Autistic adults are what they are. At present, autism in adults has four forms

Date: 06.04.2019

Autism is a rather controversial and interesting disease diagnosed in people of different ages, sex and nationality.

The characteristic signs and symptoms of autism usually appear before the age of 3 years (congenital disease). In this case, the symptoms and signs of the disease change throughout life.

Autism: Key Information About the Disease

Disorder of interaction of different parts of the brain leads to the occurrence of an ailment.

Most citizens with a diagnosis (no matter whether it is found in children or adults) experience characteristic signs and symptoms. So, autism manifests itself in the form of persistent problems with communication skills, social interactions and personal life.

If the symptoms and signs of the disease are detected in a timely manner and a competent fight is undertaken against them, the likelihood of minimizing the associated problems is significantly increased than in the treatment of adults.

The exact causes of the symptoms and signs of the disease in children, as well as in adults, have not been established.

Characteristic signs of the disease

The disease in question is amazing and unique, largely due to the fact that its signs and symptoms can vary significantly in individual patients.

Along with this, there are a number of common manifestations that make it possible to diagnose an ailment in children and adults.
Characteristic manifestations can be classified into several groups.

Social. The patient is experiencing serious problems with non-verbal communication. For example, he cannot look into the interlocutor’s eyes for a long time, he is alarmed by certain manifestations of facial expressions and postures. There are difficulties with building friendships. There is no interest in other people's hobbies. Empathy and affection are absent. It is almost impossible for an outside observer to find out what the autistic is actually experiencing.
Communication. It is more difficult for a patient to learn to speak than his healthy peer. Some patients do not learn this at all - according to the averaged statistical data, about 35-40% of patients are among the non-speakers. It is very difficult for an autist to start a conversation, as well as develop and maintain a conversation. The speech is stereotyped, often with the repetition of the same words and phrases that are not tied to a specific situation. It is difficult to perceive the words of the interlocutors. A sense of humor, an understanding of sarcasm and other similar things is missing.
Interests The patient does not show interest in games and traditional human hobbies. A strange concentration on some things is characteristic. For example, a child with a disease may not be interested in a toy helicopter as a whole, but in some separate part of it.
Obsession on individual topics. Very often, an autist concentrates on one thing. Some achieve excellence in their hobbies. Other interests, as a rule, are absent.
Attachment to the regime. Violation of the usual situation for an autistic situation can be regarded by him as a threat and serious personal tragedy.
Impaired perception. For example, light stroking can cause autism great discomfort, while touching with considerable effort is reassuring. Sometimes they don’t feel pain at all.
Sleep and rest problems.

Features of Adult Autism

In adult patients, the nature of the manifestation of the disease will vary depending on how difficult the disease as a whole proceeds. Among the nuances characteristic of a purely adult population suffering from the considered deviation, the following points should be attributed:

the scarcity of facial expressions and gestures;
the impossibility of perceiving the simplest rules and norms. For example, a person with the deviation in question can either not look into the interlocutor’s eyes at all, or, on the contrary, peer into them too intrusively and for a long time. A person may come too close or too far away, speak too loudly or barely distinguishable;
a person’s misunderstanding of his behavior. Many patients do not realize that their actions can harm others or offend them;
lack of understanding of the intentions of others, their feelings, words and emotions;
the almost complete lack of the ability to build a full-fledged friendship and, even more so, romantic relationships;
difficulty at the beginning of the conversation - patients rarely can speak with a person first;
lack of intonation. Many patients speak without emotional coloring, their speech is similar to robotic;
attachment to a routine setting. Even the smallest changes in the established way of life can lead to the emergence of serious experiences and disappointments in autism;
attachment to specific places and objects;
fear of change.

20-25-year-old autists with a mild form of the disease have a lack of elementary independence, which is why such people in the vast majority cannot live separately from their parents.

Only one out of three autistic people becomes partially independent.
If the disease progresses into a more complex form and is characterized by a severe course, the patient has to be constantly looked after, especially if he does not show any special intellectual abilities and does not have communication skills with society.

Treatment methods

At present, there are no effective methods to completely get rid of the disease, so you can not count on the absolute recovery of the patient.

Along with this, there are many diverse techniques, the competent and, most importantly, timely application of which can help the patient learn to live without outside supervision and help, communicate with other people and, in general, lead a practically full life. The treatment program is selected individually taking into account the characteristics of a particular patient.

It was established that the earlier the fight against manifestations of autism begins, the more effective the therapy is and the more favorable the prognosis.

Thus, in adult patients with autism, predominantly the same manifestations are observed as in sick children, but more pronounced, rooted and burdened.

The task of the parents is to timely notice the strange behavior in the child and consult a doctor. Be healthy!

Autism is a terrible diagnosis for many parents, which creates many difficulties in the personal and professional sphere. It is generally accepted that this diagnosis immediately manifests itself from the first days of life with specific facial features, inappropriate behavior and the inability to communicate with other people. But at the same time, this is only part of the symptoms that are posed in the most complex case of autism. In other situations, a person can live his whole life without an accurate diagnosis. To help you cope with doubts, you can take a test or tests, which can also be found on the Internet.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is how lonely a person is. People with autism are prone to isolation due to a lack of understanding among those around them. If in childhood the disease is mostly manifested by an emotional disorder, then in adulthood it provokes the patient to a closed lifestyle.

The second striking feature of the disease is a communication problem. It manifests itself especially sharply during a conversation in loud and sharp colors. In such cases, the patient may appear aggressive in communication, there will be severe pain in the abdomen. In addition, it is also worth paying attention to the following features that are found in patients with the described diagnosis:

a small number of interests and difficulty in mastering a new business;
constant cyclical activity, sometimes seeming paranoid;
most acquaintances in the patient’s life last only a few days, since the autist simply does not accept the orders and rules that the interlocutor adheres to;
sometimes the disease is complicated by dumbness or hearing loss, due to which isolation becomes even stronger;
communication defects, which can be characterized by lisp, impossibility of pronunciation of some letters and lethargy;
reluctance for someone to touch the body or things of an autistic person;
the possibility of developing a panic attack in bright light or loud sounds;
frequent aggression towards others.

Attention! Sometimes aggressive autistic behavior can trigger any even a minor new thing. In this case, only the environment familiar to him can be kept in good shape, where it is not recommended to touch anything and displace other family members.

Autism Syndromes and Their Features

Autism is the common name for several syndromes that are characterized by common features, but also have their own characteristics and characteristic behavioral patterns.

Canner's syndrome

The disease is characterized by obvious lesions of the cerebral cortex, which is why the patient has serious communication problems, there are speech defects, aggressive behavior, intellectual data are weak, it is almost impossible to find a common language with a person. Able to exist normally in only one familiar environment. No more than two out of ten thousand people suffer from this syndrome, it can be diagnosed already in childhood.

Asperger Syndrome

It can be characterized by the same features as Kanner, but in this case, the disease can be distinguished weak and strong form. With a mild form of the disease, the patient can become a full member of society if he can overcome his shyness. He can work and perform the necessary things for a normal professional and personal life. But he will also be strongly obsessed with his activities, will not have a lot of hobbies and will most likely spend most of his time in isolation. As in the case of Kanner, no more than two or three people out of every ten thousand born suffer from the syndrome.

Rett syndrome

This disease can only be transmitted through the female line. Usually, behavioral traits with this syndrome can be stopped with medications with a rather short course of therapy. But the presence of the characteristic external features of autism and speech defects with medications cannot be removed. The disease develops for a long time, is much less common than the first two syndromes. After treatment, a woman can work and take care of herself.

Sometimes it is not possible to identify a specific syndrome, in which case we can talk about a combined syndrome. Its complexity is also determined by external and behavioral data.

Attention! Only an experienced doctor can determine the exact syndrome, since a full-time examination and observation of the patient for some time is necessary.

Video - Autism in adults: symptoms, causes, forms, diagnosis, treatment

Autism Signs

Sign	Frequency of manifestation
Desire for isolation	Often
Communication difficulties	Often
The desire to do one thing	Seldom
Inhibition of activity	Often
Hearing loss	Seldom
External defects	Often
Aggression	Seldom
Difficulty understanding information	Often
Emotional failures	Often
The complexity of the concept of emotions of another person	Often

Attention!This table was compiled taking into account the examination of only 100 patients, so with a larger study, the results may vary slightly.

Adult Autism Test Examples

Tests are used only at the initial stage of testing an adult patient to determine the need for further examination. Below we will consider the most popular and most commonly used diagnostics.

AspieQuiz

The methodology consists of 150 questions that affect personal, professional and social spheres of life. Examples of questions are: is it difficult for a person to be in a circle of strangers, do you have problems with asexuality, are you passionate about your own affairs, and so on. After answering all the questions, testing will evaluate your intellectual, social characteristics and the ability to accept incoming information.

Testing RAADS-R

This testing can only be done in a specialist’s office, since the proposed online tests cannot give an accurate result. The peculiarity of this test is that it absolutely does not give false positive results, since during the examination, behavioral characteristics are taken into account not only at the moment, but also up to 16 years. In psychology, this age is critical and indicates a kind of transition from puberty to adulthood.

Tas20

This test is designed for the ability of a sick person to perceive the emotions of the interlocutor. According to previous studies, only 20% of patients with autism can understand another speaker. Moreover, this recognition may be of a certain inhibited character. The test consists of three scales: how well a person recognizes the emotions shown to him, how well he can describe them, as well as features of externally-oriented thinking.

Attention! Which test to pass to a particular patient, determines the attending physician. Alone on the Internet is allowed to go onlyASPIEQUIZ, but with its results it is still better to consult a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Autism treatment

The disease cannot be ignored, as it can progress and can lead to complete isolation and severe aggression of the patient. First you need to choose an individual approach to the patient, becoming for him a good friend. After that, the method of conversations and classes on the development of fine motor skills, intellectual impulse with the help of even the most ordinary mosaics and pictures will gradually increase the IQ level.

If treatment is successful, the patient will begin to make contact with other people and try to perceive the incoming information. If this does not help or does not bring the desired result, medications are prescribed. With severe anxiety and the appearance of panic attacks, the patient will be prescribed antidepressants.

