By Luke Russell
Jenny Russell noticed that there was something off about her two-year-old son, Luke Russell, as he wasn’t responding to social cues. At the same time, she noticed that Luke wasn’t walking properly for his age. So she was motivated to take him to Frazer’s hospital after careful consideration. There, Luke received the diagnosis of autism, which at the time was rare and barely impacted anyone. Many years have passed since Jenny Russell’s experience, and many parents have discovered that their child is autistic. Therefore, they need to know how autism impacts their children’s ability to do certain things on any given day. Autism will impact a lot about an individual, and it can be unseen or visible. When autism is first discovered at a young age, there is help to lessen the impact, such as social robots and treatment. Even with the robots and treatment available, there will always be an area of a person that is impacted by autism, sometimes for a whole lifetime. But the question remains: How does autism impact an ability to do everyday things, such as chores, on a given day, and is it the same every day? For most people with autism, the impacts are the same, but, as they get older, some of those effects wear off, even if very rare. Autism impacts at least one thing about someone, and most times more.
What is already known is that autism is a developmental condition that affects the brain. Most times, it affects communication skills, focus skills, and thinking skills. High-functioning autism has a much lesser impact, though still a significant one sometimes, then more severe autism. The most severe autism is the one where a kid is unable to remain still, speak, or live without supervision. In the world, there is at least one person that is like this and they can’t help it. According to Deborah Anderson (2013), the symptoms of autism have been known to completely wear off by age 19 in 9% of all cases. For more severe cases, though, technology such as social robots can be used to recognize the areas impacted and teach them how to manage it through learning social and cognitive skills (Shic and Goodwin, 2015). A virtual reality (VR) system is an evolving tool for older adults with autism (Kandalaft, 2012). According to Frederic Shic and Matthew Goodwin (2015), the VR tests seem to get outdated very quickly as technology, as well as autism itself, advances. Early treatments, such as detecting sensory seeking issues at 18 months, applied behavior analysis (ABA) Therapy, and Early Intervention, have helped with detecting autism by 36 months.
Another major treatment for autism that has been discovered is the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) (Al-Ayadhi, Alhowikan, and Halepoto, 2018). The CARS rates children on a scale of 1 to 4 in their ability to relate to people, their emotional responses, their imitations, their body responses, their object use, and a couple of other areas generally impacted by autism. When totaled, scores of at least 30 suggest autism, with 30-36 suggesting mild to moderate autism, and scores of 37 to 60 suggesting severe autism. Later treatments for adults include taking a virtual reality high-functioning cognitive training (VR-HCT) test that determines how good their observation is and how quickly they react. Amanda Woll, a special education teacher at Stevenson Elementary in Fridley, Minnesota, said that to detect autism in older adults, difficulties in social awareness has to be detected first or any sudden change (Woll, Amanda.woll@fridley.k12.mn.us, 2018). For all that is known about autism, there are a bunch of unknowns, too, one of which is what causes autism.
To fully understand just how autism impacts an individual on a daily basis, the causes of autism are probably just as important to know. According to John Jacob Cannel (2015), while genetic injuries are believed to be the main cause of autism, there is also speculation as to whether Vitamin D deficiency in either parent is a factor in the cause of autism. Although it has neither been proven nor disproven, there is still a theory that it could be the cause of autism. Proven theories as to what could be the cause of autism include exposure to toxins, genetic damage present in either the mother or father during pregnancy, and autoimmune diseases (Cannel, 2015). Another source argues that autism is more of a condition than a disease, and that the effects of autism aren’t hardwired in the brain, thus meaning that autism could be unpredictable and impact a different area of the brain each day (Hu, 2014). Hu also said that adult stem cells don’t always act the same way each day, proving that there is no predetermined “autism map” in the brain. This connects with the idea that autism could lose its impact on a two-year-old by age 19 (Anderson, 2013) or that an adult could still need the same treatments that Kandalaft mentioned in the VR-HCT program.
However, autism advances just as quickly as technology does, as more impacts of autism are discovered each day, and many forms of treatment for autism are quickly getting outdated, such as the said VR-HCT program (Shic and Goodwin, 2015). Nonetheless, the Likert scale included in the cognitive test rates adults on a score of 0-30 based on how well they can describe the movements of objects in space and identify the motions associated with people’s eyes, which is still a good choice to give to adults (Kandalaft, 2012). According to Wool most autism cases are usually diagnosed between ages two and six, and the fact that autism gets harder to detect as people get older makes sense, considering that some autism cases wear off (Anderson, 2013). There are still many disputed causes for autism, including vaccines, but they generally aren’t big factors related with to the causes of autism and the treatments available.
