Brief Overview Of Different Autism Spectrum Disorders

By Karen Barta

Autism affects many children less than the age of 3 and typically carries into adulthood. There are a some different autism spectrum disorders that tend to cause the child problems with social activities and cause them to have communication difficulties. This condition has different symptoms and they can vary from person to person.

The following list categorizes just a few of the autism spectrum disorders that are typically seen. They are the most common, but there are other types as well.

1. One of the main symptoms of Autism disorder is the inability of child to understand body language. Another problem associated with the disorder is the child's lack of conversational skills and language skills in general. There are many treatments and therapies that can assist with this kind of disorder that help the child develop stronger communication skills.

2. Another commonly seen disorder that has a few key differences from autism is Asperger syndrome. Although it falls under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorders, people that have Asperger's seem to focus their energies on certain subjects or things and are not distracted by the environment that immediately is around them.

A child that is affected by an autism spectrum disorder may have problems in regards to social interaction, such as normal conversational skills. They also might obsess over a specific subject or item and find it very hard to interpret body language.

Through various types of cures, folk with autism spectrum disorder can have the chance to live a fairly ordinary life. Treatments are available to help in the developmental skills that will permit people with the disorder to look after themselves and learn to be independent. Talk to the child's physician about the differing types of treatments which will best benefit the child with the disorder. - 30237

About the Author:

You can receive excellent Colorado Speech Pathology from Karen Barta. She provides speech articulation therapy in addition to working with people of all ages - from young to seniors.

What To Do If You Are Afflicted With Dysphagia

By Karen Barta

Dysphagia is a serious clinical condition accompanied by difficulty in swallowing. Persons, who are afflicted with this grave ailment, may find it extremely difficult in gulping food in either solid or liquid form. At the same time there are others who are quite unable to swallow any kind of food at all. This condition makes it almost impossible for them to get the required calories, so that they begin to lose weight in an alarming manner. As such, it is absolutely necessary to treat the disorder without any delay so that issues like malnutrition and other similar conditions that are harmful to an individual's health, can be avoided before it is too late.

What Causes Dysphagia?

There are a number of causes of dysphagia. The most common cause is stroke or other head injury, but dysphagia can occur with some illnesses, such as Parkinson's or cerebral palsy, with an infection or irritation that can cause swelling of the esophagus, or it may occur as a result of a birth defect, such as cleft palate. Some cancer treatments may affect the ability to swallow as well.

Are There Treatments?

Treatment of dysphagia depends on the basic cause. To find out the cause, a doctor will employ various methods such as medication or even surgery. If such methods do not produce any tangible results, the doctor might advise a patient to consult a speech-language pathologist, even if there is nothing wrong with his or her faculty of speech. After further testing, the pathologist will devise a plan of treatment according to the specific impairment of the sufferer.

A speech therapist will look for weak muscles in the mouth, throat, or tongue and address any coordination issues that appear to affect the swallowing mechanism. The therapist may use exercises to strengthen the swallowing muscles or teach the patient new ways to swallow.

Why Not Just Leave It Alone?

If you just leave dysphagia alone, serious problems can raise their heads because there is no prompt treatment. In such a case, something worse than the inability to retain the proper weight can occur. Food or liquid can get trapped either in the windpipe or pharynx, helping bacteria to grow in the area and even cause pneumonia. Dysphagia can weaken the esophagus by developing a pocket that can trap food particles, thereby preventing the passing of food or liquid to the stomach. While the patient is asleep, this trapped food can slide into the pharynx, causing acute infection.

Most cases of dysphagia can be treated and improved when addressed quickly. - 30237

About the Author:

You can receive excellent Colorado Speech Pathology from Karen Barta. She provides stuttering therapy in addition to working with people of all ages - from young to seniors.