The specialist in child and youth psychology at Clínicas, Lic. Sandra Ayala, said that the faster the diagnosis there is a better prognosis.
The psychologist pointed out that when they refer to ASD, they are talking about a pervasive developmental disorder with a boy who is in a psycho-developmental period, where he is acquiring his social skills and his neurological development. She said that he must draw attention that the process of starting to speak is suddenly cut off.
“Normally what has to call our attention, as an alert sign, is if my child was able to develop some skills and today he is not doing so. It may be that a one-year-old child could have had a normal evolutionary processl, that is to say, the mother says that the child already had the conditions to start speaking, he stammered, you said the first words and suddenly the child began not to make a sound, he stopped speaking, saying words”, he highlighted.
He mentioned that communication is very important and that it also includes non-verbal communication. He added that one of the things we have to keep in mind with boys in this condition is that social interaction is affected from the start.
He explained that a child who is in the process of development, his first social contact is the look, and in this sense when he sees the mother he cries looking for the bond, shutting up when he climbs into her arms. Instead, a baby with possible ASD is not demanding, stays alone in the crib, seems too goodaccording to the reference given by the parents.
The psychologist said that when this child arrives at the psychological office, he probably also went through neurology, because sometimes the pediatrician refers neurology; Neurology derives from psychology, but the reverse can occur. She added that the mother had a pregnancy without complications, in the physical part the baby was born well developed, without characteristics of syndromes, but it turns out that this child is unable to develop the language to be able to relate.
The specialist in child and youth psychology of the Department of Psychology of the FCM-UNA, Lic. Sandra Ayala, said that there are three great indicators to diagnose ASD. One is the social interaction and there is also the level of communication.
Another indicator is behavior patterns, which are some stereotypes (repetitive movements, generally coordinated and rhythmic, that are always performed in the same way). In this sense, for example, the child can walk on tiptoes, can make turns with the body, can be entranced in one direction looking at a fan or seeing something that rotatesIn the playful component, let’s just say, they are turns, he likes wheels, cars, he likes to turn with an object, it’s like there is no normal development if we wanted to call it that way, he said.
He remarked that the biggest warning sign for parents is going to be when he is maybe two years old, when he begins to compare him with other children if he has them. In this sense, they will say that after a year or two, their other children were already doing something that their youngest child still cannot do.
They are very selective, sometimes they have hyperactivity and hearing hypersensitivity which causes any noise to disturb you. For this reason, it is important to know from what stimulus some behavior develops, so that professionals can focus their work on helping them.
Auditory hypersensitivity means that many times they cannot interact in public environments such as parks, shopping malls, and not even going to birthday parties, because it makes them upset and they attack themselves. They put their hands to their ears a lot, demonstrating the disturbance that noise produces in them, so all these mom and dad behaviors have to be an alert sign.
While in the school stage, he does not integrate into the game with the other children in the group, so he can be with his classmates, but in reality he remains isolated in his world. Normally they are selective since they have a pattern of behavior, they use only one toy, they always isolate themselves both at school and at home.
Recommendations for schooling
The psychologist pointed out that when parents go to school they should think about an environment that will be positive for the child with autism. Mainly that they are not with many children, because the fact of having so much stimulation outside is bad for them, so it should be in an institution where there are fewer children and the attention is more personalized, so that the teacher can spend more time with him.
“The process of being able to learn may not be through normal channels, if we want to call it something. Sometimes we have to use tools that are more pedagogical so that they can learn. Boys with Asperger syndrome, who are high-performance autisticsshow that their intellectual capacity is superioris good, in some of the areas of intelligence they have the ability to enhance their interests, they can have a good performance at an academic level, but not in their social interaction, “he said.
Treatment
He affirmed that the faster the diagnosis, the better the prognosis, because the professionals are going to start working on the areas that are needed, in a job multi-disciplinary. They must also work in coordination with mom, dad, home, family, professionals, to later incorporate the academic/educational part.
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“If we are talking about a one-year-old boy, two years, probably, is the best time we have to adjust everything that the child would need for later and that is called psychology, which is early stimulation at that stage, speech therapy, neurology. Then we are going to incorporate psychopedagogy when he is close to schooling”, stated Lic. Sandra Ayala.
In addition, he said that, for severe cases, due to certain behaviors, a psychiatrist who must medicate the child is also involved. In addition, he said that there are cases of children who have a slow development, who only learn to speak at 5 years of age, but already the patient is classified as autistic under the belief that those with ASD do not speak.
However, he said that certain environmental components can be created so that the person with autism can have a more functional, more bearable life. Above all, so that he can develop as a useful human being for himself and for society.
Regarding consultation days, the specialist in child and youth psychology of the Department of Psychology of the FCM-UNA, Lic. Sandra Ayala, said that the Chair and Department of Pediatrics of the FCM-UNA and the Hospital de Clínicas attend Thursdays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., but parents must make the appointment first. In the event that it is the first consultation, it must be attended before by a general pediatrician from the School Hospital who then refers to psychology.
He remembered that the National Secretariat for the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Senadis) it is also a reference center.
