Significant increase in the rate of Autism Spectrum Disorder…
World Health Organization reports reveal a significant increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorder. Drawing attention to the rapid increase in autism spectrum disorder, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Abdulbaki Artık warned families and explained the issues to be considered.
There is a remarkable increase in the incidence of autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder that experts define as a disorder related to the congenital developmental nature of the brain, which does not develop later and does not occur as a result of a behavior done by families.
Underlining that the data in the latest reports announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) are very striking, now gave the following information:
“When we look at the data on autism, we see that while there was a prevalence of 2 to 3 per thousand in the data in the 1980s, this rate is gradually increasing. While it was 1 in 66 in 2004, we see that this rate was 44 in the CDC Reports published by WHO four months ago. It is said that there are many reasons for the increase, but there is no certainty. Now that the concept of spectrum is out, this concept is not considered as a single disease. All children who show symptoms between a normal healthy child and a child with complete autism are called autism fan friendships. It is said that the diagnosis rate has increased because of this. Many factors such as advanced maternal age, advanced paternal age, alcohol and cigarette exposure in the womb are mentioned, but there is no certainty on this subject. There is a misconception here that needs to be corrected… It is said that vaccines increase the risk of autism, there is absolutely no scientific data on this.”
Situations where families should be alert
Now, who also gave information about the symptoms of autism and treatment methods, explained the points that families should be alert to and what needs to be done as follows:
“As the incidence of autism is increasing, there are points that parents should be alert to. A baby is expected to start babbling from 6 months, to make eye contact, to make out his first syllables from 9 months, to have joint attention, to play with each other at 1 year old, to play with his peers from 2 years old, to point when he wants something. Their absence should be a warning for families. Unfortunately, there is no drug treatment that is good for these core symptoms and main symptoms. The only known treatment method is special education. The most important issue for this method to be effective is early diagnosis and starting special education very early. If families are careful about this issue and apply to a professional at the slightest doubt, it will be beneficial for both families, children and society; This individual and social awareness needs to be created.”
“Autism can be confused with a lack of stimuli such as screen exposure”
Reminding that the situation called ‘stimulus deficiency’ is very confused with autism, now said, “We call the whole of factors such as the child’s exposure to too much screen, not paying too much attention to the child, not playing games, stimulus deficiency. The most common factor is screen exposure; we want to reset screen exposure in the first 2 years if possible. One of the first questions we ask the family when it comes to suspicion of autism is the child’s screen time. If it is more than an hour a day and the child is uninterested in his surroundings, we recommend that the families first take care of the child for 3 months, play games, and if this is not possible, send them to the nursery. At least half of the children progress this way, these children are not autistic, they are stimulus-deficient children. However, symptoms can imitate exactly. Of course, families need to be very careful about this, they can get help from family elders, they can get caregiver support, they can send them to kindergarten. For the first 2 years, or even 3, we recommend resetting the screen connection.”
