Question 1

With managing Autism, one of my relatives has Autism and struggles with communicating. She uses prompt cards that say, for example; help please, I need a break, restroom please ect. She is approaching her tween years and I was thinking since she is still young can't teaching her to communicate with words be better for her when she is an adult?

Accepted Answer

Hi Britannia,
Unfortunately this is question that would be best aswered by a physician often a speech therapist would work to help them communicate. Personally I was born with mito disease when I was born I had been speech delayed it was quite difficult for my parents we had to use sign language. It wasn't until the age of three I entered a government funded program that provided speech therapy. Using Play based therapy and Art Therapy I finally found my own voice that help me open up and communicate. Also my mother worked hard to help me learn to read everyday which also help me further develop once I was in my teen years I had help from Child Life Specialists and pediatric program that help given me a voice to which this day I now do speaking events and advocate the importance of Child Life Services and the benefits of Play as being once who still experiences my own disability. Everybody has there own way of communicating unfortunately we look for what we understand but if we listen you would understand your realitive has there own language the question how do they speak to us?

Technology is definitely helping and perhaps accessibility and applications may offer her in adult years to communicate more.

Question 2

What medications would we use to combat some of the symptoms of autism spectre disorder, and how effective are they?

Accepted Answer

Antipsychotics and other drugs that reduce anxiety, I suppose. But there are some symptoms that autistic people display that's actually helpful to them, such as repetitive movement(stimming).

Question 3

People who have a child with ASD, I always hear that they always give in it there child whenever it throughs a fit just to avoid it. Won't that hurt the child for when it is in its older years?

Accepted Answer

If I understand correctly, your question is: why do parents of children with asd always give in if there kid gets mad?
I don't think this is true, but I can understand why it would look like that sometimes. When a child with autism throws a tantrum, it's usually because they feel like they're losing control (for example because their routine changed or because they are overstimulated). This is not a sign of resistance, but a sign that something's wrong. So no, giving in to the child is not a wrong approach, because the kid's not trying to get what they want; they're trying to get what they NEED (in the way you need water when you're thirsty). Children with autism have trouble communicating how they feel and what they need, so for a lot of kids this results in tantrums. Some children can learn better to communicate when they get older, some don't. This is not due to whether the parents gave in, but rather to the severity of the kid's autism, the kid's intelligence and the quality of help they get.

Question 4

Would creating a 'perfect' environment make it harder for the child as they grow up, when they realize the world is not always a structured or neat place, they can't always get what they want (like the same meals), sometimes things change, and other people may not be able to understand. Would it cause more problems for the child then? Of course I understand when they are young, having a stable environment is necessary ;)

Accepted Answer

As an autistic person who did not grow up in an environment that was managed to be less stressful for me and as someone with a more than moderate understanding of ASD, I would say no. The point is with ASD is that these difficulties largely cannot be outgrown or learnt to ignore. Mild to moderate learning to use social skills is certainly possible for almost all with ASD, but sensory things like food and environmental stimuli cannot be 'taught' out of the person. No matter how many times you would try to make the person become accustomed to these things, there would be little more than mild improvements over a lifetime, and that type of thing is something that should really be the choice of the individual with ASD and on there own terms when they are old enough, otherwise the reaction would likely just be amplified due to an added negative association with the stimuli and would just cause completely unnecessary suffering in the individual.

Course: NCLEX-RN > Unit 21

Managing autism spectrum disorder

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