Neuroplasticity is the brain’s innate ability to rewire itself and it simply means brain connections can grow and re-organize. Neuroplasticity can relocate brain functions from one part of the brain to another during infancy and during early stages of child development. Neuroplasticity is beneficial, it can help parents and their children manage their emotional well-being. It is commonly known as neural plasticity or brain plasticity and is of two types, structural and functional.
The human brain is more flexible, between birth and 2 years of age, between 4 and 6 years of age and around puberty.
Autism is a developmental disorder in children that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. The range and severity of symptoms varies widely. In India, yearly over 1 million children are found affected with this disorder.
Autism is commonly associated with a rigid, repetitive behavior pattern with impaired social interaction, communication and imagination. The risk for autism is 3-4 times higher in boys than girls.
Autism is often confused with mental retardation or other language disabilities. The first 6 years of an autistic person’s life is when intervention has the biggest benefit. The brain’s neuroplasticity, or ability to change, is the most during that period.
Causes:
Clinical Features
Care-givers have a key role in identifying Autistic children early. Onset of symptoms is before 3 years of age and in few cases as early as 18 months.
The first signs of Autism can also appear in children who seem to have been developing normally. When an engaging, babbling toddler suddenly becomes silent, withdrawn, self-abusive or indifferent socially, something is wrong.
Most noticeable feature is inability to develop normal social skills with lack of eye-contact, gestures and facial expressions. Such children understand little or no language and hence fail to acquire speech.
Younger children also have deficient comprehension and communicative use of speech and gestures.
Autistic children do not engage in pretend play, which generally starts before the age of 2 in normal children. Inability to concentrate may prevent children from engaging in meaningful activity or social interaction. Approx. 75% of autistic children are mentally retarded and their cognitive level is significantly associated with severity of autistic symptoms. In addition, half of autistic patients have abnormalities on EEG.
Management
Early and accurate diagnosis of autism is of prime importance as early disease intervention is crucial to child’s progress. Most important intervention is early and intensive remedial education addressing behavioral and communication disorders. Hence, this gives an opportunity for experts to intervene sooner.
Behavioral cues to pre-defined criteria and classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) helps experts to detect and diagnose Autism. The expert should identify behavioral markers of autism in children aged between 18 months and five years.
Numerous studies show children with Autism & ADHD are identified and diagnosed earlier. Children with autism, ADHD have more medical visits during infancy.
The traditional approach of a clinician is to repetitively note the responses of a child to a variety of stimuli, observe poor eye contact, behavioral markers, etc.
The problems of autistic children are multi-dimensional and require holistic approach. An accurate and sequential clinical history of evolution of autism gives more information than a time-consuming medical examination and costly, expensive investigations.
Many children are diagnosed too late to receive full benefit of early intervention. Diagnosis should not be confused with mental retardation or language disabilities.
The youngster is always and constantly refining oneself. Autism tends to improve as children begin to acquire language skills. Most children with Autism will remain dependent to some degree as adults. Those children with adequate social skills can lead an almost independent life. Parents must understand that they are not responsible for their child’s condition. They should be informed about proper schools and support groups and such facilities.
The earlier diagnosed autism is the better chances exist for improvement since the brain is a flexible and adaptive organ. The brain’s ability to change and adapt itself, i.e. neuroplasticity is more in the first 6 years. About 90% of the brain’s development in children occurs within the first 5 years.