If the patient shows severe aggression, he should take antipsychotics, which can suppress irritation, blocking the activity of nerve endings. But it is worthwhile to understand that because of this, the patient can become very slow and poorly perceive the incoming information. In this case, analeptics will be prescribed, which will increase attentiveness and the possibility of mental activity.

Can a person with autism achieve success at work?

However strange it may seem, autists quite often succeed in mathematics and physics. They can reflect on a formula for quite some time, thanks to perseverance they observe rare processes that subsequently lead to discoveries and breakthroughs in science. In addition, people with a mild form of the syndrome can become talented musicians, scientists, directors, models, and actors. Bob Dylan, Isaac Newton, and even the twentieth president of the United States, James Garfield, are all examples of autism that has not prevented becoming a legend and history.

Attention! Prominent examples of such a diagnosis with an amazing fate are also such famous personalities as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates. They proved their worth, and the latter was able to build a multi-billion dollar corporation, which still brings a lot of money.

If studies have shown that you have autism, or your loved one has encountered this problem, do not immediately think that life ends here. In conditions of normal social communication, in which there are understanding people and friends who are close in spirit to a sick person, a patient with a similar diagnosis can fully realize himself in the professional and personal sphere.

In fact, only a third of adult autistic people are able to live out of control of their parents. With a more severe form of autism, a person constantly needs to be observed and taken care of by the people around him, especially if he does not talk and his intelligence is below average.

The results of research by British scientists have confirmed that autism in adults occurs to one degree or another in one out of a hundred people.

In autism, social interaction with people is completely or partially violated, adaptive social abilities are extremely low.

With autism, symptoms in adults are usually observed as follows:

External and internal.

Adult autists have insufficient gestures and facial expressions.

Elementary rules of communication do not understand or ignore:

look too closely at the interlocutor's eyes, or avoid eye contact altogether;
can come too close to the person you are talking to, or move very far away from him;
can speak too loudly or vice versa is barely audible;
they do not understand the emotions, intentions, feelings of other people, their person is associated with an inanimate object;
do not realize that their behavior can offend someone;
they are practically not capable of friendly or romantic relations through a lack of public knowledge. They see and hear about love, but it is difficult for them to feel and understand this cordial tendency, since many with autism have no attachment to their relatives, and even more so to a stranger;
do not feel the gestures of romance; kisses are considered useless. A hug for autistic people is an incomprehensible attempt by someone to limit their movements. They are not alien to sexual feelings, but there is no one to discuss with. Therefore, they receive information on courtship from television films. Autistic men behave like smug macho or conquerors of female hearts, and when viewing porno tapes, they sometimes act as rapists. Autistic girls imitate the heroines of soap operas, whose behavior is contrary to reality, through which they become victims of violence;
difficult to be the first to start a conversation with someone;
have a very poor vocabulary, often repeat certain memorized phrases;
speech of an adult autist without intonation, similar to the dialect of “cyborg”;
in ordinary situations of the same type, they feel and behave confidently, calmly;
respond to any change in life and are very worried if something has changed;
have a limited set of interests, a greater predisposition to established objects, habits, specific places. Unbalance or greatly frighten any change in the familiar environment;

With a diagnosis of autism, symptoms in adults affect many aspects of the everyday and social behavior of such patients. They are predisposed to repeat the same actions every day, persistently perform the most accurate rituals in everyday life. Autists always dress in a strictly specific sequence and only in their usual clothes, in a strictly ordered form, distribute things and objects throughout the house and in their room according to their own understanding.

Adult autists like to perform the same type of movement for a long time, devoid of any practical purpose. They are not interested in the affairs of loved ones, the events that occur in the world around them, but any change in their usual way of life causes a lot of excitement.

Patients with autism are very talented and endowed with a stock of valuable knowledge. Through the inability to contact, correctly present important information, they leave their genius in themselves.

The manifestation of autism in adults according to statistical studies shows that with an early-diagnosed disease and timely rehabilitation, more than 50% of autistic people participate in a socially active lifestyle, completely dispense with the supervision of parents and relatives.

A mild form of autism even provides an opportunity to find a job with the same type of activity without professionally qualified training. Nevertheless, it is rare, but it happens that the adult autistic intelligence does not exceed the coefficient of 50%, and the vocabulary of speech is at the level of a five-year-old child. But even such results are evaluated as a victory. But there are many examples where adults with autism are completely helpless, they do not have self-care skills, and they require constant parental care.

Autism in adults

Autism (lat. Autism) - a disease associated with genetically determined defects in the development of the central nervous system, most often manifested in the first years of life. Such patients are characterized by social passivity and emotional detachment. Despite the significant development of medicine as a science, the causes of the disease are still unclear. The search for an effective therapy for autism also does not bring results. Starting in early childhood, the disorder has a permanent course without periods of clinical remission. Symptoms and treatment of the disease depend on the form of the mental disorder.

HOW AUTISM SHOWS

In adults, autism is manifested by a characteristic triad of syndromes:

Deficit of social activity.
Disrupted communication.
A limited range of interests and norms of behavior.

Social deficit

The first sign of adult autism is social isolation. The patient, as it were, resides in his own world, divorced from society, not wanting to contact with other people. Often the circle of friends is limited to family members caring for the patient. Social detachment deprives a person of readiness to solve elementary problems independently, therefore, even after adulthood, adults with autism are under the supervision of loved ones. Even minor changes in familiar living conditions can cause the progression of a mental disorder and increase the deficit of social activity.

Do not confuse a congenital disease with the so-called acquired autism that develops against the background of speech, hearing, or other abnormalities.

In this case, a person consciously restricts contacts with people, fearing to be ridiculed in society. In this case, there is a sharp discomfort due to social isolation.

Disrupted communication

Lack of social activity generates a violation of communication. Patients with autism extremely rarely start a conversation first, when answering questions use a limited vocabulary. The patient's speech is devoid of emotions, the volume can vary from a whisper to a scream. Non-verbal gestures, such as hugs or kisses, also do not cause any emotions.

Limited range of interests and the need for constancy

This type of mental disorder is characterized by a limited range of interests. The patient may be interested in one thing (lesson or subject), with which he can spend all the time performing uniform actions.

With a change in habitual lifestyle, attacks of aggression can often be observed, often directed at oneself. During them, the patient can injure himself, bite. According to statistics, about a third of patients experience auto-aggression.

In addition to the above triad, patients with autism may have:

decreased intellectual ability;
the impossibility of a prolonged concentration of attention;
intrusive movements;
violation of the usual sleep pattern;
strange food preferences;
bouts of anger towards others.

AUTISM FORMS IN ADULTS

At the present stage, adult autism has four forms:

autism itself;
light form;
rett syndrome;
combined form.

First form is the most severe and is accompanied by all the symptoms of autism in adults. Such patients have a deep social maladaptation, so they require constant monitoring and control.

At light form diseases, vocabulary and principles of behavior in society practically do not differ from the average statistics in a population. Such people are full members of society, able to independently solve the tasks.

Rett syndrome has a gender dependence. Its appearance is characteristic of adult female autistic women. The prognosis of the disease is unfavorable, since the pathology is accompanied by episodes of respiratory arrest, which leads to death.

Combined Form diagnosed with a mixed clinical picture.

MAIN DIRECTIONS OF THERAPY

Adults with autism should receive comprehensive treatment, which must be started immediately after diagnosis. Its goals are:

reduction of social maladaptation;
improving the quality of life;
prevention of aggressive behavior.

The basis for treating patients with such a mental disorder is behavioral intervention. These treatment programs are developed by psychologists and are most effective in early childhood. They help the child in social integration, allow you to develop the necessary skills for self-care. Timely start of work with a specialist can minimize the symptoms of autism in more adulthood.

Complex treatment of the disease involves the use of drugs. Justified is the use of:

antidepressants - chemicals that normalize mood;
antipsychotics to reduce the manifestations of aggression;
stimulants - medicines that improve the patient’s mental state.

The range of drugs and the volume of their prescriptions is individual and depends on the severity of symptoms, especially the course of the disease.

Treatment of a mild form of autism can take place without medication, exclusively due to the quality work of psychologists.

Found a mistake? Select it and press Ctrl + Enter

Autism (autism) is a mental disorder that occurs without periods of remission and is characterized by the absence of social skills in children and.

Adult autistic: signs and types of pathology

Autism is a disease with an unknown etiology. With regard to the genetic basis of its occurrence, disputes continue, but recent studies have revealed the hormonal, biochemical and intoxication mechanisms of the formation of autistic disorders.

Adults have some special syndromes, but most of the signs characteristic of children remain - narrowness, stereotyped, limited thinking and interests, straightforwardness and lack of emotional component.

Autistic disorder leads to the phenomenal behavior of an adult. The focus on one action, the inability to concentrate on several events - these are the first signs of the disease.

The phenomenon of autism has not been thoroughly studied and its etiological factors have not been established, but when analyzing the condition of adults, it is possible to establish some common symptoms of nosology.

Key features

Manifestations of autism are divided into categories:

Loneliness is not an avoidance of society, but a way of eliminating from a lack of understanding of the behavior and speech of others. Emotional disorders are noted in children of the first year of life, and in adults, isolation from others is a complex phenomenon, since a person who cares for the patient is always required;
Problems with speech development persist for a long time. An adult autistic is characterized by aggressiveness during loud treatment, pain of the abdomen under the influence of external triggers. Speech disorders persist throughout life, which explains the possibility of the influence of heredity on the course of the disease.

The classical autistic triad is determined by the following characteristics - isolation, restriction of interests, cyclical behavior reactions. The patient enjoys the daily repetition of stereotypical movements, stay in the familiar environment.

A person with difficulty establishes social cooperation, contacts with people around him. Patients are not characterized by persistent sociability. Acquaintance is not supported for more than a few days, as a lack of understanding of the interlocutor’s requirements “strains” the autistic.

Some patients are rejected by society due to personality defects - dementia or lack of hearing. They feel discomfort due to rejection by society.

