Autism
Additional Aspects
Date First Published: April 2, 2007
Date Last Updated: October 30, 2008
Individuals with autism often experience significant challenges in areas other than the core three described above. These include:
Unusual Sensory Experiences
People with autism often have unusual responses to sensory stimuli. 1 They may be hypersensitive -- that is, over-sensitive -- to some of the information coming from their senses. They may find common textures, tastes, smells, noises, or lights unbearable, or they may shrink from another person’s touch. At the same time, they may be hyposensitive --t hat is, under-sensitive -- to other stimuli, or sometimes even to the same ones. 2 Noise can be experienced as so nerve wracking that a child claps his hands over his ears and retreats into a closet, or noise can be utterly ignored to such an extent that a child with intact hearing appears deaf. It is part of the perplexing puzzle of autism.
In many studies, children with autism have been shown to experience such sensory issues much more often than either typically developing children or children with developmental issues other than autism. 3,4,5 Unusual sensory experiences can therefore serve as a “red flag” for the disorder.
See also: Challenging Behaviors: Sensory Issues
Mental Retardation
A significant number of people with autism are also mentally retarded. Although it was once claimed that 70-80% of those with autism suffered from mental retardation, it is now believed that number is lower, partly because of the inclusion of higher functioning individuals in the “autistic” category, but also because of gains made due to better early intervention. 6
When there is mental retardation, it can range from mild to profound. 7 Whatever degree of mental retardation is present, it will surely further complicate both assessments and interventions, as supporters of all kinds struggle to reach out and help through the barriers presented by another layer of disability. For parents and other day-to-day caregivers, it can make things that much harder, pushing developmental milestones – such as dressing oneself, self-feeding, and toileting -- out to much later ages, if these are ever achieved at all.
Read our IAN Research Report #2 to learn what families participating IAN Research -- the nation's largest online autism research project -- are telling us about their children, mental retardation, and IQ.
Seizures
A significant minority of individuals with autism also have epilepsy. The precise prevalence rate for this is not known, although various studies have placed it somewhere between 20 and 33%. 8 Epilepsy, which is defined as two unprovoked seizures, begins to occur most often in people with autism either before 5 years of age or after 10 years of age, but it may begin at any time. Epilepsy in autism is highly associated with mental retardation, and those with normal or near-normal intelligence have a low risk of developing it. 9 “Epilepsy,” writes one researcher, “should be routinely investigated in individuals with autism because it is relatively common, especially in clinical and age-defined sub-groups.” 10
Regression
Although most children with autism are socially different from birth, there is a subset who develop normally, or nearly so, achieving expected developmental milestones and learning a few words until, usually between the ages of 18 and 20 months, language progress stalls, words once known are lost, and the desire to relate socially declines. 11 It has been claimed that approximately 25% -30% of individuals with autism have experienced regression. 12,13 However, recent studies indicate that the percentage may actually be somewhat lower. 14,15 This finding of fewer cases could be due to increased awareness of symptoms that occur at much younger ages. Such symptoms might have been overlooked in an earlier era, such that many cases of autism were called “regressive” when they in fact were not.
(Please note: a loss of words or skills taking place after the age of 2 years is not indicative of autism, but of Childhood Disintegrative Disorder – a serious condition similar to, but which manifests later than, autism.)
Read our IAN Research Report #6 to learn what families participating IAN Research -- the nation's largest online autism research project -- are telling us about their children with ASD and regression.
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