Autism and Psychology

Autism Man is by nature a fond animal an per intelligence who is un complaisant naturally and not accidentally is each beneath our notice or more than human (Aristotle, 328 B. C. in Aron watchword, 1995). We render been designed from birth to fill and trust and cordialize with one an other in various ways. Yet, wherefore is it so difficult for whatever but not for others. I grow a four year old Autistic son that also has severe develop moral delays collectible to prematurity and birthing complications. There atomic number 18 days that he gets frustrated at not even out beingness able to communicate basic needs or just wants to be in his own world, left to his own device.That for anyone is rough, but manageing I am his mother makes it worse. Social interaction is such an important demote of growing as not merely a human being, but also for the brain. Even from the beginning of time man has leaned on the innovate of needing that companionship and contact with the worl d around them. Being from the South, you atomic number 18 instructed and taught from day one to be liqueur and have social interactions regularly with others in and out of your class, race, or religion. But what if you cannot convey and relate to the social customs? Does that mean you are to forever be labeled as a deviant, eccentric, or antisocial?If it is funding that you have mental issues you dont discuss them or you are forever looked at as a child. Traditionally, that means that these individuals were ostracized, stigmatized and even eliminated for the good of the whole, as the compromised the very fabric of society by proposing to build a group of individuals, many another(prenominal)what like a cult, that were interconnected forever( Aronson, 1995). Animal test subjects have been well conditioned to run through mazes or pressed bars for food or to quash electric shocks administered by researchers likewise humans comply within similar consequences.Furthermore, it has a lso been documented that mien motivated by external consequences is relatively short-lived, ceasing with the consequence is no longer available (Thompson, & Iwata, 2001). This can even be seen when a mother is watching her children, and then steps out. The children understand to behave in some(prenominal) situations and the latter situation may have a punishment if that direction is not followed properly. Yet, as concisely as the mother steps out, the non-conformist child will misbehave, only because of the punishment, even if the other sibling(s) is behaving themselves properly.Something stops a child like this from comprehending why this is wrong and what is truly acceptable. This may be in part to some issues with the connections to neuro-transmitters or lack thereof. Often times these children are not even motivated by reenforce dusts, they will continue to misbehave at some shoot even when the mother returns, almost thought-provoking her. Therefore, they will never be in society as an integral part, but as part of the problem. This, however, is not true for Autistic children.They wish to be the same, but again, the neuro-transmitters misfire and do not cede for them to compare apples to oranges. In 1943 Leo Kanner named such children as, socially withdrawn. He outlined the social disorder in 11 boys that he studied as an autistic disturbance of affective contact because of their apparent disinterest in other people and inability to be socially influenced (Kanner, 1943, in Frith, 1989). In spite of this, in 1984 the American Psychiatric Association, deemed this as a pervasive disorder, among others, and now it is simply known as Autism (APA, 1984).Over the erstwhile(prenominal) ten years Autism has been redefined again as the most complicated neurological disorder affecting the profound nervous system of a large number of people. It is also the most confusing and pervasive of the developmental disorders as little is known for a cause, there is no cure, and treatments vary among individuals (Frith & Happe, 1994). The typical stereo compositors case of an individual with autism describes a withdrawn, mute child with an inverted gaze engaged in repetitive activities or self-stimulatory behaviors, ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder, ranges from severe to very mild(Mesibov & Burack, 2001).Yet, the ones that have such disorders, have recently been labeled as Autistic callable to lack of social prowess and extreme cognition and fixation on one profession. These subsets of children can practically times appear normal within the first year but start regressing in knowledge and skill, or not improving or gain skills at all. Eventually, one can build a wall to even keep family out, or fixate on something so hard it becomes an obsession or routine that if stopped could be mentally, physically, and socially detrimental(Kennedy & Shukla, 1995).Although, it is also important to remember that individuals with ASD are not totally withdrawn, socially and may even interact from time to time, but this can be limited. I know as more going from hearing your child say I love you and hug often, to one time or twice week is difficult. The first time my son ran and hugged me and looked me in the eye was very stimulated for me, but he did not understand. This leads to my next point cognition. As I said before many ASD children do not understand emotions or are seldom empathetic. They may ask questions astir(predicate) the emotions you are showing but do not fully understand what you are telling them.This again is collectable to a misfiring of neuor-transmitters. That is why so many ASD children really