Autism, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Autism is classified as a serious mental disorder and is widely attributed to be a genetic disorder.  A large amount of research has been carried out on Twins, in a study conducted over 61 pairs of twins, one of the twins in 40 pairs had a genetic response characterized by ‘a lack of response to what the people’ (Coleman, 1985).  Despite these results, autism is considered relatively rare amongst twins; this new finding provides empirical evidence against the argument that autism is primarily a result of behavioural factors.  The onset of this disease starts at an infant’s age of two and half years.

Autism may be considered as in neurological disorder.  The disease has been increasing in Canada with a reported hundred 90,000 new cases each year.  It is considered that those people suffering with autism disorders also have mild to severe mental retardation.  Some people tend to function well, whilst in more severe cases, they exist in a world of their own.  Left untreated symptoms will consolidate and become difficult to reverse.  There are a number of ways; patients can be treated in this.  From applied behavioural analysis.  (ABA) to that of intense behavioural intervention (IBI).  Both of these treatments have come in for a considerable amount of controversy and debate.  ABA is very expensive treatment with estimates in the range of $30-$80,000 per year (CBC News, 2009).

Research and Diagnosis

The Canada research Center in McGill University, Canada has studied the link between autism and that of early births.  The study found that in the research sample one quarter of babies born prematurely had signs of autism.  Weight also seem to be a factor limited with premature birth, hence a low birth weight of 3.3 pounds or lower seemed to increase the risk of autism.  Andy Shih, vice president of scientific affairs for autism in New York, argued that the findings were somewhat premature and needed to be replicated in a much larger prospective study.  The family of a child with autism also suffers financially and on average, suffers a loss of income of $6200 each year. Since the increase in autistic cases, particularly in the last decade, the public have not shown a great deal of sympathy.  Although you can never generalise, there have been a number of reported cases – An autistic child was observed to be banned from attending Church by his local priest (Lutz, 2008). One angry mother questioned why they were attacking the parents who only required a good education for their children.  They accused the system of being manipulated by greedy lawyers and the need for expensive insurance premiums that were not required by the parents of normal children. There was a great deal of resentment for the lack of understanding and just trying to be politically correct.

Patient Population Impact

An interesting observation and raises the argument that not everyone takes the charitable line, particularly when this might have a direct impact on the quality of their own Childs education.

Tolerance and sympathy tends to fade quickly when you become more directly involved and an integral part of the situation.  The key point made being  is that typical children in inclusion settings tend to learn empathy, acceptance and perseverance from working and playing with their special-needs peers (Lutz, 2008).  This is an important point in terms of an additional learning point for children that because they are advantaged they equally need to learn and respect the disadvantaged members of our society.

Recommendations and Prevention

In the USA it is estimated that 535,000 children have special health care needs and 5.6% have autism spectrum disorder. This creates special problems related to both access and cure. In a study carried out in 20906, research indicates that living in poverty severely increases the risk of autism between the 3-17 year age groups. Males ran a higher gender risk, particularly non-hispanic whites. Precise causality has proven difficult to pinpoint across a wide area of research. Early screening is considered to be an important factor in terms of getting treatment. A large amount of research effort had been expended to find a cure for autism. (Michael D. Kogan, 2009).

Immune Modulation Therapy (IMT) has been one approach to the treatment and prevention of autism. Research indicates that autism involves immune activation; as such autoimmunity to the brain has responded with the use of IMT therapy. The concept of targeting auto immunity is considered an important step in order to offer rehabilitation to autistic children; as such IMT offers a realistic option through Immune Modulation Therapy.  (Hyman, S.L 2005).

Conclusions

The treatment around autistic children has been very controversial, particularly the use of Secretin which had widespread use before being discovered to have no real clinical effect. Biological treatments have been adopted in order to induce physiology change that produces the symptoms of autism. This has used common drug prescription medications often administered by injection. Other treatment options have targeted specific viruses that attack the autoimmune system and believed to be a primary cause of autism.  There is no doubt that there still is a long way to go in the effective treatment and rehabilitation of autism. As a neurological disorder it will continue to have controversial debates, particularly impacting the treatment regimens for Children.

Works Cited

CBC News. (2009, 11 4). Autism making sense of a confusing world. Retrieved 3 30, 2010, from CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/02/f-autism.html

Coleman, D. (1985, 1 29). Rigorous study of autism points to genetic factors. Retrieved 3 30, 2010, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/29/science/rigorous-study-of-autism-points-to-a-genetic-factor.html?sec=health

Hyman2, S. E. (2005).Novel Treatments for Autistic Spectrum. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 131–142.

Lutz, A. S. (2008, 5 30). Controversy: Autism Backlash? Retrieved 3 30, 2010, from Babble: http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/20061217_autism.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2008/05/30/controversy-autism-backlash.aspx&usg=__xRxBhx4_5joy2l8Yl3ZOD8qL1QQ=&h=326&w=28

Michael D. Kogan, B. B. (2009). A National Profile of the Health Care Experiences and Family Impact of Autism. Pediatrics 2008;122;e1149, 1148-1157.