Advice

For Parents

For Teachers

Parents

There is a very supportive community of parents that has formed on the iVillage Parent’s Place website. They have an autism message board that allows parents to vent, ask questions, and lend help to one another. This is a great message board and the parents who partake in it are amazing. I highly recommend using this board as a resource.

Children with autism often suffer from other types of disorders. To some extent, these may be caused by a common underlying problem in brain functioning. In any case, here are a few of the most common accompaniments of autism.

Mental retardation

Of the problems that can occur with autism, mental retardation is the most widespread. Seventy-five to 80 percent of people with autism are mentally retarded to some extent. Fifteen to 20 percent are considered severely retarded, with IQs below 35. (A score of 100 represents average intelligence.) But autism does not necessarily correspond with mental impairment. More than 10 percent of people with autism have an average or above average IQ. A few show exceptional intelligence.

Interpreting IQ scores is difficult, however, because most intelligence tests are not designed for people with autism. People with autism do not perceive or relate to their environment in typical ways. When tested, some areas of ability are normal or even above average, and some areas may be especially weak. For example, a child with autism may do

extremely well on the parts of the test that measure visual skills but learn low scores on the language subtests.

Seizures

About one-third of the children with autism develop seizures, starting either in early childhood or adolescence. Researchers are trying to learn if there is any significance to the time of onset, since the seizures often first appear when certain neurotransmitters become

active.

Since seizures range from brief blackouts to full-blown body convulsions, an electroencephalogram (EEG) can help confirm their presence. Fortunately, in most cases, seizures can be controlled with medication.

Fragile X

One disorder, Fragile X syndrome, has been found in about 10 percent of people with autism, mostly males. This inherited disorder is named for a defective piece of the X-chromosome that appears pinched and fragile when seen under a microscope.

People who inherit this faulty bit of genetic code are more likely to have mental retardation and many of the same symptoms as autism along with unusual physical features that are not typical of autism.

Tuberous Sclerosis

There is also some relationship between autism and Tuberous Sclerosis, a genetic condition that causes abnormal tissue growth in the brain and problems in other organs. Although Tuberous Sclerosis is a rare disorder, occurring less than once in 10,000 births, about a fourth of those affected are also autistic.

Scientists are exploring genetic conditions such as Fragile X and Tuberous Sclerosis to see why they so often coincide with autism. Understanding exactly how these conditions disrupt normal brain development may provide insights to the biological and genetic mechanisms of autism.

Please see NIMH’s site for more information.

Teachers

Facilitating for an autistic child in a typical classroom: This site addresses many questions that come up for teachers who are dealing with autistic students. The site assumes that the teacher’s primary goal in working with a child in a typical classroom is to nurture the child's motivation to play with peers. Related goals include helping the child to:

Develop specific play relationships.

Understand and respect personal boundaries.

Be motivated to get a positive reaction from peers.

Show interest in others' ideas about play.

Learn how to ask peers to play, and how to respond when they say "yes" or "no."

Learn how to sustain play over an extended period.

One Mom’s View of Autism/PDD: Has some great information for different teaching strategies and approaches

Disclaimer: This site was put together by undergraduate students. The information provided is meant to be used as resource and should never be used in the place of professional services. Should you have a problem with any of the information provided on this site, please contact the site’s administrator.

12/14/03