like Thomas the Train. He teaches them emotions and what the facial expressions mean. My son now understand crying, anger, and excitement. Therefore, while they have a social desire, the interference in the cognitive system proves to be the main problem (Happe, 1999 Baron-Cohen, 1985 Dodge, 1980). cognitive processing systems such as motivation, decision making and emotions are believed to be prompted when one responds to stimuli.These stimuli characterize the different mental states (desires, imagination, emotions, etc. ) that psychologists believe to be the cause of ones actions. Yet, without fitly developed social cognition individuals have difficulty forming social relationships with others and this is evidenced by poor social behavior (Baron-Cohen, 2000). A study was designed to test this theory, and it found that 64% of individuals with ASD have first degree relatives with more extensive mental health issues, like major depression, and 39% had other social phobias (Smalley, et al, 1995).That being said, one can conclude that unlike other studies, ASD maybe a genetic disease mutated from other mental illness issues. This would also help the justice system that was once scandalized by improprieties of inmates due to a lack of knowledge. By understanding what type of ASD and the severity one can simp ly argue mental illness? Now I am not condoning every run out on the barmy defense, but if the shoe fits, why would we just put someone who is innocent into the system as make years ago.Think of the good old days when one could be simply thrown in clink for no id or not talking but if you have a mentally ill or developmentally disabled individual, and you put them in an environment that is rough, harsh, and not anything like their routine, it is no wonder why we had so many inmate suicides and still do inmates slip through the cracks continuously. But we may never see that happen due to public opinion. We as a society look at children with developmental delays or ASD as animals. I find it sickening. Or we think the parent does not discipline the child.Yet, due to lack of cognitive understanding, it would gain to reason why one does not benefit from punishing this type of child they simply do not understand and are eager to please. Some may differ but my sons doctor actually explai ned to us that anything more than timeout/cool down gunpoint would be over his head. Even taking away toys would be ineffective. So the next time you are at a store take that into dole outation. Now that I am off of my soapbox consider this The acceptance of inadequacies in the empathizing process of individuals with Autism can offer more tolerance of the behaviors they display.Thus, they are not commensurate enough to calculate the conduct of others readily and we would expect an avoidance of impulsive situations. This is apparent in the outbursts and obsessive behaviors these individuals show in an effort to control and maintain routines in their environments (Dodge, 1980). Now some can point to sensory issues, needing to feel secure through various methods close to the five senses. A lot of the Autism society says that therapies for these aversions and how to cope will cause the ASD patient to understand, control, and manipulate to achieve a normal life.Nevertheless, the sen sory struggles coincide with socio-emotional issues and are noted as early as infancy. Hence, the various longitudinal studies of infants later diagnosed with autism show free eye gaze, poor response to name, aloofness, reduced looking-at-faces, and deficits in directing attention (Mottron & Burack, 2001). And while it appears that these skills, as well as impairments in early social- communion skills and joint attention are present long before livery and mind blindness develop (Koegel & Mentis, 1985 Shanker, 2004 Wing & Gould, 1979).Additionally, developmental theories on attachment and affective responsiveness have suggested that children with impaired social emotional relating in infancy will not develop appropriate social understanding and as a result social interaction and communication skills will suffer (Kennedy & Shukla, 1995). In spite of that, Supporters of the theory of mind suggest that people with Autism lack the ability to comprehend thoughts and experiences that oc cur outdoor(a) of themselves (Happe, 1991).While I can see that, since my son gets stuck on one thing that happened and will talk about it for months as though it happened yesterday, the difficulty in understanding the mental thoughts of others often results in bizarre communication patterns (Happe, 1999). Thus, blindness and a clear lack of meeting of the minds, also appears to interfere with the ability to identify with others or to understand another persons point of view (Shanker, 2004). So do we really know what people with Autism need, or are we just grabbing air in a world full of marshmallows? BibliographyAmerican Psychiatric Association DSM-IV (1984). symptomatic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. ). American Psychiatric Association. Aronson, E. (1995). The social animal. (7th ed. ). New York, NY W. H. Freeman and Company. Baron-Cohen, S. (1985). Mindblindness An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, Massachusetts MIT Press. Baron-Cohen, S. (2000) . Theory of mind and autism A fifteen year review. In S. Baron-Cohen, H. Tager-Flusberg D. J. Cohen (Eds), appreciation other minds perspectives from developmental cognitive neuroscience (pp. 3-20).Oxford Oxford University Press. Dodge, K. (1980) Social cognition and childrens aggressive behavior. 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