Autism in adults

Causes

Regarding the etiology of the disease, not all experts have the same opinion. It is believed that the only reason for the development of autism is an anomaly in the intrauterine development of the central nervous system.

The following factors contribute to the occurrence of the disease:

• a sudden change in your usual lifestyle, for example, moving, quitting your job, divorce, car accident;
• severe stress suffered due to the inability to meet the expectations of others;
• emotional instability;
• a long period of problems at work or at home;
• mistreatment in childhood or adolescence by parents or peers.

Recently, heredity and vaccination have been attributed to the causes of autism. In any case, the listed risk factors do not depend on the person, so it cannot influence the development of autism.

Signs

Signs can vary greatly among patients depending on the type and extent of the disease. 45% of patients have an IQ of no higher than 50, while others are considered “brilliant madmen.”

Typical signs of autism in adults are identified. First of all, these are difficulties in socialization, which is why autistic people do not understand the intentions, words and emotions of others. They are often frightened and alarmed by people's facial expressions and gestures.

Some people are unable to maintain eye contact, while others stare intensely and obsessively into the eyes. Often a person with such a diagnosis is not able to show empathy or friendly, much less romantic affection. Some are isolated because they are not recognized by society due to dementia or other defects. Others prefer solitude because of their own behavior.

The patient is obsessively focused on one topic or problem, with no interest in other areas. As a rule, such passion helps an autistic person achieve high mastery in his chosen activity.

A distinctive feature of autism in adults is a strict adherence to one’s own routine. If the established schedule is not followed or violated, the patient may experience personal tragedy. At the same time, he receives satisfaction from repeated monotonous movements in his familiar environment.

Often in such patients, natural perception is disrupted, for example, light hugs can cause unpleasant sensations, but with increased touch the patient calms down. Some autistic people experience little to no pain. They often react aggressively to loud noises. It is almost impossible to guess about their thoughts and feelings.

Autism in adults

Autism in adults is a serious mental disorder that sharply reduces their level of adaptation and socialization in the world around them. At an early age, this disease is quite difficult to diagnose, since various motor and speech characteristics of a child’s behavior can be attributed to age and character traits. But in an adult, the symptoms of autism are too noticeable for others. The etiology of this disease is still unknown. There are hypotheses about heredity and gene mutations. The incidence rate of autism is 1:250, and boys are more likely to suffer from autism.

The fact that an adult suffers from autism is immediately obvious. He is indifferent to what is happening, indifferent and unemotional. One gets the feeling that a person lives in his own world. He is reluctant to come into contact with outsiders. They communicate only with relatives and close friends. An autist should be distinguished from an introvert who believes that it is better to remain silent than to say a lot of empty words. Autistic people have low intelligence, which does not exceed 50, and are difficult to learn.

The Sulamot group provides comprehensive assistance for the treatment of the autism spectrum: from differential diagnosis of developmental problems to the creation of a correction plan.

Autism Spectrum Treatment in Sulamot

Adults with autism who are uncooperative are in their own heads. They can, without ceasing, make various meaningless movements, arrange objects and things in a certain sequence that only they understand. Autism in adults is often accompanied by obsessions, during which they become indifferent to the world around them. Only something unexpected and unusual can bring them out of this state. Patients with autism often experience seizures that lead to unpredictable consequences. It is known that almost half of autistic people have self-harmed. Such patients require constant care and attention, since in severe forms of the disease they cannot take care of themselves.

Homeopaths, neurologists, and teachers are still deciding the question: “Does autism need to be treated?” Conducted research shows that the effectiveness of treatment depends on the stage of the disease, the degree of neglect and is individual for each autistic person.

Currently, the following groups of people with autism are distinguished:

1. The person does not make contact with others. The most severe degree of the disease, which cannot be treated.
2. A person communicates with others, but this happens only in a way that is understandable to him. Everything new is met with hostility. Makes monotonous movements, does not want to walk or sleep, does not feel hungry.
3. The person communicates willingly, but is extremely selfish. Cannot take care of himself fully. Extremely reluctant to be distracted from his strange affairs. He may have some individual skills or abilities that no one around him is even aware of.
4. Autism occurs almost unnoticed. The man is very obedient and extremely touchy. Tries to follow all regulations, rules and instructions, which is why he cannot make independent and responsible decisions.
5. They have any obvious talents, most often in the exact sciences (mathematics, programming, physics).

