Parents Tool Box 1. RE-ESTABLISHING EMOTIONAL GROWTH AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM. A. In order to assist with the further emotional growth and brain development, we will first need to understand a little about the neurological features and difficulties with brain function. If you have a question about a term that I use, please go to Wikipedia to better understand. Due to space limitations on Facebook I will try to make the lessons for parents as much to the point as I can. In a few days, a link will be provided to SlideRocket where you may view this, other documents and presentations. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a developmental disorder. Meaning that at points in the typical development of a child, the onset of autism can dramatically hinder the developmental milestones during childhood. Another aspect of a developmental disorder, such as ASD, can occur at any point in typical development up to about age three. This includes development in utero (in the uterus) up to age three. Most of the onset of ASD that I am presently seeing starts around age six months and will usually peak around age 2.5 years. It is my firm belief that there are multiple causes for autism. It can be genetic and run in families. It is also my firm belief that we are poisoning our children with our environment and that this is having an effect on the chromosomes and DNA. The brain’s development is an “experienced based process.” In order to grow, it requires stimulation thru interactions with experiences in the environment. This includes emotions – in fact – the emotional input that an infant received directly influences brain development. An infant is able to rapidly learn how to share emotions with the parent. The infant uses smiles, giggles, eye gazing and the display of emotion to engage and continue to learn from their parents. The early introduction of movement (rocking the infant back and forth in the parents arms) allows the infant to adjust to transition (changes in motion), referencing the parents face for safety as well as emotion and attachment and bonding. Autism can wipe out some of these previously attained shills (regressive form of autism) or autism can prevent the child from obtaining some of these developmental milestones. Since the brain’s development is an “experienced based model,” the lack of experience can cause unused neuronal pathways to become “pruned.” In order to conserve energy in the brain, unused pathways will become pruned or the neurons (brain cells) and pathways will literally disconnect themselves and become isolated. This is one reason why some children have some very strong talents in one particular area why completely lacking in others. A child may develop a keen interest in numbers, animals, computers, etc. These strong abilities are due to strengths in very localized areas while long-term connections within the brain (pathways) are not as efficient or the connections may have become pruned. In the next toolbox session, we will discuss a little more regarding the brain. It is very important to understand a little bit about the neurology of autism before we can start to treat the difficulties. Please post your comments, questions concerns or suggestions below. That is how you become involved in the discussion! Tom References and recommended readings: Siegel, Daniel. The Developing Mind – How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. 1999. New York, Gilford Press. Cohen-Baron, Simon. Mindblindness: An Essay on Autism and Theory of Mind. 1997. Massachusetts MIT Press.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:40:13 +0000
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