Does he have autism?

Assalamualaikum and hi!

So, I (J) have this conversation with mum (M)

M: I overheard your sister talking with your sis in law about autism

J: hurm, ok.

M: She thought her son (S) has autism!

J: Why is that so? S looks normal though. He interact well with people, has good eye contact *being detective here. Ehehs*

M: Because S loves wheel!

J: ouh ok.

*S is 14 months-old boy

Then I checked my notes.

Well, my sister is partially true. Or quarterly true to be precise. Indeed one of the characters of having autism is  restricted behavior such as intense attachment to unusual object in which some psychiatrist give examples - stone or wheel. BUT in this case S doesn't has INTENSE attachment. He did loves wheels, but not that intense, sis. *typical first child problem. lols*

So let me tell you, about this autism thing which kinda fear in our community. 

In psychiatric, we say autism as ASD = Autism Spectrum Disorder. Why spectrum? because there are varies level of autism. According to ICD 10 *gitew*, ASD is classified as Childhood autism (the most common), atypical autism, Retts syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Unspecified. 

*hang ingat, autism ni simple ke, huh? lols*

Each child with Autism has different symptoms. But the core symptoms are poor/absent social interaction, language and communication disorder and restrictive/repetitive behavior. *camne tuh, kak? sabar nohh, sat lagi hakak explain ye dik. Ehehs* Some child might have one symptoms but not the other. For example, in Asperger's Syndrome (one of autism spectrum), the child doesn't have problem in language but, he is clumsiness and have restricted gesture. The non verbal IQ is lower then the verbal IQ. Some people say this as mild autism.

Ok, back to the symptoms. 

What does it means as poor/absent social interaction? You must be freaking out when your child didn't follow your instruction eh or answer your question and you suddenly screaming, "MY CHILD HAS AUTISM!" lols. Drama. In your case, he could have elective mutism (relative or absolute failure to speak in social/specific situations. No worries. It can be cure. Hehe)

Back to the symptom: Poor/absent social interaction

Example - poor eye contact, no peer relationship (not sharing interest/activities/emotions), lack of social or emotional reciprocity, not interpreting body language/facial expressions/social cues, lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment. 

In my own word, numbness, living in my own world, "i can survive, baby" type. Ehehs.

Next, language and communication disorder.

Example: has delay in speech development, no useful speech, reliance on stock phases, lack of social use of language, pronominal reversal (when the kid refer themselves as "he", "she" instead of "I") , echolalia (repetition of speech), lack of imagination/fantasy thoughts/ social imaginative play

As for my dictionary, it is like a robot waiting for instruction. *paham ke? lols* 

Last one, restricted/repetitive behavior

Example: unusual preoccupation and interest, rigid routine, rigid pattern of play, intense attachment to unusual object such as stone or wheel, stereotype and repetitive motor manner such as hand flapping, nodding, rocking, 

My own definition = too young to be tooo perfectionist. Ehehs.

Thats the core symptoms. If you see your child has some of this symptoms, waittttttt, DON'T JUMP YET! not yet. What you should do is observe in a different setting. Maybe he is too smart, reading this symptoms in my blog and acting like one to get your attention. Lols. Too smart to be true. Hehe. To diagnose autism, you need to observe in more than one setting, and of course there are number of tests! i.e ADI-R, DISCO, CARS, ADOS. Ahah, you are trap, kid! It is not that easy to say someone has autism just like that you know. 

but but but if it is true, and you are freaking out. What you should do is seek for help, a doctor. Human doctor. Not Dr Google MD. ok! It is a blessing. Because he/she is special. Your ticket to Jannah, man. I know it is not easy but lots of ways can be done to reduce the burden. *easy say as I am not the one who has the burden* 

Well, in my textbook. *ehehs*. There are family psycho education, practical support, education, therapy (SALT, OT, physical, CBT, Vocational). And we can give medication such as Risperidone, SSRI or treat the anxiety. I am not going to give whole lot of lectures you know. But just to let you know, there are help out there. It is not to cure autism but it can promote normal development, reduce the rigidity and stereotype behavior, remove the maladaptive behavior and alleviate family stress. Quite hopeful, aite. 

Lastly, if you ask me why this happen or how we can prevent it?

I am sorry, mam, no exact answer. Some, say because of seizures, increase serotonin etc. but definitely NOT BECAUSE OF VACCINE! I am 100% sure of that. So puh-leass *a.k.a please* don't make up stories and get your fact right! Ask from a right person.

There are risk factor of autism that I can list here - Genetic, perinatal complications, neuro abnormalities, medical condition such as seizures, and executive function deficit especially frontal lobe. So, you prevent some of the risk such as do regular check up during your pregnancy, reduce risk of seizures. 

 Anyway, one of my nephews was suspected having autism. He has a very poor eye contact, rarely talk to us, delay in speech, more problem related to social interaction and he has this habit of hand flapping. My sister in law was freaking out and he was sent to see specialist, did CT scan etc and it turned out he has a bit problem in his brain (relate with speech and language pathway). He went to speech and language therapy for sometime but now Alhamdulillah a healthy, talkative, adorable, soleh 11 years-old-boy *siap hafal quran habaq hang, hang boleh? ehehs*

So, yeah. It is scary at first. As a mother, you want the best for your child. But just bear in mind, your children are not yours. He/She is Allah's. We are giving amanah to take care of them. 