Treatment of autism in adults includes overcoming shyness in front of others, assistance in socialization, and stopping the progression of the disease. It is necessary to minimize the frequency of the patient's attacks. Treatment will directly depend on the symptoms and course of the disease. The sooner you start fighting the disease, the better results you can achieve.

Features of manifestation

The behavior of autistic people is characterized by stereotypical actions, such as nodding their heads or shoulders, waving their arms, convulsive movements, and swaying their torso. Many autistic people aged 20–25 years do not have basic self-care skills, which is why they need daily care.

Mental agitation, manifested by hyperreactivity or mannerisms, indicates the development of the disease. The patient is often aggressive, irritable, and cannot concentrate for long. There is an acute inappropriate reaction to touch, for example, a friendly greeting by the hand or a pat on the shoulder. The patient cannot communicate normally with others, not only with strangers, but even with relatives. He often begins to ignore them, not opening the door, not answering calls or questions in person, and does not feel any guilt about himself.

A disorder of emotional balance leads to patterned behavior and monotony in performing actions. An autistic person often does not understand the essence of being addressed and becomes indifferent to the feelings of others and everything that happens. Movements and facial expressions are uncertain and limited, and there are pronounced speech defects. As a rule, it is devoid of any intonation, monotonous. Often the patient has specific food preferences. Sleep and wakefulness patterns may be disrupted.

Symptoms of Autism in Adults

Autism is a mysterious disease, with a very complex and difficult diagnosis, and largely unknown causes. Autism is not a mental illness, as some people believe. Autism spectrum disorders are biologically determined neurological disorders in which psychological problems are secondary.

The puzzle is a recognized symbol of autism

Photo source: michemozaix / CC BY-NC

How does autism manifest itself? It causes difficulties in perceiving the world, problems in social relationships, learning and communicating with others. Symptoms vary in intensity for every autistic person.

Most often, people with autism show disturbances in perception, feeling touch differently, and perceiving sounds and images differently. They may have hypersensitivity to noise, smells, and light. Often exhibit less sensitivity to pain.

Another way of seeing the world is that autistic people create their own inner world - a world that only they can understand.

The main problems of people with autism include:

• problems with the realization of connections and feelings;
• difficulty expressing one's emotions and interpreting the emotions expressed by others;
• inability to read nonverbal messages;
• communication problems;
• avoid contact with eyes;
• They prefer a constant environment and do not tolerate changes.

People with autism have specific language impairments. In extreme cases, autistic people do not speak at all or begin to speak very late. They understand words exclusively in the literal sense. They are unable to grasp the meaning of jokes, hints, irony, sarcasm, and metaphors, which makes socialization very difficult.

Many people with autism speak in ways that are inappropriate for the context of the situation, despite the fact that the environment is generally listening to them. Their words have no color or are very formal. Some use stereotypical forms of communication or speak as if they are reading to management. Autistic people have difficulty starting conversations. They attach too much importance to certain words and overuse them so that their language becomes stereotypical.

Children often have trouble using pronouns appropriately (I, he, you, we, you). While others exhibit pronunciation problems, have incorrect voice intonation, speak too quickly or monotonously, poorly emphasize words, “swallow” sounds, whisper under their breath, etc.

Some people on the autism spectrum exhibit obsessive interests, often very specific ones, in rote memorization of certain information (eg, birthdays of famous people, car registration numbers, bus schedules).

In others, autism may manifest itself as a desire to order the world, to bring the entire environment into certain and unchanging patterns. Each “surprise”, as a rule, causes fear and aggression.

Autism is also a lack of flexibility, stereotypical behavior patterns, impaired social interaction, difficulty adapting to standards, self-centeredness, poor body language or sensory integration disorders .

