Autism reported to get worse with a patient?
The mans mother claims that in the past, he was able to ride a bike, go out for walks, run, play and so on when he was a child.
However, his mother claims that it is because he is on medication today and that this is why his behaviour has got worse with time.
She would like him to come off medication.
His dose of medication has been reduced, but not much of a behaviour difference has been observed by the staff.
As I understand it, AS and Autistic disorder remains unchanged in its magniture through out life. But there are variables that can make its effects more or less noticable, such as adolescence and becoming an adult.
In many cases, as such people grow to become adults, I hear reports of a decline in such behaviour.
Can this condition become more or less severe in terms of brain structural damage?
If so, why?
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In my career as a special education teacher, I have observed that puberty DOES present behavior challenges to people on the autism spectrum. But then again, been around any typical kids going through puberty lately? *grin* Puberty can adversely effect the best of us. The issue is just compounded when the person has severe expressive and receptive communication problems.
Some questions you may want to ask are:
Does this person have preferred activities (puzzles, movies, lining up books, etc.)? If so, are these activities built into his daily schedule? Does he have a visual schedule over which he has some control (during a free time activity period, can he choose from 2 or 3 different things)? During his day, does he participate in meaningful age appropriate activities (helping pick up trays, sweeping the floor, straightening books or magazines, etc.)? A visual prompt system may be necessary for his participation in meaningful activities, such as a sequence of pictures showing scattered magazines, then hands picking up those magazines, then a neat stack of magazines.
Basically, any person, no matter their disability level, needs to have scheduled periods of useful activities interspersed with fun activities throughout their day. The challenge is two-fold: finding something useful they can do successfully, and discovering what it is that they consider ‘fun’.
Thanks for being concerned and willing to help a fellow human being. Good luck and best wishes!
Structural damage to the brain as a result of trauma – ie recent accidents may bring on behaviours like autism…the brain structure as research is suggesting, is already impaired in those with autism to begin with – often too many nuerons or problems with the amygadalya (spelling!!) – autism is not caused by head trauma and he was obviously diagnosed with autism prior. Autism often worsens around age 8 – ie ‘the autism is really coming out now’ – when stimming behaviours and anxiety attacks and temper and mood swings occur – if theis gentleman is experiencing this his meds may be wrong?
IF the meds are working then he should stay on them…this is a decision for the doctors not the mother – that is how I would see it…is this person’s quality of life affected?>>> Is he ‘happy’ – as an adult he may not want to play and ride a bike…what is the actual ‘change?’
anyhow, i only know about kids with autism, no experience with adults but it is certainly interesting.
Cheers
For parents and people with work with students with autism this can be very frustrating, but it is important to keep in mind that 70-75% of people with autism are also mentally handicapped to at least a certain degree. The combination can make retaining information and skills incredibly difficult, and changes in the body, such as puberty, illness, or other conditions can exacerbate behavior and learning difficulties.
It is important to be as positive as possible in this situation. The parents, doctors, and staff should work as a team to develop a plan of care that everyone will follow in order to help the person with autism achieve as much as possible.
Is it possible for a behavior analyst to work with your gentleman and create a behavior plan with the team? Maybe a token system or positive behavioral support plan that focuses on praising/rewarding him for desired behavior while minimizing inappropriate behavior?
As to the skills that the parent reports that he has lost, repetition is the key. Small, daily doses of instruction broken up by periods of preferred activities can help, as well as the visual schedule someone else suggested.
One final note – I have worked with parents who have told me that their non-verbal child can speak in full sentences at home and perform behaviors privately that no one else outside of the parents has ever seen. This isn’t to say that the child can’t do it, but no one except Mom and Dad have ever seen it. Try to confirm with someone else that the gentleman was actually able to do these tasks before you go beating your head against the wall because he’s losing skills. Not to say that any of these parents are lying, but all parents want to believe that their kids can are getting better and can do more. You need to focus on what the man can do now, where you (the team) wants him to go, and how he’s going to get there.
Good luck!
i will look up the main websites for each of these and provide you with links in the source section.
good luck.
you will find tons of information on autism including different treatments and there effectiveness on autism.
Nu-Thera with P5P from Kirkman Labs and DMG are supplements we have found to help our child for many years.There was improvement with eye contact, language, sound sensitivity and behavior problems.As he has grown to adolescence the amounts of vitamins have had to been increased.