Treatments for people with autism are always available and are not too hard to get in most cases. For easy-to-use treatments for anyone with autism, social robots, which are basically robots that help children learn social skills, are among some of the easiest to use. Scientists Warren and Kaboski (as of 2015) are developing a robot system that can help kids learn social and listening skills that are necessary for everyday life (Shic and Goodwin, 2015). Autism already impacts kids’ ability to learn, so being able to understand these social and listening skills can advance their education and life. Growing up can be a challenge for many kids, and only a few schools have the capacity to educate autistic kids. Lionsgate Academy is a school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota. When it first opened in 2008, it specialized in educating more children with autism, a first for any school. Lionsgate provides a transition class that helps kids learn everyday skills like grocery shopping, laundry, and even getting together with friends which are essentials for children becoming adults. Once children become adults, there are transportation options for those who are unable to drive because of their disability and job coaches available. Amanda Woll, from Stevenson, said she believes that adults with autism are just as capable as a neurotypical adult at having and keeping a job (Woll, Amanda.woll@fridley.k12.mn.us, 2018). However, that doesn’t help the fact that only 32% of autistic adults have paid jobs as seen in Figure 1. For those in need of job, though, there is still hope that they will get a job someday. It will just take a lot of social skills.
Fig. 1: Only 32% of autistic adults work, 16% full-time (National Autistic Society, 2018).
One of the many forms of treatment available is medical marijuana for those who exhibit severe signs of repetitive resistant behaviors, such as fighting or screaming in opposition to something else (O’Nions, 2018). Severe resistance behavior has a heavy impact on the lives of kids living with autism as it makes it harder not only to find joy, but to identify other’s feelings and their ability to live alone. This resistance behavior also negatively impacts their personality. Personality has been separated into the left-brain and right-brain personalities (Melillo, 2013). The left-brain personality generally prefers ordered life and personal space, and isn’t as good at making friends, while the right-brain personality views the world as unpredictable and strong, but feels more negative emotions. Right-brain personalities may find treatments that have a more negative impact on them as a result of feeling negative emotions. A lot of research has been done to identify where autism impacts an individual, but there is one significant idea about whether or not autism impacts the same area each day that has been identified.
Fig. 2: Adult stem cells lighting up in the brain (The Stem Cellar, 2018).
One big discovery has been made by Valerie Hu that makes autism seem like a completely different condition. In a right-brained view of how autism impacts an individual, Hu (2014) mentioned that the adult stem cells in adults show differences from that of neurotypical adults in the way the brains light up when doing a task. With that being said, the stem cells being lit up at once can be different, and that the pattern is “all over the map.” This has proven that there is “no given pattern” for autism and that she argues it should be a condition rather than a disorder (Damiano-Goodwin, 2017). With no same area being impacted each day, autism can impact each individual differently each day. Researchers can use this idea when trying to study how autism impacts the individual each day, as nothing else like it exists yet. How is this a right-brained view? The view that the world is unpredictable and always changing connects to the fact that autism can be different each day, based on the fact that the personalities are determined by imbalances in the brain that “favor” either the left-or-right-brain personality (Melillo, 2013). Connecting to further research, the fact that the right-brained personality feels more negative emotions can relate to the strong resistant behavior in autistic children being higher (O’Nions, 2018). Studies are being done to limit the impact of this behavior on their personalities, but the resistance behavior isn’t always a part of their personalities. It’s just a part of their autism.
Emotions are a big part of who people are, and people with autism have a harder time showing, or even identifying, emotions. Michelle Kandalaft (2012), in her article about the use of VR for adults with autism, reviews existing research and mentions that a VR program has been used to help children with autism interpret emotions from avatars more accurately, as well as to hold their interest, among other things that autistic children would struggle with. Having a VR program to help children identify real-life emotions is a great idea, but, if they still can’t identify emotions, then something new would be needed. Tying in to the research that autistic children are known to have a strong, resistant behavior (O’Nions, 2018) and the left-and-right-brain personalities (Melillo, 2013), these traits of autistic people are known to have a huge impact on the emotions they feel every day, which is considered an impact on their lives. For instance, life can be completely miserable for an autistic child if they are stressed or treated unfairly and they can’t even identify it. As a result, they will internalize this as normal and never find peace in their lives.
