Outline
Autism is a disorder that affects the development of children and it is presented in form of abnormal functioning in the areas of socialization, self-direction, and communication. Autism is caused by a variety of factors which include the environmental as well as genetic factors. Autism symptoms are accelerated by risk factors that also increase the level of susceptibility of a child to autism among them being parental age, other disorders, and family history. Since autism cannot be cured, it is managed in various ways which include behavioral, educational, and medication interventions.
Development and Management of Autism
Introduction
Autism is a constituent of developmental problems known as disorders of the autism spectrum and it is noticed in the early years of child development. Although there exists a variety of causal factors and symptoms, autism normally presents itself in form of difficulties in socialization, restricted behavior patterns as well as communication in the affected individual. In the U.S. the estimated prevalence of this disorder is that, in a thousand children, about six of them have autism and this number is increasing. Studies show that, autism cannot be cured but can only be managed which becomes more effective when carried out during its early stages of development. (Robin, 2007)
Measurement of Autism Development
Autism can be diagnosed when a child reaches three years old, though its symptoms can be noticed even before the child is two years. The current model of diagnosis is dependent on signs presented by autistic children’s rate of reasoning, thinking as well as behavioral signs. These are expected to show the level of development in a child’s brain, though there are instances where brain developmental irregularities may occur before the presentation of physical symptoms. Biological factors are efficient determinants of autism on individual levels, which can help in detection of the presence of this disorder before behavioral manifestations present themselves. Biological factors may include irregularities in the patterns through which the brain functions and an abnormal brain structure.
Autism is also found to develop from its existing interactions between the nervous and immune systems where the human immune system is found to cause transformations in the nervous system. For instance, when a child’s immune system is negatively affected during its early stages, it may cause slow development of the brain, which in turn results in alterations in the normal growth of the child.
Causes
Genetic errors are one of the causes of autism, where several genes have been identified to be associated with autism. Genetic errors vary in terms of their originality as some occur in human systems spontaneously without being expected, while others are inherited. There is also another variation of genetic errors, where part of the causative genes increases an individual’s vulnerability to autism, while others directly affect developments of the brain. The level at which autism symptoms are severe in an individual may also be determined by genetic errors. Another cause of autism is environmental factors which are found to interact with genetic factors, where environmental factors accelerate the effects of genetic factors. Some factors of the environment that play this role are air pollutants as well as infections from viruses. However, how the different environmental and genetic factors interact has not been clearly shown, which calls for more research on the area.
Other causative factors are still been investigated upon among them being complications that may occur to a mother during labor as well on the actual delivery of the baby. Explanations of these two factors are based on the belief that a particular brain section that helps it to detect danger may be affected during the complications which result in autism. However, controversies have emerged in the determination of the role played by childhood vaccines in autism. The category of vaccines that have been mostly associated with autism is those that are given for the prevention of mumps and measles as well as those containing thimerosal, which is a special kind of preservative containing mercury. This controversy resulted in the removal of the dangerous preservative in children’s vaccines in 2001, though studies to settle the controversy continued, with the largest percentage of results showing a lack of correlation between vaccines with the dangerous preservative and autism.
Symptoms
Signs of the presence of autism in human bodies and especially that of children are presented in three different developmental areas. These include a child’s behavior, manner of interaction in society as well as language. However, these signs have registered a high level of variation which results in findings that, similar results of diagnosis may be presented in different behavior of affected children, where children with similar diagnostic results act very differently. The time which autism symptoms show in children’s behavior varies, wherein some instances; it may show during infancy while in other instances it shows in later stages of children’s development. In the second case, children portray normal developments for some time which then changes at a particular stage, where the children lose some skills of behavior they had acquired and start portraying autism symptoms. The social skills category of autism’s symptoms includes situations where a child fails or takes time before responding when his name is called out. This delay or failure may be interpreted as a slow interaction of the brain and language where the child’s brain is not quick in realizing that the name belongs to him. Another symptom of social skills is the lack of direct eye contact with the child suffering from autism. This child may seem like he is not hearing what is addressed to him due to the extra time taken in correlations. A child suffering from autism also prefers to stay alone most of the time and dislikes being touched or held due to detachment of his emotions with the physical body.
