Essay On Autism Spectrum Disorder

This comprehensive literature review is based on the analysis and research done on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a brain development disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. The social problems include less attention to social stimuli, less eye contact and difficulty in learning. The communication problem is due to a significant delay in language development as it affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize. Since the symptoms characterized by every affected individual is unique it is coined as “spectrum disorder”.
This comprehensive literature review spans across topics that involves neighborhood deprivation, stress, behavior, quality of life among the individuals affected with Autism & their families along with biological factors that is involved with Autistic group. There is no cure for Autism, still the research ideas and article summaries are included in an effort to round out the knowledge on Autism. Neurological connections have also been established to understand the complex nature of this disorder.

2. BACKGROUND

It was Eugen Bleuler who coined the word "autism" in schizophrenic patients who were self-absorbed. The beginning of analysis on Autism started as early as 1939 as an extension of Psychoanalysis, a method developed by Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis were mainly used in therapeutic treatment of psychological disorders and thus extended its way into autism which is also characterized by brain disorders. Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist from John Hopkins University first established the term “Early Infantile Autism” which he described as a distinct neurological condi...

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...had 6% more brain volume than the ones who didn’t have autism.
Latefa A. Dardas and Muayyad M. Ahmad from University of Jordan discussed extensively on the Quality of life (QoL) among parents of children with autistic disorder. The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine differences in the quality of life between fathers and mothers of children with Autistic Disorder in a sample from an Arab country, and (2) to examine the psychosocial correlates of the quality of life of Arab parents of children with Autistic Disorder. The results showed no significant differences in physical, psychological, social, and environmental health of Fathers and mothers of children with Autistic Disorder. Also both the parents showed almost similar bivariate correlations between the reported QoL levels and their parenting stress, coping strategies, and demographic characteristics.