World Autism Day

by: Matthew Krajewski

We all know that our global community is becoming smaller and smaller, with issues such as environmental protection lauding a place on the international stage rather than just national. The health of people worldwide is taking center stage for the first time this April 2^nd to mark the United Nation’s adoption of World Autism Awareness Day as spearheaded by the nation of Qatar. This marks the first in a new series of official disease or condition awareness days to be introduced by the United Nations. World Autism Awareness Day is intended to raise international public awareness of autism; as well as encourage early detection, new research, and ground-breaking therapies.

 

Autism is a complex developmental disability that can manifest in a plethora of ways, but the commonality of all sufferers is a lacking of the ability to communicate and interact effectively with others. Autism manifests early in a child’s life, typically in the first three years, but can be mistakenly diagnosed as other conditions such as retardation. With a record high of children being diagnosed as autistic worldwide, and with controversy surrounding the actual causes of autism, World Autism Awareness Day could not have been introduced at a more crucial time. Without being able to identify the cause of autism, awareness and continued research is the best path available to those afflicted or affected by autism.

 

Since communication is a personal form of expression, each individual usually has specific traits that reflect their personality and the way they choose to communicate, and autistics are no different. For this reason, the symptoms of autism can be varied, but all have some sort of communicative idiosyncrasy. This can include aloofness, tantrums, refusal to socialize, extreme emotional reactions, repetition of words and phrases, and being non-responsive to verbal cues among other traits.

 

Although the causes of autism are still under dispute with people looking at vaccinations, and the environment as factors, the medical community is in general agreement that there is a link between genetics and autism. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published an article identifying a structural variation of chromosome 16 boosting the risk of autism. This finding can help pave the way for new drug treatments targeting the chromosome, as well as more effective testing to diagnose autism. Today, most parents of autistic children employ singular or multiple progressive options to nurture their children; these options can include diet, behavioral therapies and drugs. There is still much to be learned from all of these techniques, but clearly demonstrates that pharmaceuticals are not always the solution.

 

 

New Scientist recently published an article detailing how El Kaliouby, Rosalind Picard, and Alea Teeters of MIT are currently constructing a device to run software that can gauge the emotional reactions of others. This device could be invaluable to the autistic since understanding social nuances was once an insurmountable obstacle for those afflicted with autism. The device would be a small camera that could hang onto the side of a pair of glasses, which would be connected to a small buzzer in the user’s palm that would vibrate if the person being addressed becomes disinterested or annoyed.

With such an impairment of ability to communicate, it is no small wonder that people tend to write off the autistic due to their failure to interact “normally,” thereby dehumanizing them. ABC News reported on the remarkable story of Carly Fleischmann, who through an innovative therapy was able to match pictures and symbols on a keyboard to articulate her thoughts and feelings (Carly had never spoken in her life due to her particular manifestation of autism). Her writings revealed an aware individual that internally struggled with her condition and her surroundings. As Carly says herself, “It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can’t talk or I act differently than them. I think people get scared with things that look or seem different than them.”