Adult people with autistic disorder do not understand the treatment of others, they are difficult to respond to external stimuli, causing them strong aggression and anxiety. Specialists call this category "autistic involuntarily." Difficulties in communication, constant conflicts lead to asocial behavior, in which adults hide from others. The only way out of an aggressive state is isolation in a familiar room with ordinary things. Even a new shirt can provoke discomfort.

Defective speech in autism persists since childhood. Defective conversations lead to a mental separation from society. Poor speech with disabilities in adulthood causes hostility of others.

Autists love constancy, bordering on ritualism, cyclicality. There are many principles of behavior that are characteristic of sick adults. Systematization of things, the development of individual dietary nutrition schemes are ways of autistic's daily values.

Systematization of habits allows a man to protect himself from aggressiveness and panic attacks. A narrow circle of interests is not limited to methodological behavior; each autistic person has his own.

Autistic disorder is not characterized by a significant decrease in the human development index. Directed behavior allows you to bring a certain skill to perfection. However, the IQ in half of adults does not exceed 50, so it is difficult to identify a "brilliant madman" among patients with autism in their age.

Against this background, some of them masterly play chess (with high potential), the other half, at the age of 40, continue to collect pyramids from children's blocks. Autism Disorder Triad:

The stereotype of the action is nodding with your shoulders, waving your arms, swaying the upper body;
Frequent aggressive behavior, loss of concentration;
Excessive sensory irritability;
Panic under the influence of strong light, loud sounds.

Who are autistic people, how to recognize them among adults

A pathology called “autism spectrum diseases” should be distinguished, which includes Asperger, Kanner, Rhett syndrome. In differential diagnosis, a lighter form, a female neuropsychiatric disorder and atypical combined pathology should be distinguished.

Kanner's syndrome is a complex variety, which is characterized by a full range of pathological manifestations. Weak speech skills, asocial behavior, speech defects are the primary factors that are characterized by damage to brain structures.

Depending on the level of brain impairment, a moderate or severe degree of mental retardation develops.

Differential diagnosis of autism with Asperger's disease is necessary, since both nosological forms are accompanied by similar symptoms, but the second has a milder course.

With Asperger syndrome, patients are able to work intensively, to be full members of society.

Chronic disease is Rett syndrome, which is prone to female transmission. The duration of the pathology is more than 1 year, but it can gradually develop. Nosology is treated, so the disease is found only in a small number of women. The rapid progression of the disease is eliminated by drugs, but autism is not stopped by drugs.

If it is impossible to isolate a certain form of autism, experts say the presence of a combined variety of the disease. Nosology is characterized by a list of pathological signs.

Atypical autism, Asperger syndrome, Kanner are rare species with a prevalence rate of 2-3 people per 10 thousand. For the most part, representatives of the strong half of humanity are affected.

Adult autists suffer from a range of speech disorders with a much wider range than in children - echolalia and the growing dynamics of speech distortion.

With Asperger Syndrome, adult speech remains normal. A person is able to reproduce heard phrases. Sociability problems in this category of patients are explained by impaired speech, intolerance to metaphors, design features.

Difficulties in nonverbal communication skills arise due to the lack of innervation of the masticatory muscles of the face, the predominant functioning of only one hemisphere of the brain.

Adult autists, like children, have an obsessive desire for monotony, isolation. Patients develop stereotyped behavior. Pathology is accompanied by a monotonous lifestyle, which is repeated with a certain cyclical nature.

Daily behavior is familiar to humans and autistic people will not change their standard lifestyle for new sensations. Innovations are negatively perceived not only by a child, but also by an adult, cause nervous experiences, provoke severe anxiety and panic.

The clinical picture of autistic disorder is polymorphic, but symptoms need to be identified in the early stages. To verify the disease, it is recommended that special tests be performed.

Adult Autism Test

There are many probabilities of diagnostic scales. We describe the most common methods:

In case of neurosis, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, autism, you can use the RAADS-R test;
For diagnosis, the Aspie Quiz scheme is used, which allows to identify nosology based on 150 questions;
More than 80% of patients with autism disorder are not able to convey the feelings of another person, describe the emotional background of others. The test is called "TAS20";
Violation of cognitive impairment, the pathology of bodily sensations in autism is detected by a test called "Toronto scale of alexithymia";
Schizoid features of the human psyche reveals "SPQ";
To differentiate empathy allows "EQ";
The level of systematization is assessed by the “SQ” scale.

At the initial stage, at home, the symptoms of autism in an adult can be determined by the test of fixing the gaze at a certain point. A serious cause for suspicion is the increased concentration on an interesting object.

Despite the fact that adult autists have a certain degree of “eccentricity”, it is not always possible to identify a disease at the initial stage. Each category of patients has certain behavioral criteria that can be used to diagnose forms of the disease.

Test results depend on the severity of autism. Most patients have amygimism, problems with gestures, difficulties with familiar communication, impaired eye contact with loved ones.

The main manifestation of autistic disorder in an adult is a lack of understanding of speech, difficulties with the emotional sphere. The impossibility of understanding the essence of the appeal and the needs of others. Failure to build friendships leads to a lack of friends and acquaintances.

Adults with autism feel calm only in the usual situation, when there are no external irritating factors. A change in environment exacerbates the clinical course of the pathology.

Additional symptoms for recognizing autism:

Manners, mental irritability, hyperreactivity, constant walking around the room - these are the first manifestations of pathology;
Atypical sensitive reactions are accompanied by severe irritability when touching the skin. Even the greeting by the hand, familiar to men, causes a strong panic of autists;
Cognitive disorders in children with autistic syndrome pass into adulthood, therefore mental retardation is possible;
Violation of the emotional sphere in the form of lability, monotony, template behavior lasts until the last day of the patient's life.

It is easy to recognize adult autists after initial communication, by such specific signs as lack of eye contact, a lack of understanding of the essence of treatment, and the cyclic repetition of certain actions.

Diagnosis of autism symptoms affects moments of social and everyday behavior of patients. The diagnosis is not in doubt with a thorough history taking.

Autism in adults

Autism is a mental illness that is attributed to some extent to genetic abnormalities in the development of the central nervous system. Most often, the first signs of the disease appear in infancy. However, the mechanism may start at an older age.

Causes

Regarding the etiology of the disease, not all experts adhere to the same opinion. It is believed that the only reason for the development of autism is an abnormality in the intrauterine development of the central nervous system.

The following factors contribute to the onset of the disease:

a sharp change in your usual lifestyle, for example, moving, dismissal from work, divorce, car accident;
severe stress, transferred against the background of the inability to meet the expectations of others;
emotional instability;
long period of problems at work or at home;
maltreatment in childhood or adolescence by parents or peers.

Recently, heredity and vaccination have been attributed to the causes of autism. In any case, the listed risk factors do not depend on the person, therefore he cannot influence the development of autism.

Signs

Symptoms may vary dramatically in patients depending on the type and extent of the disease. In 45% of patients, IQs are not higher than 50, while others are considered "brilliant madmen."

The typical signs of autism in adults are distinguished. First of all, these are difficulties in socialization, because of which autists do not understand the intentions, words and emotions of others. Often they are frightened and guarded by facial expressions, gestures of people.

Some cannot hold eye contact, while others stare intently and intently into their eyes. Often a person with such a diagnosis is not able to show sympathy or friendship, and even more so romantic affection. Some are isolated due to their non-recognition by society through dementia or other defects. Others prefer loneliness because of their own behavior.

The patient is obsessed with one topic or problem, while there is no interest in other areas. As a rule, such a passion helps the autistic to achieve high mastery in his chosen activity.

A distinctive sign of autism in adults is a strict attachment to their own regimen. In case of non-compliance or violation of the established schedule, the patient may experience personal tragedy. At the same time, he receives satisfaction from repetitive monotonous movements in his usual environment.

Often, in such patients, natural perception is disturbed, for example, a light hug can cause discomfort, and when the touch is strengthened, the patient calms down. Some autists have virtually no pain. Often they react aggressively to loud sounds. It is almost impossible to guess their thoughts and feelings.

Features of manifestation

Autistic behavior is notable for stereotyped actions, such as nodding your head or shoulders, waving your arms, jerking movements, and shaking your body. Many 20–25-year-old autistic people do not have basic self-care skills, which is why they need daily care.

Mental arousal, manifested by hyperreactivity or mannerism, indicates the development of the disease. The patient is often aggressive, irritable, can not concentrate for a long time. An acute inadequate reaction to touch is noted, for example, a friendly greeting by the hand or a pat on the shoulder. The patient cannot normally communicate with others, not only with strangers, but even with relatives. Often begins to ignore them, not opening the door, not answering calls or questions in person, while he does not feel any guilt.

Disorder of emotional balance leads to stereotyped behavior, monotony in the execution of actions. Autistic often does not understand the essence of the appeal to him, he becomes indifferent to the feelings of others and everything that happens. Movements and facial expressions are uncertain and limited, there are pronounced speech defects. As a rule, it is devoid of any intonation, monotonous. Often the patient has specific nutritional preferences. Sleep and wakefulness may be impaired.

Forms of the disease

Autism is a collective concept of several serious mental disorders that have distinctive features. Severe types are diseases of the autism spectrum, which include Rett, Kanner and Asperger syndromes. The first form is often transmitted genetically through the female line and has a progressive character, lasts about 12 months and is treated conservatively.

Kanner’s syndrome develops in 2-3 people out of 10 thousand. Often men get sick. It manifests itself as a complex of signs of autistic behavior. This form is characterized by damage to areas of the brain with progressive mental retardation. Asperger's disease has similar symptoms, but is more moderate in nature.

Depending on the stage of development, mild and severe forms of the disease are distinguished. With a mild form, an autist can find a job and engage in simple work of the same type.

Diagnostics

If typical symptoms appear in an adult, you need to consult a psychiatrist to get an accurate diagnosis. The specialist collects an anamnesis and, if it is not possible to find contact with the patient, interviews close relatives who can describe the development clinic in detail.

During the examination, it is necessary to conduct differential diagnostics in order to exclude such psychological diseases.

Numerous tests are used to determine autism in adults.