Dianne (2005) states that, when looking at the language category of autism symptoms, those children who are affected at infancy take more time than required before being able to talk, while those that are affected in later stages lose the language skills they had learned. The tone of autistic children is also different as they normally speak with either a rhythmic tone or a very quick speech, stopping abruptly in the middle of a sentence. They also have difficulties initiating conversations or even keeping a conversation alive. They are usually eager to end conversations since they tend not to enjoy talking to people. Due to low levels of understanding things, the child may be able to recite words comfortably but have difficulties in applying them when required like in exams.
The behavior category of autism symptoms includes the situation where a child enjoys routines which he develops and sticks to them and is usually not comfortable when those routines are interfered with. An autistic child may have specific movements that he performs repetitively and is always in motion which results in the love of objects in motion like spinning wheels. Such children may also be used to painful experiences, but portray abnormal sensitivity to soothing touches, sound as well as light. Some signs only show during the early developments of children and then get diminished as they become adjusted to the environment in which they live.
Many risk factors are associated with autism among them being the sex of a child. It has been found out that, male children are more susceptible to autism development than female children. The history of a family is also an important factor of autism, where the presence of a child suffering from autism in a family results in an increased likelihood of more children with the same disorder in that family. The relatives of autistic children are also likely to possess specific autism symptoms. Another risk factor of autism is the age of a child’s parents especially the father. Studies have shown that the old age of a child’s father increases susceptibility to autism risk, while the age of the mother has a lesser level of effect. The presence of other specific disorders is also a risk factor for autism. Such disorders include tuberculosis sclerosis where there are developments of tumors in a child’s brain, X syndrome where there is impairment of the child’s intellectual as well as epilepsy. (Brenda, 2007)
Management of Autism
Extensive studies have shown that autism does not have a cure but can be managed to reduce its level of manifestation in those suffering from it. Several interventions can be used to manage autism in its various forms of presentation. Specialized interventions have been found to give considerably effective results to those children suffering from autism. These interventions give support to the children’s state in ways that fit in their environment and also provide adaptation mechanisms. However, autism is normally managed through behavioral as well as educational approaches, while other types of approaches like medication are used in conjunction with the main ones. (Robin, 2007)
Educational Approach
According to Robin (2007), this approach is applied in the management of autism at different levels with the first one being a collaboration of the child’s family and school life. Parents of children suffering from autism are therefore expected to search for the necessary information to help manage the condition of their autistic child. This can be achieved by having interactive dialogues with the child’s teachers as well as community professionals, which may result in development programs to cater to autistic children. Parents should make a constant follow-up of the child’s behavior in school, which should be compared with how the child behaves at home.
Another type of educational approach is special education, where school administrations are expected to provide a curriculum that accommodates autistic children. Special education helps teachers to closely examine and evaluate the level of disability in autistic children which assists them to guide the child in ways in which to adjust to school programs. Speech therapy is among the methods used in special education which work to encourage the development and interaction of other skills. Special education also makes use of language therapy, psychological well as occupational therapy which gives consistency to the program of autistic children. Those enrolled in special education are engaged in planned opportunities of teaching with particular areas, where the children portray weaknesses being repeated as the teacher observes their progress from which necessary adjustments are made to reach the desired results.
Behavioral Interventions
Behavioral interventions in autistic children involve the use of instructions, where children are systematically instructed on various issues in which they show signs of abnormality, to change their abnormal behavior as well as help them develop acceptable behavioral skills. Autistic children’s behavior is normally corrected through interventions directed to improving their communication, self-direction as well as ways in which they socialize with other people in society. However, communication interventions are found to open ways for self-direction and socialization behavioral patterns. For instance, improved communication skills will enable autistic children to make friends and have conversations with other members of society comfortably. Communication interventions in autistic children are provided through support that enhances the development of other skills. Instructions give guidance at a considerably slower pace to allow the children suffering from autism to process information provided to them. Management of autism through communication also involves giving instructions in small manageable parts, which should be accompanied by visual supports to increase the correlation levels of autistic children.
