Answer

Autism Support across the Life-Span

Section 1

Introduction of the Case

Autism is a type of neurodevelopmental disorder, whose characteristics include impairment regarding social interaction, restricted and repetitive conduct, as well as communicating verbally or non-verbally. In most cases, this condition is relevantly seen in children who are under the age of two years. In line with this, autism tends to reveal its symptoms on the victim gradually as the child continues to develop and then it takes a normal pace before regressing. The cause of this condition is both genetically as well as environmentally associated (Meltzer et al., 2018). In the past few years, many physicians incorporation with scholars in the relevant field have joined efforts to devise methodologies that would take the initiative of making children with autism overcome this social disorder.

In the case of Charlie, the prospects are relatively the same. During his early childhood, Charlie appeared to be possessing distinct characteristics, which one would easily associate with autism (Fombonne, 2018). According to his parents, Charlie has always had a problem when it comes to communication skills. He does not talk much but when he does, it becomes relatively challenging for others to conceptualize. What Is more, Charlie’s educators find him to be rather peculiar. From their reports, it became apparent that Charlie’s behavior in terms of walking and socializing is rather different from those of his peers.

Respectively, Charlie’s educator proposed an autism assessment but the boy’s parents were adamant in supporting this assertion. Luckily, Charlie’s parents had a friend who was proficient with autism cases and so they approached him for further advice (Fombonne, 2018). To their surprise, some of the traits suggested by the educator were irrelevant but the practitioner suggested that Charlie should be enrolled in a childcare center that specialized in speech and language therapy as well as occupational therapy. After attending some classes, it became apparent that Charlie’s transition was blossoming indicating that his sensory challenges were being managed quite effectively. Conclusively, Charlie was not suffering from autism rather he was focusing so hard on identifying all the cues that came naturally to other children of his age.

Development of Early Years Support Knowledge in Autism

While diagnosing and providing specific intervention for children with autism, specialist and early childhood providers have to play an active role in helping children with autism or other developmental disabilities (Meltzer et al., 2018). By utilizing developmentally appropriate interventions, tracing developmental markers, communicating with guardians, and being cognizant of the existing community-based resources, education and early care providers can make imperative contributions to the lives of children with autism.

Observations documented by early years’ educators, practitioners and guardians can provide essential information to all specialists involved in the diagnostic process, particularly if these observations align with three parts of the triad. The first part is observing the child’s social interactions. Under this section, early providers have to determine whether the child returns a smile, comes for comfort whenever disturbed, gets upset, can take turns when playing simple games, or makes the first move when seeking interactions with peers (Robertson & Baron-Cohen, 2017). The second part involves observing the child’s communication skills. Under this section, providers have to identify if the child used social gestures when expressing specific things, whether the child follows your gaze when you look at certain things across the room, has a problem when pronouncing words. The third area is judging the flexibility of the child’s behavior. This could be achieved by observing if the child allows others to join in a play, has unusual sensory sensitivity, or follows specific routines.

Key Issues of the Case

Determining whether a child is autistic or not has been relatively challenging for early caregivers and doctors due to the limited tests for diagnosing the disorder (Meltzer et al., 2018). However, many tend to depend on the child’s behavior and developmental history before making a diagnosis. In Charlie’s case, the controversy was present in that his educators identified certain traits associated with autism but the physicians found it otherwise.

Despite the physician’s assertions, I would recommend a genetic examination of the parents to determine the pattern (De la Torre-Ubieta et al., 2016). Researchers have established that genes have a direct link to autism in that if one of the family members has had a history with the ailment then the probability of Charlie being autistic would be certain.

Another issue that the physicians could address is the environmental factors that contribute to autism. Some of the known environmental risk factors associated with autism include advanced parental age during conception, exposure to air pollution before conception, maternal obesity, immune disorder or diabetes, prematurity during conception, and difficulties experienced during conception. I know that this factor alone can hardly lead to autism but they have been proved to increase the risks of a child developing autism in conjunction with genetic factors.

As the caregiver to Charlie, I would start by determining whether there has been any previous exposure to air pollution. If by chance the parents lived close to a freeway or a firm that used to spray insecticides in significant amounts then the risk factor of the child being autistic would be relatively high (Robertson & Baron-Cohen, 2017). Also, I would look into the condition of the parents during conception. Under this area, I would assess whether the parents had a medical condition such as diabetes or obesity before delivery. These conditions change the DNA of an individual which would later interfere with the child’s brain development and possibly leading to autism (De la Torre-Ubieta et al., 2016).

Providing care for a child with autism is less burdening than when caring for an adult with autism. However, the type of care that an autistic child is exposed to will determine whether the condition will deteriorate or worsen (Robertson & Baron-Cohen, 2017). Therefore, it is imperative to give exceptional care if one desires a recovery process. 