RAADS-R is also used to detect neurosis, depression, or schizophrenia.
Aspie Quiz. The diagnosis is made on the basis of passed testing of 150 questions.
Toronto scale of alexithymia. Allows you to determine the disorders of the somatic and nervous system under the influence of external stimuli.
SPQ. Research helps rule out schizotypal personality disorder.
EQ - an assessment of the coefficient of emotionality.
SQ - the scale determines the level of empathy or a tendency to systematization.

Treatment

After making an accurate diagnosis, the patient is prescribed a set of therapeutic procedures. The goal is gradual social adaptation, restoration of a normal quality of life and prevention of aggression in relation to others.

The basis for the treatment of autism is behavioral intervention with the use of specially designed psychological programs, trainings and sessions. Although these techniques are most effective for children, older patients can also learn basic communication and self-care skills with their help.

With a mild form of the disease, medication is often not required, and the therapeutic effect is achieved due to the qualified help of a psychologist.

Conservative treatment of autism is carried out with antidepressants, stimulants and antipsychotic drugs that suppress aggression and irritability. Medication is monitored by the attending physician. Dosage depends on the signs, nature of the course and stage of the disease. In 50% of cases, with timely diagnosed autism after a course of rehabilitation, the patient leads a socially active lifestyle and can do without round-the-clock observation of relatives or medical staff.

This article is posted for educational purposes only and is not scientific material or professional medical advice.

The danger of acquired autism in adults: 7 signs

Quite often, autism manifests itself in adulthood. Autism can be detected already in adulthood. This is a serious illness associated with mental disorders that reduce the possibility of adaptation and socialization. Diagnosing the disease at an early age can be quite difficult. Autism in adults is noticeable, so others quickly notice abnormalities in the behavior of a person with autism. The etiology of autism is still difficult to determine.

A variety of autism tests in adults

When diagnosing autism, attention should be paid to the solitude of an adult. People with autism do not find understanding among the people who surround them, so they try to isolate themselves from the world. If autism in childhood is characterized by emotional disorders, then adults simply lead a closed life.

A characteristic feature of autism in adults is communication problems, especially if the dialogue is sharp.

If the conversation is loud and aggressive, a person with autism most often becomes aggressive, while severe pain appears in his stomach. Patients with autism do not have a large set of interests, since it is difficult for them to learn a new business. Their activities are cyclical, sometimes even paranoid. A person takes an autism test only at the initial stage in order to determine a further examination.

A variety of autism tests:

AspieQuiz The test is aimed at assessing intellectual and social characteristics, as well as the ability to receive incoming information.
RAADS-R. It is carried out exclusively in the specialist’s office. The method takes into account the behavioral characteristics of a person starting from sixteen years.
TAS20. Determines whether a person perceives the emotions of the interlocutor.

Autism cannot be ignored, as over time a person becomes more isolated and aggressive. Treatment should be prescribed individually, taking into account all the characteristics of the patient. Success in contact with the outside world and successful perception of the information coming from it will indicate success of treatment.

Autism: Symptoms in Adults

Autism is a serious, disabling disease, accompanied by a partial or complete loss of interaction with the outside world. People with autism cannot interact normally with people around them; they have low adaptive social abilities. Autists cannot provide for their needs on their own.

The causes of this pathology are still unknown, although scientists associate the disease with a mutation of genetic material.

You can diagnose the disease at an early age, since the first symptoms appear in children under the age of one year: they are not very active, they do not smile much, they do not respond if they are addressed, they do not show emotions. Autism in adults is more visible and striking, although the symptoms do not change. The presence of mental illness in adults is indicated by asociality.

Symptoms of autism may be inadequate gestures, misunderstanding of others, limited interests

Symptoms of autism in adults:

Lack of gestures and facial expressions;
Misunderstanding or ignoring basic rules of communication;
A too close look in the eyes when communicating with the interlocutor;
Too close or far away from the interlocutor;
Inability to understand other people's emotions;
Inability to friendship and romance;
Limited interest.

Autism affects the everyday and social behavior of a person. He repeats the same actions daily. In everyday life, they are stubborn in the exact observance of rituals. When dressing, they perform strict sequential actions. Adult autistic people like to make the same type of movement, having no practical purpose.

Symptoms and treatment of autism in adults

Diagnosing autism at an early age can solve many problems in adults. Sometimes parents see autism symptoms as individual characteristics of their child. Locking on oneself, unwillingness to talk, and overly loving order can speak of autism. If dangerous signals are detected, parents should contact a neurologist immediately.

The specificity of the ailment is that in each person the signs of the disease are individual in nature.

The most severe form of the disease is considered to be Kanner’s syndrome: it is practically impossible to correct. A mild form of the disease is Asperger Syndrome: it can be corrected, which allows a person to fit into society. Rett syndrome is observed only in women. Patients with this diagnosis usually do not live to be thirty years old.

Avarice of facial expressions and gestures;
The presence of ritual actions;
Inability and unwillingness to accept and understand the feelings and emotions of others;
Monotony and emotionless speech;
Scanty vocabulary;
Aggressiveness in violation of rituals and order in habitual actions.

The method of treatment is determined in each case. Autism cannot be cured. But he most often he is amenable to adjustment. Today, for the treatment of the autistic spectrum, a wide variety of techniques are used: working with a psychotherapist, occupational therapy, working with a speech therapist, using special massage techniques, using behavioral techniques, prescribing medications.

How does acquired autism manifest?

Depression can lead to autism in adults. To protect himself from pain and negative emotions, a person begins to live in a fantasy world. The manifestation of autism in an adult is different from the symptoms that can be observed in children.

In adult autists, one can observe successful career growth or a tendency to scientific activity.

Despite the fact that a person remains able-bodied, he experiences great difficulties in contact with people. Adult autism has a tendency to abrupt manifestations and rapid development. Sometimes, because of this, doctors have difficulty making a diagnosis.

Autism in an adult can be manifested by an unemotional speech, the constant repetition of the same phrases, seizures, indifference to others

How does acquired autism manifest itself:

Constant repetition of identical phrases;
Emotionless speech;
Excessive attachment to objects;
Indifference to the feelings of other people;
Refusal to follow public rules;
The possibility of seizures;
Inability to interact with others.

Symptoms of the disease depend on the type of autism. It is impossible to determine what symptoms will manifest in a particular person. The danger of acquired autism lies in the possibility of unbalanced action on the part of the patient. Autism must be treated immediately after the first symptoms of the disease are detected.

Acquired Autism in Adults: Symptoms (video)

Autism can occur in both an adult man and an adult woman. Symptoms of autism in adulthood are more visible. However, in each individual person they manifest themselves in different ways. But all cases are united by a certain isolation and it is difficult to communicate with other people. Timely initiation of treatment will allow to correct the disease and allow a person to lead a social life.

Adult autism - how the disorder manifests with age

Autism refers to general developmental disorders and, in typical cases, manifests itself during the first three years of a child's life. Very often we hear about childhood autism or autism in early childhood. However, it is worth remembering that children with a diagnosis of the autistic spectrum and become adults with autism. Children who show autism symptoms at the age of 5-6 receive a diagnosis of autistic autism.

However, in adults who behave strangely and have problems in social relationships, psychiatrists are very reluctant to recognize autism. Despite the lack of relevant studies on autism, adults are trying to justify the problems differently and look for a different diagnosis. Often, adult autists are considered eccentrics, people with an unusual type of thinking.

Adult Autism Symptoms

Autism is a mysterious disease, with a very complex and difficult diagnosis, in many ways unknown reasons. Autism is not a mental illness, as some people think. Autism spectrum disorders are biologically induced nerve disorders in which psychological problems are secondary.

Jigsaw puzzle - a recognized symbol of autism

What is autism? It causes difficulties in the perception of the world, problems in social relations, learning and communication with others. Each autistic symptom can be of varying intensity.

Most often, people with autism show impaired perception, otherwise they feel a touch, otherwise they perceive sounds and images. May have hypersensitivity to noise, odors, light. Often show less sensitivity to pain.

Another way of seeing the world is that autists create their own inner world - a world that only they can understand.

The main problems of people with autism include:

problems with the implementation of relationships and feelings;
difficulty expressing your emotions and interpreting emotions expressed by others;
inability to read non-verbal messages;
communication problems;
avoid contact with eyes;
they prefer a constant environment, do not tolerate change.

People with autism have specific speech disorders. In extreme cases, autists do not speak at all or begin to speak very late. They understand words exclusively in the literal sense. They are not able to catch the meaning of jokes, hints, irony, sarcasm, metaphor, which makes socialization very difficult.

Many people with autism speak in a manner inappropriate to the context of the situation, despite the fact that the environment, in general, is listening to them. Their words are colorless or very formal. Some use stereotyped forms of communication or speak as if they are reading a manual. Autistic people have difficulty getting into a conversation. They attach too much importance to some words, abuse them so that their language becomes stereotyped.

In childhood, problems often arise with the appropriate use of pronouns (I, he, you, we, you). While others show pronunciation disruptions, have incorrect voice intonation, speak too fast or monotonously, poorly emphasize words, “swallow” sounds, whisper under their breath, etc.

In some people, autism spectrum disorders are manifested by obsessive interests, often very specific, with the ability to mechanically remember certain information (for example, the birthdays of famous people, car registration numbers, bus schedules).

For others, autism can manifest itself in a desire to streamline the world, to bring the whole environment to definite and unchanging patterns. Each "surprise", as a rule, causes fear and aggression.

Autism is also a lack of flexibility, stereotyped patterns of behavior, a violation of social interaction, difficulties in adapting to standards, egocentrism, poor body language or impaired sensory integration.

It is difficult to standardize the characteristics of an adult with autism. However, it is important that the number of cases of autism increases from year to year, and at the same time, many patients remain undiagnosed, if only because of a poor diagnosis of autism.

Rehabilitation of people with autism

As a rule, disorders from the autism spectrum are diagnosed in preschool children or in early childhood. However, it happens that the symptoms of the disease are very mild and such a person lives, for example, with Asperger syndrome until adulthood, learning about the disease very late or not knowing at all.

