Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
Communication is usually severely impaired in persons with autism. What the
individual understands (receptive language) as well as what is actually spoken
by the individual (expressive language) are significantly delayed or nonexistent.
Deficits in language comprehension include the inability to understand simple
directions, questions, or commands. There may be an absence of dramatic or
pretend play and these children may not be able to engage in simple
age-appropriate childhood games such as Simon Says or Hide-and-Go-Seek. Teens
and adults
with autism may continue to engage in playing with games that are for young children.
Individuals with autism who do speak may be unable to initiate or participate
in a two-way conversation (reciprocal). Frequently the way in which a person
with this disorder speaks is perceived as unusual. Their speech may seem to lack the normal
emotion and sound flat or monotonous. The sentences are often very immature:
"want water" instead of "I want some water please." Those with autism often
repeat words or phrases that are spoken to them. For example, you might say
"look at the airplane!" and the child or adult may respond "at airplane,"
without any knowledge of what was said. This repetition is known as echolalia.
Memorization and recitation of songs, stories, commercials, or even entire
scripts is not uncommon. While many feel this is a sign of intelligence, the
autistic person usually does not appear to understand any of the content in his
or her speech.
Behaviors
Persons with autism often exhibit a variety of repetitive, abnormal behaviors.
There may also be a hypersensitivity to sensory input through vision, hearing,
or touch (tactile). As a result, there may be an extreme intolerance to loud
noises or crowds, visual stimulation, or things that are felt. Birthday parties
and other celebrations can be disastrous for some of these individuals. Wearing
socks or tags on
clothing may be perceived as painful. Sticky fingers, playing with modeling
clay, eating birthday cake or other foods, or walking barefoot across the grass
can be unbearable. On the other hand, there may be an underdeveloped
(hyposensitivity) response to the same type of stimulation. This individual may
use abnormal means to experience visual, auditory, or tactile (touch) input.
This person may head bang, scratch until blood is drawn, scream instead of
speaking in a normal tone, or bring everything into close visual range. He or
she might also touch an object, image or other people thoroughly just to
experience the sensory input.
Children and adults who have autism are often tied to routine and many everyday
tasks may be ritualistic. Something as simple as a bath might only be accomplished
after the precise amount of water is in the tub, the temperature is exact, the
same soap is in its assigned spot and even the same towel is in the same place.
Any break in the routine can provoke a severe reaction in the individual and
place a tremendous strain on the adult trying to work with him or her.
There may also
be non-purposeful repetition of actions or behaviors. Persistent rocking, teeth
grinding, hair or finger twirling, hand flapping and walking on tiptoe are not
uncommon. Frequently, there is a preoccupation with a very limited interest or a
specific plaything. A child or adult may continually play with only one type of
toy. The child may line up all the dolls or cars and the adult line up their
clothes or toiletries, for example, and repeatedly and systematically perform
the same action on each one. Any attempt to disrupt the person may result in
extreme reactions on the part of the individual with autism, including tantrums or
direct physical attack. Objects that spin, open and close, or perform some other
action can hold an extreme fascination. If left alone, a person with this
disorder may
sit for hours turning off and on a light switch, twirling a spinning toy, or
stacking nesting objects. Some individuals can also have an inappropriate
bonding to specific objects and become hysterical without that piece of string,
paper clip, or wad of paper.
Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which the person has seizures. There are two kinds of seizures, focal and generalized. There are many causes of epilepsy. Treatment of epilepsy (seizures) depends upon the cause and type of seizures experienced.
Learning disabilities can cause an individual to have trouble learning and using skills such as reading, listening, writing, reading, speaking, reasoning, and performing mathematics. There is no cure for learning disabilities. Parents and teachers working together to properly diagnose learning disabilities can properly plan a course of education. For some, medication may be appropriate as complimentary treatment.
Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited form of mental retardation. It's caused by a mutation on the X chromosome. People with Fragile X syndrome suffer from physical, social, emotional, speech, language, sensory, intelligence, and learning impairments. There is no definitive treatment for Fragile X, though there are ways to minimize the symptoms.
Learn about mitochondrial disease, genetic disease in which include a group of neuromuscular diseases that are caused by damage to the mitochondria Common mitochondrial myopathies include Kearns–Sayre syndrome, myoclonus epilepsy, and mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. Symptoms of mitochondrial disease include heart failure, exercise intolerance, dementia, muscle weakness, movement disorders, deafness, blindness, stroke-like episodes, and more. There is no specific treatment for mitochondrial disease.
Seizures are divided into two categories: generalized and partial. Generalized seizures are produced by electrical impulses from throughout the brain, while partial seizures are produced by electrical impulses in a small part of the brain. Seizure symptoms include unconsciousness, convulsions, and muscle rigidity.
Good parenting helps foster empathy, honesty, self-reliance, self-control, kindness, cooperation, and cheerfulness, says Steinberg, a distinguished professor of psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. It also promotes intellectual curiosity, motivation, and desire to achieve. It helps protect children from developing anxiety, depression, eating disorders, antisocial behavior, and alcohol and drug abuse.
Asperger syndrome (AS, Asperger's syndrome) is an autism spectrum disorder. Asperger syndrome is characterized by a degree of impairment in language and communication skills, and repetitive or restrictive thoughts or behaviors. The most common symptom of Asperger syndrome is the obsessive interest in a single object or topic. Other conditions that may co-exist with Asperger syndrome include: ADHD, tic disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, and OCD. Diagnosis of Asperger syndrome is complicated, and treatment is generally directed toward minimizing the symptoms of the syndrome and behavioral and educational interventions.
Pervasive development disorders (PPDs) are conditions involving developmental delays in children. There are five types of PDDs: autism, Asperger's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett's syndrome, and pervasive development disorders not otherwise specified (PDDNOS).
Children's health is focused on the well-being of children from conception through adolescence. There are many aspects of children's health, including growth and development, illnesses, injuries, behavior, mental illness, family health and community health.
Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS, infantile acquired aphasia, acquired epileptic aphasia, or aphasia with convulsive disorder), a childhood disorder that occurs between the ages of 3 and 7, is characterized by the sudden loss of speech, epileptic seizures, depression, hyperactivity, and aggressiveness.
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