Rationale of Early Years Experiences

During development, the caregiver has to be apt when modeling the behavioral traits of an autistic child. Young children with this order exhibit unusually social behaviors associated with introverts. In most cases, their body language, gestures, or facial expression do not match with what they say (Volkmar & Reichow, 2013). Also, they may appear disinterested with other people or will unlikely approach others. Limited social interactions will be relatively challenging for the child with autism as well as the caregiver.

If Charlie was autistic, then he would develop antisocial behaviors. These behaviors would make him defiant to disorders. In a broader perspective, Charlie would develop to be a troublesome child and would hardly follow instructions from his elders (Lord et al., 2018). In a worst-case scenario, Charlie would lack conscience and empathy, become abusive, aggressive, arrogant, and lack remorse when he makes a mistake.

As for the caregiver, this experience will be detrimental both physically and emotionally. This is because correcting the behaviors of an autistic child requires patience and endurance (Lord et al., 2018). Caregivers ought to understand that dealing with a repulsive child can be challenging in that one would easily despair to the assigned duties.

Section 2

Changes and Challenges

As a caregiver recording, the behavioral changes of Charlie during his development will help determine the child’s progress and cues that require more attention to rectify certain traits. I would first analyze the maladaptive behaviors that are usually exhibited at the early stages of the child’s life. These are the behaviors that interfere with the child’s day-to-day functioning and they include uncooperative behaviors, aggression, and self-injury (Weitlauf et al., 2017). In line with enhancement in autism symptoms, these traits could like reduce as the child approaches the adolescent stage. A reduction of the maladaptive behaviors suggests that Charlie would likely recover from his condition.

As Charlie transitions to high school, the trajectory of autistic behaviors changes drastically. At this stage, Charlie will be meeting with different people having different traits which would either inspire or demotivate his ambitions. By virtue that his peers will find him antisocial many will tend to ignore his presence (Volkmar & Reichow, 2013). With this, I would expect Charlie to consider dropping out of school owing to the negative treatment he has been experiencing at the school. Dropping out of school marks a turning point in Charlie’s maladaptive behavior and would likely worsen as he develops to adulthood.

The main challenge that I would experience when offering care to Charlie is effective communication. Charlie may possess severe anxiety issues but will lack expression abilities (Weitlauf et al., 2017). By virtue that Charlie is unable to communicate his feeling of disturbance, distress, or anxiety, it would be rather challenging to diagnose anxiety or depressive states.

Another challenge is behavioral transitions to different situations or environments. Autistic children have a hard time adapting to a new environment. Most of them prefer being around familiar figures to be comfortable (Weitlauf et al., 2017). In the case of Charlie, I would expect him to disregard going to school or being close to his peers.

Support needs for Children with Autism

Learning all the factors associated with autism as well as getting involved in the treatment process will help a child to recover from the condition. As a caregiver, the first form of support that I would give to Charlie is being consistent with the treatment approach. Autistic children have a challenge when applying what they have learned from one setting to another (Volkmar & Reichow, 2013). For instance, Charlie may use certain symbols to communicate at school, but many never are comfortable using them at home. Creating consistency in Charlie’s environment is the most effective way to reinforce learning. With this, I will explore the possibility of having the therapy applied in different places to encourage Charlie to transfer what he has learned from one setting to another.

Another supportive measure that I will be using on Charlie is rewarding good traits. Positive reinforcement has been considered as another effective measure for children with autism (Weitlauf et al., 2017). Since it’s hard to notice all the good deeds that Charlie will be doing, I will have to make an effort of following him closely until I catch him doing something good. I will later praise him for acting appropriately giving him an assurance that good deeds are recommended and positively rewarded.

Section 3

Reflection on Impact of Changes in Generational Knowledge

Current studies on autism and its causes are still limited with the sample size. This hinders the effectiveness of any proposed remedy to controlling the disorder. However, scholars have been able to ascertain that autism cans be managed effectively among children as compared to the elderly (Romski et al., 2015). During early development, caregivers are provided with the opportunity to enhance a child’s cognitive sensors to the adjacent environment. Molding the behavioral traits of an autistic child before he or she reaches adolescence gives him or her a chance to adapt to new behaviors that will suppress the disorder.

I have also learned that the best approach to use for enhancing the social traits among children with autism is developing their communication skills (Romski et al., 2015). Early caregivers have to focus more on the type of language, comprehension skills, speech, systematic relations, symbols, and grammatical forms. Nevertheless, these methods have proved to be challenging since young children often find it difficult to comprehend languages. 

Respectively, practitioners have come to understand that targeting the first words as well as single word vocabularies that a young child uses acts as the entry point to enhance a symbolic language style (Mackin, 2013). The introduction of language interventions that focus on language skills after the first words have been pronounced, is also critical if caregivers aim to develop advanced language interventions.

In conclusion, determining whether or not a child is autistic is challenging since the ailment has traits that are similar to other disorders.  However, researchers have been able to determine that affirming biological and environmental factors will help caregivers to know if a child is at the risk of being autistic or not. In case a child has autism, caregivers have to focus on developing the communication and social cues before the child reaches adolescence as it will reduce the severity of the disorder as the individual approaches adulthood.