According to estimates, more than ⅓ adults with Asperger Syndrome have never been diagnosed. Unconscious illness creates adult autism many problems in social, family and professional life. They are faced with discrimination, with the attitude as unreasonable, arrogant, strange. To ensure a minimum level of security, they avoid contacts and prefer loneliness.

Against the background of autism disorders, other problems of a psychic nature may develop, for example, depression, mood disorders, and excessive sensitivity. If autism is not treated, in adults it often makes it difficult or even impossible for an autonomous existence. Autists do not know how to adequately express emotions, do not know how to think abstractly, and are distinguished by their high degree of tension and low level of interpersonal communication skills.

In the institutions of the National Autism Society, as well as in other organizations that provide assistance to patients with autism, patients can take part in rehabilitation classes that reduce anxiety and increase physical and mental fitness, cause an increase in concentration, and teach them to be involved in social life. This, in particular: theater classes, speech therapy, cut and tailoring classes, film therapy, hydrotherapy, music therapy.

Autism cannot be cured, but the sooner treatment is started, the better the treatment results. In special schools, teenagers with autism are more likely to realize themselves in life. Classes in such schools include: social skills training, improving self-reliance in actions, self-care, training in activity planning.

The level of functioning of adults with autism varies depending on the form of the disease. People with high-functioning autism or Asperger Syndrome can do a good job in life in society - have a job, start a family.

In some countries, special protected group apartments are created for adult autists in which patients can rely on the help of permanent guardians, but at the same time, this does not deprive them of their right to independence. Unfortunately, people with deep autistic disorders who often combine with other diseases like epilepsy or food allergies are not able to live on their own.

Many adults with autism do not leave home, being under the care of their loved ones. Unfortunately, some parents care too much for their sick children, thereby doing them even more harm.

Adult Autism Treatment

Autism is an incurable disease, but intensive and early treatment can fix a lot. The best results are given by behavioral therapy, which leads to changes in functioning, develops the ability to communicate with others, and teaches to cope with actions in everyday life.

People with more severe types of autism, under the care of a psychiatrist, can use symptomatic pharmacotherapy. Only a doctor can determine which drugs and psychotropic substances a patient should take.

For some, it will be psychostimulating drugs to combat impaired attention. Serotonin and sertraline reuptake inhibitors, which improve mood, increase self-esteem, and reduce the desire for repetitive behavior, will help others.

Using propranolol can reduce the number of outbreaks of aggression. Risperidone, clozapine, olanzapine are used in the treatment of psychotic disorders: obsessive behavior and self-harm. In turn, buspirone is recommended in case of excessive activity and with stereotypic movements.

Some patients require the appointment of antiepileptic drugs, mood stabilizers. Medicines allow only symptomatic treatment. In order to improve the functioning of autism in society, psychotherapy is necessary.

It is worth remembering that a large group of people with mild autistic disorders are educated people. Among them there are even outstanding scientists and artists of various talents who represent have the features of savants.

Adult Autism Test

Key signs of adult autism

a small number of interests and difficulty in mastering a new business;
constant cyclical activity, sometimes seeming paranoid;
most acquaintances in the patient’s life last only a few days, since the autist simply does not accept the orders and rules that the interlocutor adheres to;
sometimes the disease is complicated by dumbness or hearing loss, due to which isolation becomes even stronger;
communication defects, which can be characterized by lisp, impossibility of pronunciation of some letters and lethargy;
reluctance for someone to touch the body or things of an autistic person;
the possibility of developing a panic attack in bright light or loud sounds;
frequent aggression towards others.

Signs of Autism in an Adult

Attention! Sometimes aggressive autistic behavior can trigger any even a minor new thing. In this case, only the environment familiar to him can be kept in good shape, where it is not recommended to touch anything and displace other family members.

Autism Syndromes and Their Features

Classification of Autistic Disorders

Autism is the common name for several syndromes that are characterized by common features, but also have their own characteristics and characteristic behavioral patterns.

Canner's syndrome

Kanner's syndrome. Symptoms

Asperger Syndrome

Symptoms of Asperger Syndrome

A hallmark of Asperger Syndrome

Rett syndrome

Sometimes it is not possible to identify a specific syndrome, in which case we can talk about a combined syndrome. Its complexity is also determined by external and behavioral data.

Attention! Only an experienced doctor can determine the exact syndrome, since a full-time examination and observation of the patient for some time is necessary.

Autism

Autism is a condition that accompanies a person all his life and is manifested both in a violation of social communication, and in certain problems with the perception of the surrounding objective reality. Although the state of autism has certain common symptoms, the range of autistic disorders is very wide, so some patients can live relatively without problems, while others require substantial help.

Autism

Autism is a specific violation of the development of the nervous system, characterized by a variety of manifestations. A characteristic feature of people with autism (both in childhood and adulthood) is their isolation from the outside world, the preference for loneliness over social contacts, and the deformation of the emotional spectrum. At the same time, it is erroneous to consider that aggression is a mandatory component of autism - although in some cases outbreaks of anger are characteristic of patients, this is a fairly small percentage in relation to the total number.

Autism in adults

Symptoms of autism in adults can be expressed in different ways and depend on the form of the disease. Autism in any case leads to disruption of social contacts, but a mild degree allows a person to partially adapt to society and not depend on the constant help of other people. But more severe degrees of the disease, especially those associated with a loss of ability to speak, require constant monitoring. However, how well an adult autistic will be adapted to life in society depends largely on how early the diagnosis of autism is made and how effective the correction work is. Adults with severe autism can even get a job that does not require high qualifications and involves the execution of the same type of repetitive actions.

Statistics show that autism can be seen in about 1% of adults. In such patients, the main difficulties lie not only in the violation of social communication, but also in problems in everyday life. First of all, this is a predisposition to the same type of rituals - the repetition of some actions that are not of practical value, but extremely important for the patient himself. At the same time, the changes in the world around him and people in contact with autistic people are not interested in him.

There are several groups:

Patients with a low level of intellectual development who lack interaction with the outside world, as well as the ability to serve themselves.

They have the ability to speak against the backdrop of certain speech disorders, so that they are in contact with others - but only on certain topics, while it is sometimes difficult for healthy people to understand them. Another feature of this group is the active opposition to change and extreme attachment to your favorite things.

Autistic with certain abilities.

They are capable of contact, however, they do not accept social norms and practically do not pay attention to others.

People with minimal manifestations of autism.

It is difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish such people from simply indecisive and touchy people; only a psychiatrist on the basis of diagnostic measures is able to determine that the inability to solve problems on their own, the inability to make decisions, the lack of independence with seemingly intact intelligence is a consequence of autism, and not a character trait.

One of the main features of autistic disorder is a high degree of enthusiasm for a favorite and interesting thing. The combination of this feature with a level of intelligence above the average can lead to the fact that such people are considered brilliant.

Autism in men

At the very early stages of the study of autism, it was noted that this disease is more likely to occur in men than in women. Symptoms of autism in men are more vivid and typical.

Very often, men with autism show a significant attachment to any occupation: hobbies, collecting. Their enthusiasm and knowledge in the chosen field is amazing: they can not only spend hours doing what they love, but they can also discuss with pleasure everything related to this topic. But the theme of romance and feelings for them is inaccessible; they are more likely to become attached to a pet who will not make demands on them than to a person who, with his careless remarks and actions, can shake an already unstable self-esteem.

If the form and degree of autism allows a man to get a job, he clearly will not become a careerist: he will remain in the same position for years, or he will often change companies. The reason for this is the lack of interest in a career, multiplied by the inability to productive social contacts. By the way, their social interaction with other people is also difficult for the reason that they cannot determine how their behavior will affect the reaction of the interlocutor (and, in fact, do not think about it).

Autism in women

The main feature of female autism is that it is the female gender that is peculiar to the “memorization” of patterns of behavior in certain social situations. This often causes autism in women to be more difficult to diagnose: since they exhibit relatively adequate reactions to contacting them, which does not coincide with the basic criteria for autism, the interlocutor may not even think that behavior is not improvised and natural, but learned . At the same time, the need for such copying often leads to exhaustion, which entails an aggravation of the mental state.

The topic of interests of girls and women with autism is not strictly specialized, but the depth of these interests is an important manifestation. If an autistic woman is interested in soap operas or classical literature (which is also a normal interest for healthy women), then she will devote an enormous amount of time to this activity - even to the detriment of other activities and activities. Speaking of reading: among women with autism, hyperlexia is more often manifested: they learn the reading skill early, read quickly and with complete immersion in the work, often preferring this alternative reality to real life.

Although it is believed that people with autism do not seek communication, this is less true for women and, as a rule, they like to take part in social interaction. It is more convenient for them if this communication takes place one on one, or at least in a small group. However, even if such women experience the pleasure of communication, the specifics of their nervous system is such that they need a long recovery after such sessions - of course, alone or at their favorite place.

Autism in women is much more often accompanied by other problems: depressive states, obsessive-compulsive disorders, digestive problems. The presence of such disorders can easily lead to problems with the diagnosis of autism; this feature, combined with the previously described tendency to copy patterns of behavior, can cause late diagnosis of autism in women.

Which famous person had autism

Confirmation that people with autism can not only be relatively adapted in society, but also achieve certain heights is the presence of autism among famous people. The list of such persons is quite impressive, while many do not even realize that certain behavioral features are caused by certain manifestations of autism, and not by eccentricity and strange character.

Most often, Albert Einstein is cited as an example of well-known autists. There is no exact confirmation of the diagnosis of autism in this case, however, such signs of autism as late acquisition of speech, serious tantrums in childhood and the need for his marriage partners to play the role of his parents suggest some autistic disorders.

Among our contemporaries, one of the most famous autistic people is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Even at school, teachers noted his apparent disregard for grammar, reading, and most humanitarian subjects against the backdrop of a clear interest in mathematics and literally obsessed with computers.

Various scholars have suggested that historically significant individuals such as Mozart, Marie Curie, Jane Austen, Van Gogh, Thomas Jefferson had autism. Some features of the behavior of Satoshi Tajiri, a game designer from Japan, who became the founder of the series, manga and a game about Pokemon, also indicate a diagnosis of autism.

