As of 2002 autism affected 66 out of 10,000 people in the United States. With its growing prevalence, it is becoming even more important to get a proper diagnosis for autism so that the children can receive the best treatment available. Even though autism is not curable it can be managed and children can learn how to cope if therapy is introduced early. Autism is characterized by lack of social skills, impairments in communication or particular obsessions. Since a large part of autism is a lack of empathy, a lot of the therapy that is offered for autistic individuals is behavioral therapy.
I am personally affected by autism because my youngest brother who is now 17 years of age was diagnosed with Asperger’s, a subset of autism approximately 2 or 3 years ago. Asperger’s is not as severe as autism, and individuals with this disorder are very often viewed as normal individuals, they just don’t have as many social networks because they lack the capability to relate to others in the same capacity. My brother does lack some social skills, throughout elementary school and junior high school he was often made fun of for being different. But I think one of the most distinguishing characteristics looking back now was his obsessions. His obsessions often changed over the years, but during them he was totally and completely absorbed. During his toddler years he was totally and completely obsessed with Superman, for about a year and a half he even insisted that everyone call him Superman. The next phase of his obsessions was horses; he had imaginary horses that he would call to so they could follow us every time we drove anywhere. Next was Hotwheel cars, he had over 300 at one point. Then he started collecting fishing lures, which was an odd obsession because he hates eating fish, putting worms on the hook grossed him out, and he refused to take the fish off the line. As a 10 year old, his tackle box collection would make any seasoned fisherman jealous. His current obsession is archery, no one in our family has ever introduced him to bows and arrows, but he spent his entire summer working to make money to buy a very expensive bow to just practice with since he isn’t a hunter. Often times children have passions and hobbies, but few are as dedicated and committed to them as my brother, or other autistic individuals. Perhaps their dedication is something we should envy? To have such passion about something, anything, maybe we could accomplish so much more in life and have so much more depth to our learning.
A Rotating Obsession: Autism Diagnosis and Treatment
