.

5. How does autism relate to IQ?

Adaptability and intelligence tests shows that most children with autism have some level of mental retardation. However, some people with autism have average to above average intelligence. A few even have superior IQs.

6. How is autism treated?

In conventional medicine, autism is considered a neurological disorder which has no cure. However, there has been a number of theories, researches and evidence showing that early intervention is extremely important to the child's development and many behaviours can be positively changed.

Today, with wide research on this subject, different educational approaches and strategies have been developed and proved to provide positive results. Some children or adult, to untrained people, may appear just do not have autism at all. Studies show that highly-structured, specialized education program tailored to the child's individual needs has positive outcomes. However, there is no single teaching method for autism.

Other treatment may help include medicine, diet, vitamins, occupational and sensory therapies. It is reported that some parents find that their children's symptoms and behaviors improved by following biomedical approaches such as gluten and casein free diet and with the addition of nutritional supplements.

1. 甚麼是自閉症?

自閉症是腦部發展出現問題，通常它影響了人體腦部的三個主要部位的發展：語言、溝通及社交技巧，由於自閉症的症狀不劃一，這意味著兩個同樣患上自閉症的人，其患病性質和病徵可以大大不同。

2. 甚麼是患上自閉症的病徵?

若兒童患上了自閉症，可能在日常行為上流露出以下特徵，不過不同的患者其特徵的嚴重性可能差異很大。

喜愛將物件轉動或自己身體作自轉
不尋常地持續和重複地玩同一個遊戲
逃避、甚少或沒有與其他人作眼神接觸
喜愛獨處
語言發展遲緩
固執地堅持要同樣的事物
不平均的體能發展
無故大笑、哭鬧或情緒低落
過度活躍或不活躍
表達想要甚麼時有困難，愛用身體動作而非語言
無意義地不斷重複一些字或句子
不合理地對某些物件依戀
拒絕或逃避身體接觸例如握手或擁抱
對正常的教育方法沒有反應
對痛楚反應過大或沒有反應
無法與年紀相近的小孩建立群體關係

3. 我怎能知道自己的孩子是否患上自閉症?

自閉症並沒有藥物可以測試須由專家透過觀察和為小孩做測驗去作診斷。通常小孩到2-3歲便可進行評估。

4. 自閉症的成因是甚麼?

現時為止，雖然已進行了大量有關自閉症的研究，但仍沒能找到確實的成因和治療方法。不過有部份研究人員認為其成因可能受遺傳和環境因素例如疫苗和環境毒素影響。

5. 自閉症和IQ有沒有相互的關係?

傳統的適應能力和智力測驗顯示，大部份自閉症兒童都有某種程度的智力發展遲緩。但有部份患者卻有中等或以上的智力。少部份患者更有高人一等的IQ水平。

6. 如何照顧自閉症患者?

在傳統醫學而言，將自閉症視為無法醫治的精神紊亂疾病。但很多理論、研究和証據顯示，愈早介入對兒童的未來發展非常重要，很多行為其實可以得到正面改善的。

今日，透過這方面的大量研究，為自閉症患者發展出不同的教育方式和策略，而且 成效顯著。有些小孩或成年人，在普通人看來甚至發現不到他們是自閉症患者。研究發現，為自閉症兒童度身設計一套合適的教育方法可以帶來理想的效果。不過， 沒有一套方法是所有自閉症兒童都適用的，一定要因材施教。

其他可行的護理方法包括：藥物、飲食、維他命、職業及感覺統治療等。有些家長發現採用了生物醫學療法，包括實行無穀膠和酪蛋白飲食，和進食營養補充劑後，孩子的病癥和行為都有所改善。