Autism in children

Usually, parents begin to notice autism in children quite early, but it can be difficult to determine the presence of this disease and differentiate it from similar conditions. However, the earlier children are diagnosed with autism and, accordingly, correction is started, the better results can be achieved subsequently.

Early autism up to 2 years

Already in the first months of life, children with autism are different from their peers. These children do not differ in their desire to contact with adults, do not fix their eyes on a certain point (including on the face of an adult), preferring to consider the space around it. These babies are often suspected of hearing impairment, however, the fact that they differ in an extremely meager response to sounds, including their own name, is caused not by a hearing problem, but by the fact that the nervous system specifically perceives sound stimuli.

With early autism, children under 2 years old already show a tendency to repeat actions, including swaying, attachment to certain objects or actions. While their peers begin to learn pre-speech methods of communication with adults, children with autism may not feel the need for contact at all. There are cases in which children, having mastered the rudiments of speech, subsequently lose them, too.

At six months, in no way expresses joy, including a missing smile.
At 9 months old, she doesn’t try to imitate the sounds heard, and also to copy the expression on the face of an adult in contact with him.
There is no babble and gesticulation per year.
In a year and a half, she is not able to utter a single word.
In two years, he can’t add a phrase of two words.

The sooner early autism is diagnosed, the sooner correction can begin, and the greater the chance of adaptation in society.

Children's autism from 2 to 11 years

The manifestations of this condition at the age of 2 to 11 years are considered to be childhood autism. The symptoms characteristic of early autism are supplemented with the following:

Lack of desire for communication with both adults and peers. Such children never start a conversation first, and even if they are trying to get involved in a conversation, they are not willing to take part in it.
Fixation on one type of activity. If children with a normal state of the nervous system are interested in many things, then child autism is characterized by the desire to only draw, only to count, only to listen to music or do one thing, while other activities do not cause either interest or emotional response.
Attachment to the familiar. Changes in the situation or in the regime of the day can plunge such children into a state close to panic.
The acquisition of new skills is difficult, including in the process of schooling.
A child can constantly repeat the same sound, word or, like an echo, thoughtlessly repeat the sentences heard from adults.

Depending on what kind of form and degree of autism the child has, all of these signs can manifest themselves brightly or flow in the background, practically without causing anxiety in the parents. In the second case, manifestations of childhood autism are often limited by detachment (rather than a categorical refusal to play with other children), as well as the repetition of monotonous actions. Doctors pay special attention to the fact that if testing the level of intelligence up to 5 years shows more than 50 points, such children are much more likely to adapt to adulthood and not be dependent on the support and care of healthy family members.

Autism after 11 years

Autism after 11 years, it is teenage autism - a natural development of childhood autism. Although autistic children are generally difficult to educate, adolescence is a particularly problematic step in the development of such a child. The main difficulty lies in the fact that it is during this period that the gap between the development of teenagers with autism and their peers with a preserved nervous system becomes very noticeable. However, there are certain improvements - for example, adolescents learn new skills, including self-care, and also demonstrate significant behavioral improvements. The level of irritability, hyperactivity, a tendency to repetitive behavior is reduced.

If a child in childhood had sleep disturbances (daytime sleepiness, nighttime insomnia), they can become a significant problem by adolescence. Another complication associated with growing up a child is the risk of epileptic seizures (although most autistic adolescents still do not experience manifestations of epilepsy).

Parents may need to take an additional tour in terms of puberty, as well as compliance with hygiene standards. So, many teenagers with autism have to be reminded that they need to take a shower in order to avoid an unpleasant odor.

In adolescence, children can acutely feel the problem of social isolation; studies show that teens with autism have a 5-time chance of being bullied than their regular peers. They are not invited to entertainments and walks outside the school, but they also need acceptance and approval. Sometimes the hobbies of such adolescents make it easier to establish contacts with peers; for example, computer games can be a common theme for many teens.

Causes of Autism

The exact cause of autism has not yet been determined. It is believed that the main reason for the formation of autism at the embryo stage is heredity, namely, the mutation of the gene responsible for the formation and development of the brain. Moreover, the parents of such a child may not have any manifestations of autism. Another cause of autism is called the increased content of the male hormone testosterone, which is characteristic even at the intrauterine stage of development.

Since the study of the brain of people with autism revealed pathological changes in the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional regulation, as well as the person’s ability to interact productively with other people, disorders of the amygdala can also cause autism. Another hypothesis related to problems in brain development indicates that the brains of autistic children aged about three years are larger than those of ordinary children. Accordingly, eliminating the cause of such intensive brain growth will help prevent autism.

Other theories about the causes of autism include assumptions about the relationship between this disease and the level of heavy metals in the body, a lack of Cdk5 protein (responsible for the regulation of many processes in cells), some vaccines, and biological and chemical imbalances. There is even a hypothesis that permanent residence in areas with a predominance of rainy weather increases the risk of developing autistic disorders.

However, to date, none of these theories has been universally recognized, therefore, research into the causes of autism is ongoing.

Autism: Symptoms

Symptoms of autism are a fairly wide range of symptoms, therefore, each patient with a violation of the nervous system can manifest itself in different ways. In addition, age also affects the manifestation of autism symptoms.

Features of social communication of people with autism

Disruptions in social communication are a major problem in most autists. It is a problem for them to get involved in communication with people with normal development of the nervous system, and besides, people with autism do not always have a desire to develop this communication in general. Even in early childhood, it is noticeable that the child does not make contact, does not look at another person, does not seek to play with peers. In adulthood, it was noted that such children have a reduced ability to correctly recognize emotions and faces, which persists even when a person becomes an adult.

All of these signs may make you think that autists generally reject communication. In fact, they have a tendency to become attached to those who care about them, but such an attachment can occur to pets, as well as to some object. People with autism do not seek to share their own problems, because they do not see any serious need for this.

Limited behavior

Limited behavior in autism is one of the characteristic signs of autism, when a person's interest is focused on one thing. In children, this often manifests itself in the desire to play with one single toy or watch a single cartoon. This behavior persists in adulthood, which is why people with autism have no diverse interests, but they can devote almost all of their time to a single occupation or subject.

The peculiarities of autistic behavior include the desire for stability, uniformity, which in turn becomes an occasion for the formation of numerous everyday rituals and active resistance to change. The menu of people with autism, as a rule, includes a limited set of products, and they categorically do not want to try something new. Ritual behavior extends to many areas of life: a certain sequence of actions when putting on clothes, the same walking routes. If changes come into the autistic life, he will actively resist them, even if this is a minimal rearrangement in his own room.

Another characteristic feature for people with autism is compulsive behavior, that is, performing actions that may not be of practical value, but the patient feels the need to do just that. In childhood, this is often manifested in the desire to arrange toys in a row for any one sign (size, color); when a person grows up, such actions can be transformed - for example, into the need to build circles and plates strictly in size. These actions are precisely a necessity, since the impossibility of their implementation leads to an increase in the level of anxiety until this action is completed.

Features of sensory perception

Autists are distinguished by characteristic sensory perceptions. As a rule, this is insufficient or hypersensitivity of a single analyzer, or several; The following perception features can be distinguished:

With a lack of visual sensitivity, there may be problems with spatial perception, a violation of central or peripheral vision, while hypersensitivity is manifested in distortion of images and a tendency to focus on a separate part of an object instead of perceiving it whole.

Hearing (the most common sensory impairment in autism)

The lack of sensitivity leads to difficulties in recognizing individual sounds, complete or partial loss of the ability to hear with one ear. Hearing problems may occur if you need to be in noisy places or hear sharp, loud sounds. At the same time, auditory hypersensitivity is manifested in a distortion of what is heard, complaints that a person "hears absolutely everything that is said from a distance." Too strong sensitivity of the auditory analyzer can lead to the fact that all sounds, including background sounds, are perceived equally strongly, and this introduces discomfort and prevents concentration.

If the ability to perceive in people with autism is reduced, it can show a high pain threshold (which can cause injury to itself), is prone to cuddle and enjoy pleasing pressure on the skin. If a person demonstrates hypersensitivity, he will avoid any tactile contact with other people, as well as have problems with clothing and hygiene procedures.

With a lack of taste sensitivity, autists tend to eat with bright spicy tastes, as well as to eat inedible objects. If the taste is developed too much, a person can refuse most foods, including because of their consistency (the desire to eat only soft food).

When a person with autism is insensitive to odors, he may not even feel sharp unpleasant odors at all, and in order to better understand what the object is made of, it is easier for him to lick it than to smell it. However, autistic hypersensitivity to odors also manifests itself as a bright hostility to a particular smell: it can be perfumes, hygiene products or something else.

People with autism can often have problems with the vestibular apparatus, because of which they feel the need for the same type of movements to improve sensations. This also leads to the fact that it is difficult for them to play sports, because such patients do not have sufficient control over their own vestibular apparatus.

There may be a violation of the perception of one's own body, which is manifested in violation of the boundaries of the personal space of other people, problems with spatial orientation (this often becomes the reason that autists do not like rearrangements), as well as difficulties with actions that require precise fine motor skills.

One of the manifestations of autistic sensory disorders is synesthesia. This condition is quite rare and is characterized by a kind of “replacement” of one feeling with another. Often there is synesthesia of sound and color; such patients say that they “see” the music or “hear” the red color.

Physiological Signs of Autism

In most cases, autism has practically no physiological manifestations. However, people with autism may have the following symptoms:

The insufficient development of the body's ability to counteract the negative environmental influences can lead to too frequent diseases at an early age.

Patients experience regular discomfort and pain for no apparent reason, which is often accompanied by bloating and stool disorders. This is sometimes associated with a limited diet, which most autistic people are prone to.

Pancreatic dysfunction.

Diagnosis of Autism

Like any other disease, autism is detected through the use of certain diagnostic methods. It is better if the examination is carried out as soon as possible with suspected autism, because in this case the correction can also be started earlier, and, therefore, will be more successful.

At what age is autism diagnosed?

Since autism is a congenital disorder, its manifestations may be noticeable as early as several months after the birth of the baby. According to the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatricians, it is recommended that children be examined for symptoms of autism at one and a half and two years.