Concerning interventions to manage autistic child’s socialization, instructions are provided directly to the child’s social skills, where teachers, as well as parents, guide them in their day-to-day interactions. Procedural support is also provided to autistic children to assist them in remembering tasks allocated to them as well as steps through which to accomplish those tasks. The time in which various tasks should be accomplished is fixed to enable the instructor to assess developments in a child’s progress. Incentives in form of rewards are also important as they help in the motivation of autistic children to perform tasks that should lead to improvement of their situation. Visual aids that indicate the amount of time left before completion of certain events and others indicating when the autistic child should change from one task to another are also essential interventions to help improve the child’s level of self-direction. (Brenda, 2007)
Medication Interventions
Management of autism through medication is applied as a form of therapy to help autistic children adjust to their environment and specifically assist them in learning processes. This kind of medication does not cure autism but manages behavior brought by autism. Medication addresses such problems as; sleep problems, aggression, self-injury, inattention, and repetitive behavior. Parents of autistic children, as well as their teachers, are expected to work hand in hand with doctors to monitor the effects of medication and then give feedback to the doctors. “The medication used include antidepressants which help reduce anxiety in autistic children while antipsychotic drugs help reduce abnormality in their behavior”. (Robin, 2007 p.19)
Conclusion
Evidence shows that autism has no definite medicine that can cure it completely but it can be managed. However, autism is effectively managed when interventions directed to its management are implemented very early in the developmental stages of a child. Other therapies have also been developed which have resulted in considerable improvements in autistic children, among them, being creative therapies and special diets. More so, information from parents and community members who would have tackled such situations before is usually very important in the processes of managing autism. Since autism cannot be managed in a single day, it would be appropriate for community members to join hands to assist autistic individuals in coping with their surrounding environment. (Robin, 2007)
References
Autism. Web.
Autism 2/04 blue M. Web.
Research to Address the Heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Web.
Brenda, Smith. Autism Spectrum Disorders: Greenwood publishing Group, 2007 pp 39-47.
Dianne, Berkell. Autism spectrum disorders; identification, education and treatment: Routledge, 2005 pp 44-49.
Robin, Gabriels. Growing up with Autism: Guildford Press, 2007 pp 12-20.
Problem Of Blindness In Society Analysis
Seeing is a gift given to us by Mother Nature. Seeing is wonderful just because we can do it, can experience it. Healthy people cannot even imagine how it feels to be unable to observe the beauty of the world around us. Visual images are very easy to recognize and percept. But most people believe they are good in perception, while they are wrong. “When a conspicuous feature of a visual scene changes we normally notice. However, if that change occurs during a blink or saccade (large eye movement), or at the moment when a ‘mud splash’ appears or there is a cut in the film, we do not” (Blackmore 260).
Change blindness in visual perception is the phenomenon that happens when a person looking at the image when a person viewing a visual scene evidently turns out to be unable to notice large changes in the image. For change blindness to happen, the alteration in the scene usually has to coincide with some visual destruction such as an eye movement or a short obscuring of the scene or image observed by a person. When looking at immovable images, an observer can experience change blindness if even a large part of the image changes. Change blindness can be very tense when changes happen suddenly, and many spectators even did not manage to notice when a person they were talking to was by stealth displaced by another actor during the experiment. There are some slight differences between the problems of change blindness, it depends whether a person does not notice the change of the scene, or an observer does not remember the previous scene and thus, cannot recognize the change.
It might seem to us that we see the visual image of the surroundings sharply focused and in detail, but the experience of minutiae is a deception. According to this theory we do not even realize how things are perceived by people (Noë 53). The sudden information about the change blindness being more pervasive than before might have been enormous to inspire a n interest to the concept of change blindness (Ross 308). “Over the next few years, several laboratories independently began to produce evidence for change blindness, both for simple objects and for photographs of natural scenes. Perhaps the most important innovation was the realization that change blindness for natural scenes can occur in the absence of saccades” (Ross 309).
I accept Susan Blackmore’s arguing that while seeing our perception does not build up a detailed representation of the visual world, and that the visual world is all a grand illusion. I believe she is right, because the scenes we see are only images. These images are gathered together by our imagination. Every person perceives the visual scenes in different ways, as everyone possesses different experience, different ways of image perception. One and the same image or scene can be apprehended in diverse ways by different people (observers). Thus, the visual world is full of images comprehended by different individuals in diverse ways. The visual world is all a grand illusion.