It could be the other way around, as well: children will have so much peace in their life that they cannot identify when they are being bullied, which I can relate to. My mom kept me in enough comfort that it became harder for me to figure out when I was being bullied, which mainly happened when I was in 4th grade. At that time, I was walking home from school, and a kid knocked me down to the ground for no apparent reason. Given that autism impacts the emotions of the individual, this connects with Amanda’s idea that autism impacts no two people the same, and that is also true for emotions. One person may be feeling happiness and joy, while another may look happy but actually be sad each day. This makes autism similar to depression, and, unsurprisingly, they are both connected. Psychiatric disorders can drive human actions, and human actions can drive emotions, which is a trait shared by both autism and depression. (Panksepp, 2010) So, autism could actually be a cause of depression when thought of that way, but autism and depression are still separate disorders. Depression impacts mainly the emotions of an individual, while autism impacts social and thinking skills in addition to emotions.
Social and thinking skills are another area that autism impacts. Anyone with autism will also have anxiety especially in any social settings. To help children with anxiety in social settings, there are the social robots previously mentioned as a program that is up-and-coming. In the near future, a similar program will be needed because adults not previously diagnosed with autism are being diagnosed. In fact, the social symptomology that can be identified at 36 months can help tell where a kid will struggle socially as they go through childhood and even into adulthood (Damiano-Goodwin, 2017). Through sensory seeking in infants, which Damiano-Goodwin (2017) said could be a good predictor of autism; these problems can be addressed even earlier in life. With these problems known, schools can give these kids an individualized education plan (IEP) to help them succeed in their classes and beyond, as education is greatly impacted by autism. In fact, almost every kid with autism has an IEP, and every kid with autism will have a problem trying to learn something at least once in their life. That is why the social robot programs (Shic and Goodwin, 2015), the VR-HCT program based on the Likert scale (Kandalaft, 2012), and the ability to predict intellectual disabilities by age 19 for two-year olds (Anderson, 2013) are all good tests that a child with autism should receive at least once in their life. Once these tests have been done, the results can be given to any school for accommodations so that they can be successful. For the social skills part, schools have programs available for them to help learn these skills. These programs take place during school days and generally involve the child leaving the class to join a group of people in a social conversation, a game, or a discussion about their life. Not only does the kid receive help in being a part of a social conversation, but he or she also makes friends as well. Not all autistic people are good at making friends due to stereotypes that may be noticeable upon meeting, and that makes for possibly a lifetime of distrust and lack of friendship.Autism can have either a largely positive or negative experience on one’s ability to have friendships that last. Although it is not the focus of this research, the basis of autism’s impact on friendship can be connected with all of the other research. For instance, Amanda mentioned that autism impacts how an individual communicates and interacts with others, which has a significant impact on friendship (Woll, Amanda.woll@fridley.k12.mn.us, 2018). They may not be able to communicate with others at first, but through treatment like Kaboski and Warren’s robot system (Shic and Goodwin, 2015) or even the ABA therapy, they may be less vulnerable. The vulnerability may be a side effect of the child’s resistant behavior which is uncontrolled and a part of their autism (O’Nions, 2018). Small parts of one’s autism are generally going to impact their ability to make friends, but it isn’t always because of the social communication.
Fig. 3: People with autism will have a harder time identifying almost every scenario listed in the picture above. (Google Images, 2018)
Social communication is a small part of what impacts someone’s ability to make friends. Their ability to make friends can be defined by how the world perceives autistic people or those with any form of disability. People with disability is already viewed lower by the general public as the internet will make fun of them through memes and forums. Away from the internet, most people base their opinions of others on who is most like them, and autistic people are never like them. Autistic people, despite sharing some similar left-brain and right-brain personalities, may not be able to relate to others as easily, which was defined by Robert Melillo in his book “Predicting Young Adult Outcome among More and Less Cognitively Able Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders” (pg. 193). In her book, she said that there is only, at most, a 10% imbalance in traits defining the two personalities, further concluding that everyone is either left-brain or right-brain.
Right-brained people are less likely to negatively view autism due to their outgoing personality, but those with left-brain personalities will never want to be around those with autism. Autism can impact the emotions of the affected as Melillo states: “Add up all the areas in which you did not detect an imbalance and the areas in which the imbalance signified the left brain and the right brain.” (pg. 193). Right-brained personalities may be the ones that have worse lives and a more negative view of themselves, but those with left-brain personalities will generally have fewer friends and more structure, which can be said about both the autistic and non-autistic. Autistic people won’t generally have fewer friends than the non-autistic; it’s more based on Melillo’s research about the personality that defines friendship as a whole.