In many cases, symptoms of early childhood autism occur between two and a half to three years, when autism is diagnosed. It was at this time that speech disorders and communication problems became most pronounced. However, in many cases, and in the first year of life, signs of autistic behavior can be seen; if the child is the first among the parents, they may well write off these signs on the characteristics of the character and personality of the child himself. At the same time, families in which there are already healthy children often pay attention to the atypical behavior of the child even before he enters the kindergarten.

Sometimes autism begins to manifest only after 5 years, while up to this point, the child shows normal development. The intelligence of such children is relatively preserved, as are the skills of social communication, but the desire for solitude and unwillingness to contact with a large number of people are nevertheless more pronounced.

Autism test and other instrumental methods

Autism tests are a convenient means for self-diagnosis, but they are not able to replace a full-fledged professional diagnosis. Among these tests, the following are best known:

This test includes 50 statement questions, with which the subject can agree completely or partially, as well as partially or completely deny them. According to the test results, the AQ indicator is calculated, and if this number exceeds the border of 32, we can talk about a high level of autistic traits. However, statistics confirm that some of the subjects who scored a significant number of points did not experience any problems in terms of social communication and did not have a confirmed diagnosis of autism.

A group of tests that are designed to assess the characteristics of a person’s thinking, the ability to control their own behavior and assess the emotions and thoughts of others.

Tests for other disorders, including the famous alexithymia test - the lack of the ability to correctly understand and express your own mood and emotions.

Given that more than 80% of people with autism experience similar difficulties, this test is relevant to detect this type of secondary disorder.

It is important to understand that, although the independent use of tests and other instrumental diagnostic techniques is possible, only a specialist can correctly interpret the result, reinforcing his diagnosis with the results of other studies. Often, in combination with instrumental techniques, methods of hardware diagnostics are used, which allow obtaining information about the state of the brain and nervous system, which in turn is important to exclude other diseases with similar symptoms.

Non-instrumental methods for diagnosing autism

Non-instrumental methods for diagnosing autism include two main methods - this is observation and conversation. People with autism, especially its deep forms, exhibit characteristic behavior that can be easily distinguished from the behavior of an ordinary person: obsessive movements, following some rituals, lack of understanding of personal space (or, conversely, intolerance to tactile contacts) - all this can be notice just by observing the patient.

Since impaired social communication is one of the typical manifestations of autism, conversation is a commonly used diagnostic technique. The patient’s ability to maintain conversation, interest in dialogue, the content and structure of speech, as well as other parameters that allow us to conclude that there are signs of autism, are assessed.

Autism treatment

Since autism is a problem for both the person himself and his relatives, the first question that is relevant is the issue of treating autism. Is autism treatment really possible?

Is Autism Cured?

The first thing that relatives need to remember is that at the moment there is no drug aimed solely at eliminating all manifestations of autism. Some medications can be used to relieve concomitant symptoms, however, the main methods of treatment are methods of psychiatry and social adaptation.

There is no definitive treatment for autism today, although research and development on this issue is ongoing. The results that can be achieved with treatment are to improve the social adaptation of autists and help establish contacts with other people. However, while for some patients progress can be made quickly enough, for others, improvement may not occur for years.

Correction of the development of people with autism

There are methods for correcting autism that can definitely be recommended to those who care for children or other relatives with autism. The effectiveness of these methods is determined by knowledge of the very essence of autism and its manifestations.

It is relevant for those patients who demonstrate the relative safety of intelligence and speech. It helps to control your behavior and changes your ideas about certain phenomena so that a change in the usual order brings less anxiety.

When the problems with speech are so strong that even in adulthood a person is not able to communicate with words, various substitute options can be used for him. This can be a set of pictures, sign language or special electronic programs and applications.

They can be used from childhood, showing babies how to act in certain situations. However, such trainings are also relevant for adults with autism.

These are just some of the methods for correcting autism; specific recommendations depend on factors such as the condition and age of the patient, as well as the specifics of the disease itself and associated conditions.

Autism: development and consequences

Autism is a condition that has a certain effect on human development. Despite the fact that during the life of the patient possesses new skills, such a person in any case will have a certain specificity of social contacts and behavior in general.

With timely correction and regular support, especially critical consequences for humans do not occur. However, adults with autism need psychological help and some attention, taking into account the characteristics of their form of autism.

Help for Autistic Persons

Most people with autism in one way or another need help and support from others. Therefore, it is advisable for parents and other people involved in caring for people with autism to increase their awareness of this disease, as well as to collaborate with specialists in the correction of autism and improving the living standards of such people.

Autism center

Autism centers, like other specialized organizations, provide comprehensive support to both the sick themselves and their families. These organizations can perform the following functions:

Correctional work
Psychotherapy
Social adaptation activities
Information work with relatives of an autistic patient
Consultations
Diagnostic measures
Assistance in resolving social issues
Education

The staff of such centers has sufficient qualifications and experience to help solve pressing issues of training, socialization and adaptation of people with autism. Often, on the basis of autism centers, communities of people are created that are somehow connected with the topic of autism, which is an additional plus - there is an exchange of both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

Autism and parents of a child with autism

When parents find out that their child has been diagnosed with autism, this is a real shock for many (and some even fall into the stage of denial, claiming that doctors are wrong, and this is just a character trait of the baby). However, sooner or later, you have to realize the need to care for your special child. And in order to do this most productively, it is worth following the following recommendations:

Be patient. Features of the behavior of autistic children are not their whim or whim, and it is extremely wrong to scold them for it.
Decide on a development program. The main burden on the development and education of a child with autism, one way or another, rests with the parents, but the first thing to do is to consult with experts about the best choice for this particular baby.
Stimulate the child’s interest in the outside world, his emotional reactions.
Be able to identify attempts to make contact. Children with autism often have a peculiar need for communication, and it is important for parents to learn how to track these attempts and respond to them in accordance with the needs of the child.

In order for the correction process to be most productive, parents should cooperate with organizations that provide assistance to families with autistic children, and it is recommended that they unite in communities for effective mutual assistance and exchange of experience. In such communities, various joint events are often held, which have a beneficial effect on the psychological state of both the children themselves and their parents.

Autism and Sick Adults

Autism does not go away with age. Manifestations of autism in an adult can manifest themselves in different ways; someone is adapted so much that practically does not need care and is even able to get a job, while someone needs constant help. Naturally, in the latter case, this same help is carried out in most cases by relatives. Severe forms of autism also often require the use of certain pharmacotherapy, which is aimed at eliminating certain symptoms - for example, the correction of attention disorders or depressive conditions.

Many adults with mild autistic disorders have outstanding talents in various areas of life. There is even a separate concept of “savant's syndrome,” which defines the condition in which a person with autistic disorder has unique abilities in a separate type of activity (science, art) as opposed to a general developmental disability. Most often, the abilities of such people are manifested in the field of music and drawing, as well as in the exact sciences. At the same time, being enthusiastic about their business, they may well forget even about pressing necessities such as food or sleep.

Autism is a condition whose nature has not yet been determined, and the manifestations are so multifaceted that it is difficult to classify. At the same time, there is an opinion that autism is not so much a pathological development of the nervous system as a special condition that simply requires its own approach and certain principles of contact with such people. It is impossible to cure autism forever, but an intensive correctly selected treatment will help with great success to adapt to an independent life and even start a family.

Autism in adults is a serious mental disorder that significantly reduces the level of their adaptation and socialization in the world around them. At an early age, this disease is quite difficult to diagnose, since various motor and linguistic features of a child’s behavior can be explained by his age and character traits, but in an adult, autism symptoms are quite noticeable to others.

According to the definition of the American Psychiatric Association, autism spectrum disorders (PCA) are characterized by qualitative deviations in social interaction (avoiding communication), as well as a limited, stereotypical, repetitive set of interests and actions. PCA in some cases significantly differ in the specificity and severity of the condition, the level of intellect defect, but often they are severe disabling diseases that lead to the inability to independently provide for their own needs and concern about 1% of the population as a whole. It should be noted that due to ongoing discussions regarding the differences between highly functioning autistic individuals and those with Asperger Syndrome, we will consider them as PCA.

While in 6-10% of patients the diagnosis of PCA is combined with a number of other diseases (for example, Down syndrome, fragile X-chromosome, phenylketonuria, tuberous sclerosis), the etiology remains unknown for most of them. It is likely that a number of different factors are the basis for the development of this syndrome. So, there are hypotheses about heredity and gene mutations. Recent genetic studies have identified a number of chromosomal regions that may be the cause of the disease, but confirmed relationships make up only a small percentage of cases. It should be noted that today the diagnosis of autism is based on an analysis of behavior, rather than etiological factors or mechanisms for the development of the disorder.

Increased public and professional awareness of autism has led to more frequent case detection in recent decades. The diagnosis rate for PCA has tripled compared to the 1980s. So, the prevalence of SAR in the 70s and 80s. amounted to 4 per 10 thousand people, at present this indicator is 60 per 10 thousand, autism directly accounts for 13 per 10 thousand people.

The prevalence of childhood autism, according to Swedish and Finnish epidemiological studies, amounted to 11.6 cases per 10 thousand of the child population, and a trend towards its steady growth was also recognized.

Until 2006 autism was hardly diagnosed in Russia; children were diagnosed with mental retardation, psycho-organic syndrome, and childhood schizophrenia. From 2006 to 2011 the number of identified patients with PCA increased 2.5 times, but did not reach the level of Western Europe.

PCA morbidity statistics should be considered in the adult population. A diagnosis of PCA made in a child can be maintained even when he reaches the age of 18. Previously, the diagnosis of childhood autism was valid until the patient reached adolescence, then the diagnosis required a revision of the classification code of the disease. The most frequent changes in the diagnosis of autism have been and are today: mental retardation, schizophrenia, personality and behavior disorders due to illness, brain damage and dysfunction, schizoid personality disorder.

According to the literature, in 76% of cases, the diagnosis from the heading “General developmental disorders” was transformed into the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

For patients diagnosed with PCA in childhood, there is a high probability of developing a high degree of disability in adulthood.