Works Cited
Blackmore, J. Susan. Conversations on consciousness: what the best minds think about the brain, free will, and what it means to be human. Oxford University Press US, 2006.
Noë, Alva. Action in perception. Representation and mind. Bradford Books. MIT Press, 2004.
Ross, H. Brian, and David Irwin. Cognitive Vision: Psychology of Learning and Motivation.The Psychology of learning and motivation. Gulf Professional Publishing, 2003.
Views Of Edmund Burke And His Role In Revolution
Overall, Edmund Burke is viewed as a man of many accomplishments. He was a philosopher, writer, orator, and a prominent member of the British parliament. Many of his works, dedicated to such important issues as the state structure, taxation, foreign policy are undoubtedly worth discussing. However, he is mostly renowned for his views on the American Revolution; the thing is that Burk was one of few, who dared contradict King George III and especially his foreign policy, concerning Northern American colonies.
He believed that the actions of the government would eventually lead to the revolution in the New World, mostly due to economic reasons, especially the tion. Burke stated that some of the laws virtually turned American colonists into slaves (Burke, 122). However, his appeal was lost upon George III and his government.
Certainly, it should be mentioned that Edmund Burke did not want the colonies to become independent of the United Kingdom, but he understood that such an outcome was practically inevitable. As he says, “Nobody of men will be argued into slavery” (Burke). The main problem was that the British government attempted to do it. Though it is not explicitly stated, the politician foresees the revolution in Northern America.
Burke has mostly opposed the so-called Stamp Act of 1765. It was aimed at imposing direct taxes on the colonies in North America. The main problem was that American colonies lacked representation in the British government, and therefore, their opinion was completely disregarded. The combination of internal and external taxation was practically ruinous for the colonists. Perhaps, the main problem that Burke encountered was the disbelief and incredulity from other members of the parliament. The overwhelming majority of the British legislators did not even want to listen to him. It seemed to them that the United Kingdom would only benefit by establishing different relationships with the colonies. However, these people failed to understand that colonial Britain would eventually cease to exist and this outcome was inevitable (Ritcheson, p. 34).
Thus, we can conclude that Burkes constructive criticism was not taken into consideration, and to a certain degree, it had very detrimental effects on the British Empire.
We should also discuss the “Speech on Conciliation, given by Burke on March 22, 1775. The orator attempts to prove that the outcome of the conflict between Great Britain and the colonies (in other words the United States) will have disastrous effects on the United Kingdom, especially its dominance in world policy. In his view, the only possible solution for the government was to establish peace between these two countries.
He says “The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations… It is simple peace, sought in its natural course and its ordinary haunts” (Burke, p. 133). It seems that there were several reasons for Burke to say that.
First, he knew perfectly well that this war was irretrievably lost for the United Kingdom and it was just senseless bloodshed. Secondly, Burke was sure that his country would never be able to keep the colonies under control for a considerable amount of time. Burke knew that this struggle would be of no avail for his country.
Burk placed much emphasis on the idea that the trade relationships with the colonies would be much more profitable for the United Kingdom than the attempt to subdue the country. He believed that King George III should change his approach to the colonies. In addition to that, he argues that it was hardly possible for the British government to maintain control over North America especially because they are separated by the Atlantic Ocean. As it has already been mentioned, American colonists were practically deprived of their rights in the Parliament, and it was one of the biggest mistakes, made by the British government because it was extremely difficult for the officials to govern the whole continent while remaining on the British Isles. In his view, this distractedness of the British Empire was the underlying cause of the problem.
Thus, having analyzed the views of Edmund Burke on the problem of the American Revolution, we can conclude that many of his ideas could be a solution to this problem. Moreover, if the government of King George III had paid attention to his words, this revolution would probably have never taken place.
Bibliography
- Charles R. Ritcheson (1990). Edmund Burke and the American Revolution. Leicester University Press.
- Edmund Burke (2005). Burke’s Speeches on American Taxation, on Conciliation with. America and Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol. Macmillan and Co.