42:49

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To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males.

42:50

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Or He makes them [both] males and females, and He renders whom He wills barren. Indeed, He is Knowing and Competent.

42;49-50

For whatever difficulties that you have to face, you are not alone.Allah is always with us. Remember, this world has its end and then, the real life begins. Hang it there, mate.

May Allah bless us!

Take care!

p/s I am started to write about psychiatric more often lately. Hurm, Another fun way of learning I guess. I am tired of writing notes, notes and notes, and answer past year questions. Lets try something new. Ehehs. *hope it works.and get your intention right, dear. huhu*

Lot 2740

1913

5 Ramadhan 1435H

 

Does he looks normal. Yes, he is! but he has Asperger's Syndrome. *a type of autism spectrum disorder* Autism is worldwide. Not just in your family. Hope you are OK, Ryan

Pyromania or conduct disorder?

Salam and hi!

I am currently studying on child psychiatric. Kinda interesting. Why? because we often see that character in child (oh well, I have 20 nieces and nephews. so, you can imagine that I can relate it)

The thing about child psychiatric is it is only diagnose when the kids have number of criteria or excessively or inappropriately. But having said that, it is so difficult to diagnose a child with hyperactive or autism or conduct disorder if it is just culturally accepted. You know what I mean right. You can't simply said a child is ADHD according to DMS or ICD yadaa yadaa and it turns out, "ouh, thats normal", "not worrying at all" (according to the mother) As our culture (malaysia's culture) psychiatric is a taboo = a big NO NO = craziness = mental problem. Hence, the mother choose to say, "ala, budak-budak biasa laa" Not going to refer to any child psychiatric which might be reasonable if there is no problem. But can you imagine if the child left untreated = DUP (Duration of Untreated Psychosis) = prodromal state.

Long Duration of Untreated Psychosis (DUP) leads to poorer outcomes (Larsen et al 1996, Scully et al 1997)

This long DUP is very serious. It may lead to academic failure, might develop schizophrenia, behavior problem etc.

I might be over generalized here. I don't have any data or research paper etc on that argument for Malaysians. It is totally base on my observation and conversation with Malaysians mothers. Anyway, while studying on conduct disorder, it reminds me on this event. Childhood memory.

Before that, in case you don't know,

“Conduct disorder is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal norms or rules are violated”

To diagnose a kid with this disorder, he or she must have at least 3 of the following symptoms for 12 months -

• Aggression to people or animals e.g. bullying /uses weapon /threatens others/ Fights /Stealing / forced sexual activity
• Destruction to property e.g. fire setting or non fire setting
• Deceitful or theft
• Serious violation of rules - stays out at night/ runs away /truant

ok thats sound sooo wordy.I am not going to give you lecture on this. ehehs.

Straight to the story.

Back in 1999, *giteww* I have this classmate. Well, he looked normal, acting normal, looks cute *ok main-main,* But one evening, our school guard found him trying to set FIRE on our CLASS! Not trying, but he was actually doing it. On the next day, we went to school, we could see burn trace *is it even a word?*. Geee. and according to gossipers, he want to burn the class because he hate our class teacher. Why? I don't know. Thank God, the school guard found him, if not, the whole class will be burnt! I have no idea how the school handle that. What I know, he was transferred to other school. *was not sure if he was kicked out from our school, or he was actually transferred*

So, he has one known criteria of conduct disorder.Destruction of property. Only God knows, if he has other criteria. - . But I know he was not aggressive to people. He was nice. 

and he was only 9 years-old. 

Another conduct-disorder-related-story, when I was a prefect in primary school, I did caught a junior (aged 7-8 years-old) stealing things from our co-op. She was caught red handed. I remember following her and talked to her about stealing bla bla but I can't remember what I did next. -_-' too old to remember. But the point is, it is very serious. 

If these two people really have conduct disorder and left undiagnosed/untreated, they may develop antisocial personality disorder when they grew up. And you know how dangerous this personality disorder is, very dangerous. They can forms but cannot maintain relationship, they are irresponsible, guiltless, heartless, easily lost temper, and blame other people for their own fault. They are people who are usually targeted by police because they always involve in violence.

So, if you say someone is bad, it could be due to their history- untreated/undiagnosed conduct disorder. Who's fault? the parent/ the prefect like me/ the society who fails to recognize the symptoms and refer to psychiatric. 

And why the kids acting like that? there are numerous reasons - biological causes or physiological causes. - low IQ, family history of antisocial behaviour, lack of warm parental relationship, large family size (i'm disagree on this. I have 10 siblings and I am good. hahhaha), domestic chaos, parental criminality, exposure to abuse and societal violence, school failure.

It is not the end for this child. There are lots of ways to deal with them. They are might be sooo difficult to deal but take time to listen and pray. Because Allah is the one who hold our hearts. 

Conclusion - pilihlah suami/isteri yang menjaga agama dan keturuan yang baik. Ehehs, Just joking.

Be careful when we are dealing with kids like this. 

Love them.

Talk to them.

Refer to a right person.

Rumahku syurgaku.

Safety first. 

Lot 2740

1823

29 Sya'ban 1436H

Aggressive to animals? Gee, how could you if the cat as cute as this. *gerammm*  Lols >.<