Many studies indicate the persistence of socio-communicative deficit along with comorbid psychiatric and behavioral disorders. Scientists came to the conclusion that, despite the significant heterogeneity of social results, "a small number of adults with autism are able to live independently, get married, go to college, work or make a large circle of friends." There is a tendency for some improvement in social functioning, as well as a decrease in the severity of autism symptoms as a person grows older.

Patients with PCA and intellectual deficiency have significantly worse results of social functioning in adulthood than patients with a normal level of IQ. Other studies show that even patients with IQ\u003e 70 were more socially dependent on families and institutions; they were characterized by comorbid diseases, such as epilepsy.

According to a survey by the National Autistic Society, more than 70% of adults with autism cannot live on their own. Of these, 49% live in a family, creating a huge financial burden on aging parents, and 32% in boarding schools, which have little or no provision for personal life.

Only 3% of adults with PCA can live completely on their own, only 6% of adults get paid by working full time. Also, more than half of them were diagnosed with depressive disorders during adulthood, 11% noted a “nervous breakdown”. Although the majority of adult respondents participated in at least two autism assistance programs in childhood, 65% of patients still had difficulty creating friendships.

Obviously, these data reflect the burden of the disease on life for adults with autism. Issues such as independence, self-determination, employment, mental health, social support and significant relationships are practically ignored when planning treatment, evaluating its results and the overall effectiveness of therapeutic programs for such patients.

Due to the fact that SARs include cognitive, social and behavioral disorders, it is practically impossible to characterize individual results of the assistance provided as “positive” or “negative”, especially if they are associated with interpersonal relationships. If one assigns assessments of social functioning based on achievement of independence, friendship, stable relations, education and / or work, then 22-27% of patients with IQ\u003e 70 will receive assessments as “very good” or “good”.

Currently, there is an insufficient amount of published data on the effect of childhood interventions on the social functioning of adults with PCA. It is believed that general programs, such as social and vocational skills training, may be no less important than individual prognostic factors, such as IQ, early speech development or the severity of autism symptoms, in achieving positive adult outcomes.

Adults with PCA will require treatment programs that focus on improving family life, self-esteem, self-esteem, self-confidence, the ability to compete in job opportunities, the ability to live as independently as possible, and the ability to deal with depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.

For several decades, in developed countries, on the initiative of public organizations, systems and programs have been created to support citizens with special needs. In different countries, such systems are financed in different ways, partly from the state, partly from the municipal budgets. The main factor that allows such systems and programs to work is the organization of an interdepartmental network in order to create affordable necessary medical care and a minimum package of social services for people with PCA.

Thus, the problems of adaptation to independent life of adults with PCA in the UK are solved by social programs not only at the national but also at the municipal level. British experts are of the opinion that the provision of medical and general social assistance to adults with PCA will lead to an improvement in their quality of life and cost reduction.

Belgian ARE is a European network that unites 167 public organizations, works on projects to eliminate discrimination in the employment of people with PCA, on programs to expand their access to education, social inclusion, and adaptation of places of residence to the specific needs of this category of people. APE believes that it is important to use adequate resources and highly qualified specialists, create individually oriented programs of social services, at the same time include them in the programs of their families and take into account the specific needs of people with PCA.

It is necessary to identify the most important areas of work in this area:

respect for human rights for persons with special needs;
increasing public awareness of the needs and expectations of such categories of citizens;
quality data collection and analysis for the development of assistance;
the destruction of psychological barriers from society to people with special needs;
ensuring satisfactory living conditions;
full inclusion in the community;
maintaining a quality of life;
respect for the right to self-determination and privacy, the right to represent oneself in court.

Services for special support in an independent life include: expert advice and personal psychological support, individual assistance; escort services for walks, excursions, travels; providing a contact person from whom information about a person with PCA can be obtained; general home care service; escort during temporary residence outside the home; short-term support for students over 12 years old; assistance in living in a family-type house or in separate living for children and adolescents; houses (apartments) with special conditions built for independent living of adults with RSA.

However, there are still many problems in support and social protection programs for people with special needs that need to be addressed. For example, public awareness of the needs of individuals with PCA, financing problems, the legislative framework, the responsibility of authorities at the national and / or municipal levels, competence.

Great Britain is also working to create an effective system of assistance and support for people with PCA and their families. For example, in Wales, a special action plan was developed for social assistance to people with PCA and their families. The plan is designed for the active work of local authorities and local medical institutions. They are more aware of living conditions and the needs for services and financing of people with SAR, and can also influence the distribution of local budgets to the social needs of these people.

The plan envisages measures for cooperation of local authorities with children's and youth public organizations, which should take an active part in targeted assistance to children and young people with PCA. The development of a strategy for the necessary medical and social assistance for adults with mental dysfunctions is the prerogative of officials from the Wales Department of Health. The Wales Parliament has developed a document, “Qualitative Education Standards for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” which formally enforces quality education in schools for children with PCA and is a compulsory instruction.

The standard of living of people with PCA can be improved by relying on legal tools of such activities and implementing social assistance programs. The European Union adopted the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, the United Nations Convention on Human Rights with Disabilities, the Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Freedoms and Human Rights, and the European Social Charter. A strong legislative framework has been created, but gaps still exist. For example, facts such as stratification of disability problems with age, the need for supportive lifelong learning, and inclusion in social life at an older age are not taken into account.

In Russia, the adoption of relevant laws on the construction of special systems and programs for helping patients with SAR is only under discussion.

Our country already has all the prerequisites for creating a system of multi-level assistance to persons with RSA both at the national level and at the level of local self-government bodies. The company should consolidate its forces and form an effective interagency network among existing institutions and organizations to create and implement a support system for people with PCA. This is a complicated and a lot of work, but it consists mainly in reformatting the relations between departments and organizations, with the aim of creating a new functional system to help people who have SAR.

Where to begin? With recognition of the problem.

Autism in adults is a strange and poorly understood state of a person who is estranged from the real world. As a result of developmental disruption, a person is in a completely different dimension, losing the ability to communicate normally and perceive what is happening. This pathology is still considered a lifelong phenomenon, but this does not mean that it is not necessary to take therapeutic measures. Despite the fact that there are no guaranteed treatment methods and no cures for the disease, there have been repeatedly observed cases where adult autism has been significantly reduced. This gives hope that a painstaking long-term psychological impact can return the patient to the real world.

The essence of pathology

In a general sense, autism is a psychological disorder caused by the abnormal development of certain parts of the brain, which leads to a complete inability of a person to interact and communicate, as well as manifested by limited interests and repeated actions. The main signs of the disease are already visible in children aged 3-4 years and persist for life, especially evident in adults. Studies indicate abnormalities in many parts of the brain in autism, but the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease is poorly understood. Some people who show a pathology in early childhood manage to partially return to an independent life, but in most patients autism persists.

Autism is an abnormal development of the nervous system, which manifests itself in a variety of forms. It is noted in early childhood and without periods of remission lasts a lifetime. The disease is characterized by an important triad: a very low state of social interactions, the impossibility of normal mutual communication, a very narrow circle of interests with a specific set of repetitive behaviors.

Back to the table of contents

Causes of the disease

The disease is the result of many causes. Primary factors causing the appearance of pathology at the stage of development of the functional system of the brain, i.e. at the stage of brain formation and in the first days of life. Here the most important reasons are related to the genetic, cognitive and neuronal level of development. Most researchers agree on the prevalence of acquired causes in the provocation of adult autism. The possibility of the influence of external provoking factors is highlighted: malnutrition, infectious diseases, poisoning (heavy metals, solvents, phenols, pesticides, diesel exhaust, etc.), alcoholism, smoking, drugs, stress.

Adult autism can be caused by prolonged exposure to a psychological factor of a certain orientation. Long loneliness can lead to a loss of need for communication, causing dangerous changes in the communication apparatus, psychosis, infantile syndrome.

And psychological overload can become along with a genetic predisposition.

Back to the table of contents

Manifestations of the disease

Signs of autism in adults appear in accordance with the above psychological triad. These autism symptoms can be grouped into the following main groups:

A person does not go and is unable to make any contact with other people (the most severe degree of the disease, which is practically untreatable).
The patient communicates with people in a way incomprehensible to them, which, however, is clear to him. When meeting with something new, aggression is manifested. The repeatability of actions and movements is clearly manifested. There is no desire to sleep and eat.
A person communicates with other people, but with a manifestation of extreme selfishness: there is interest only in someone who is able to give something to the patient. At the same time, self-care failure is present. Constant incomprehensible to other people actions and manipulations.
Outwardly subtle autism. Manifested by excessive touchiness or obedience. Inability to make any independent decisions.
A person has pronounced signs of the disease, but at the same time has a bright talent in one area, most often related to the exact sciences.

In accordance with the international scale of qualification of behavioral characteristics, the following signs of the disease are distinguished:

Stereotype: meaningless constant movements of the arms, head, body.
Compulsiveness: emphasized adherence to certain rules established by the patient himself, for example, the arrangement of objects strictly in a certain order.
Uniformity of the environment: aggressive perception of any changes, for example, rearrangement of furniture.
Ritualism: the strict implementation of the monotonous mode of life is emphasized (daily routine, regimen and diet, etc.).
Limited action: a person recognizes only one direction of behavior, action.
Auto-aggression: excessive activity leading to aggressiveness, such as the ability to bite oneself.

Such behavior can be observed in people who are not susceptible to the disease, but in a sick person, these signs are pronounced, hypertrophied and permanent.

Back to the table of contents

Additional symptoms

When observing sick people, other symptoms were identified:

Almost all patients with autism have a low level of intelligence.
Seizures of various types are observed in almost a quarter of patients.
Inability to concentrate, lack of perseverance.
Unjustified outbursts of anger when it is impossible to explain something to another person or understand what they are talking about.
Deviations in the food regime are often expressed in refusal of food, the requirement of the same type of food, ritual in nutrition (the location of dishes, placing food on a plate, etc.).
Sleep problems are expressed in various types of insomnia (long falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, unnecessarily early waking up, etc.).