On World Autism Day, experts bust myths about developmental disabilities

What is autism?

Autism is a lifelong neurological condition that appears during early childhood, regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic status. The term autism spectrum refers to a number of characteristics, according to the United Nations website.

Dr Banerjee says that only a cluster of three conditions will determine whether a person has autism or not. The disappearance of either would not be understood as belonging to the neurodivergent spectrum of autism.

Trio includes:

,Communications- An autistic person finds communication a difficult task. However, she clarifies, the inability to communicate is not calling them physically disabled like being deaf or dumb. Dr Banerjee says that an autistic person is unable to do the process of ‘encoding and decoding’ for communication to happen.

,Socialization The term autism is derived from the Greek word ‘auto’ meaning self and the term “autism” was used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908 to refer to withdrawal within oneself. So a person with autism would rather recluse within themselves than socialize.

,resilience- A person with autism has severe difficulty in exercising physical and psychological resilience, says Dr. Banerjee. “Change is not the spite of an autistic person’s life”, she quoted.

Myths About Autism- Busted!

autism is a diseaseDr Banerjee says autism is a specific neuro-developmental disability and is definitely ‘not a disease that can be cured’. She further explains, there are many co-morbidities like epilepsy, hyperactivity, which can be treated medically. However, autism is certainly not a disease that can be ‘cured’.

vaccines cause autism– A common myth with autism is that children ‘contract autism from vaccines’. There has been extensive research to prove that the MMR vaccine given to children, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is not responsible for autism, says Dr Banerjee. ‘It’s purely co-accidental’ she says.

All autistic people have a clever skill– ‘Just as there is one Rabindranath Tagore among billions, an autistic person may be exceptionally gifted, but this is not common’. She says that just as not everyone can be exceptionally gifted, the same goes for autistic people.

Autistic people cannot learn- The idea that autistic people ‘can’t learn’ is completely wrong, says Dr Banerjee. There are rehabilitation programs that help autistic people and children learn, she says.

Autistic children are ‘mentally retarded’ Dr Banerjee says mental retardation is a possible co-morbidity for autistic children and adults, however, it is never a ‘problem’. She says that there are children with high levels of intelligence who can also display signs of mental retardation.

early signs of autism to watch for

According to Dr. Banerjee, there are some very important early signs of autism that can be seen in children till the age of 3 years. These include

,cognitive abilitiesDr Banerjee explains that a child who belongs to this neurological spectrum often finds it difficult to respond when his name is called. He cited instances where the child demonstrated difficulty responding when their name was called. However, the same child has answered their parent’s call- it’s ‘voice recognition’.

An autistic child will often not respond to calls, thereby demonstrating a significant inability to ‘name recognition’.

,no eye contactDr Banerjee explains that an autistic child finds it difficult to look into the eyes of the person they are interacting with. If parents notice that their child fails to maintain eye contact till an older age, they should consult a specialist for expert advice.

She adds that children often also find it difficult to follow markers, in the same way that an autistic child would find it difficult to follow someone pointing at something.

,social interactionDr. Banerjee says that non-communicativeness often hinders an autistic child’s social interaction. Autistic children often have difficulty responding to social cues or engaging in pretend play with others. They may prefer to play alone rather than with other children.

,inability to feelIt becomes difficult for a child suffering from autism to express feelings. Explaining as an example, Dr Banerjee says, “If a child is walking with their parent, the child cannot follow or look back if their parent is with them or their are following. The child will go on on its own”.

,repetitive behavior A child with autism will exhibit repetitive behavior in which they engage in routine activity that is very specific to them. Any disturbance in this can cause severe irritation in them. These include lining up objects, among other activities.