It is difficult to standardize the characteristics of an adult with autism. However, it is important that the number of cases of autism is growing from year to year and at the same time many patients remain undiagnosed, if only because of poor diagnosis of autism.

Forms of the disease

Autism is a collective concept of several serious mental disorders that have distinctive characteristics. The severe type is autism spectrum disorders, which include Rett, Kanner and Asperger syndromes. The first form is often transmitted genetically through the female line and is progressive, lasts about 12 months and is treated conservatively.

Kanner syndrome develops in 2-3 people out of 10 thousand. Men often get sick. Manifests itself as a complex of signs of autistic behavior. This form is characterized by damage to areas of the brain with progressive mental retardation. Asperger's disease has similar symptoms, but is more mild in nature.

Depending on the stage of development, mild and severe forms of the disease are distinguished. With a mild form, an autistic person can find a job and do simple, similar work.

Definition of the concept and classification

Autism is a disease caused by genetic defects in the central nervous system. As a rule, this condition is diagnosed in the first years of life.

There are a number of forms of autism in adults.

1. Kanner's syndrome. There are deviations in speech, aggressiveness, and a low level of intelligence. It is almost impossible to find an approach to such a patient.
2. Asperger's syndrome. It has similar manifestations to the previous form of the disease. In this case, it can have both a mild and complex form, but often proceeds mildly. Mild autism does not interfere with a full life in society if a person is able to overcome his timidity and fear. However, the patient may become fixated on a particular activity and spend most of his time in isolation.
3. Rett syndrome. Inherited through the female line. It is one of the most dangerous forms of this disease. Behavioral symptoms can be controlled with medications, while external and speech abnormalities cannot be eliminated with medications. Characteristic manifestations include: lack of communication, tendency to symbolize, unsociability. There are very few patients with this form. As a rule, such women do not live longer than thirty years.
4. Atypical form. There are no characteristic manifestations, which complicates the diagnostic process. Motor and speech abnormalities may be observed.
5. High functioning autism. This form is diagnosed in patients with an intelligence level above 70. Characterized by the presence of a certain or acute sensory perception, weakened immunity. The disease may be accompanied by periodic attacks of muscle cramps, intestinal irritation, and problems with the pancreas. Also characteristic is the presence of behavioral activity accompanied by sudden outbursts of aggression, a narrow range of interests, and difficulty in the socialization process.

Diagnostics

If typical symptoms appear in an adult, you need to consult a psychiatrist to get an accurate diagnosis. The specialist collects anamnesis and, if it is not possible to find contact with the patient, interviews close relatives who can describe the clinical development in detail.

During the examination, it is necessary to conduct a differential diagnosis in order to exclude such psychological diseases.

Numerous tests are used to determine autism in adults.

• The RAADS-R is also used to screen for neurosis, depression or schizophrenia.
• Aspie Quiz. The diagnosis is made on the basis of a completed test of 150 questions.
• Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Allows you to determine disorders of the somatic and nervous system under the influence of external stimuli.
• SPQ. The study helps rule out schizotypal personality disorder.
• EQ – the emotionality coefficient is assessed.
• SQ - scale establishes the level of empathy or tendency to systematize.

Treatment

After an accurate diagnosis is made, the patient is prescribed a set of therapeutic procedures. The goal is gradual social adaptation, restoration of normal quality of life and prevention of aggression towards others.

The basis of treatment for autism is behavioral intervention using specially designed psychological programs, trainings and sessions. Although these techniques are most effective for children, they can also help older patients learn basic communication and self-care skills.

With a mild form of the disease, medications are often not required, and the therapeutic effect is achieved through the qualified assistance of a psychologist.

Conservative treatment of autism is carried out with antidepressants, stimulants and antipsychotic drugs that suppress aggression and irritability. The taking of medications is controlled by the attending physician. The dosage depends on the symptoms, nature of the course and stage of the disease. In 50% of cases, with timely diagnosed autism after a course of rehabilitation, the patient leads a socially active lifestyle and can do without round-the-clock supervision of relatives or medical staff.