Autism as a whole has a lot of impact on the individual regardless of age. As age progresses, some of the effects of autism dissipate while others remain. Deborah K. Anderson (2013) mentioned this happens in only 9% of all cases, so the possibility of someone who was autistic at age two no longer being autistic at age 19 is pretty rare. While that is rare, autism is becoming more common as the number of new autism diagnosis cases has increased. Now one in sixty-eight persons are being diagnosed with autism, while one in eighty-eight were diagnosed in 2012. Since 2012, autism research has increased, just like how technology has been improving over the years, as reported by both Frederic Shic and Matthew Goodwin (2015). Woll has mentioned the same phenomenon in her research on autism, saying “more research is being done to learn more about autism, and what strategies or methods are available to help individuals with autism.” (Woll, Amanda.woll@fridley.k12.mn.us, 2018).
Strategies and methods that can be used to treat severe autism symptoms are many and growing, for all ages, from social robots for kids needing to learn simple social cues to VR-based programs for adults needing further help identifying changes in behavior or action. For those with autism, identifying social cues or changes in behavior is difficult, and some of them will never be able to identify them on their own. If they can’t identify this on their own, how will they be able to do most anything in the world? That is why there is an increasing availability for treatments such as social robots, the ABA therapy, and the need for an updated VR-HCT program.
Fig. 4: Music therapy is used as a treatment for an autistic girl. (Kelly’s Thoughts on Things, 2016)
Even if some autism research is still needed, there are many future treatment options, like music therapy and even animal therapy. Animal therapy is already known for its comforting impact on ill and dying people, and could also have a positive impact on those with severe enough autism. Next to animal therapy is music therapy. Though kids with autism have sensitive ears, an auditory integrative training (AIT) program is being used to improve their hearing (Al-Ayadhi, Alhowikan, and Halepoto, 2018). This AIT program would bring about a “reeducation” of the hearing process, and using music therapy would work well. Music therapy is used to calm children when they are feeling stressed out after a long day or a difficult time. Whether it be music therapy, animal therapy, or even nature, there is a lot of hope that more treatments would be available in the future.
From the young age that autism is discovered, most likely at age two, there is always an area in an autistic person’s mind that will be impacted. Impacts are generally either very small (being unable to identify one motion or action), in between (focus problems that impact them in school, their ability to relate to others), or huge (an inability to control their body, they can’t be in a huge crowd.) People will see someone with autism either positively or negatively based on what type of person they are. People’s stereotypes can generally define who they are, but autism defines a person more than others think. Because of this, they may struggle at identifying emotions, they may be really smart and become the President, or they may never control their body. Since those statements can be said about people, there is an increasing demand for research and treatments. A lot of treatments are already available and new discoveries for autism are being made each year, which leads to the discovery of new treatments. However, these new treatments generally cost a lot and are hard to access. As they become more common, the demand will increase, and there is only so much supply for them. Autism research is advancing at the same rate as technology, and the impacts it has on the individual will only rise, as if there isn’t already a lot of them. However, people with autism still have potential. They may research the disability they have someday wanting to learn more and will deepen our understanding of the condition. We now know how autism can impact an individual’s day as this article comes to a close.
Works Cited
Al-Ayadhi, L., Alhowikan, A. M., & Halepoto, D. M. (2018). Impact of Auditory Integrative Training on Transforming Growth Factor-β1 and Its Effect on Behavioral and Social Emotions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Medical Principles and Practice,27(1), 23-29. doi:10.1159/000486572
Anderson, D. K., Liang, J. W., & Lord, C. (2013). Predicting young adult outcome among more and less cognitively able individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,55(5), 485-494. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12178
Cannell, John Jacob. Autism Causes, Prevention & Treatment : Vitamin D Deficiency and the Explosive Rise of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Sunrise River Press, 2015. EBSCOhost, nhcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=954433&s….
Damiano-Goodwin, C. R., Woynaroski, T. G., Simon, D. M., Ibañez, L. V., Murias, M., Kirby, A., . . . Cascio, C. J. (2018). Developmental sequelae and neurophysiologic substrates of sensory seeking in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience,29, 41-53. doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2017.08.005
Hu, Valerie W. Frontiers in Autism Research: New Horizons for Diagnosis and Treatment. World Scientific, 2014. EBSCOhost, nhcproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=810378&s…
Kandalaft, M. R., Didehbani, N., Krawczyk, D. C., Allen, T. T., & Chapman, S. B. (2012). Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,43(1), 34-44. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1544-6
Melillo, Robert. Autism: the Scientific Truth about Preventing, Diagnosing, and Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders– and What Parents Can Do Now. Penguin Group, 2013.
O’Nions, E., Viding, E., Floyd, C., Quinlan, E., Pidgeon, C., Gould, J., & Happé, F. (2017). Dimensions of difficulty in children reported to have an autism spectrum diagnosis and features of extreme/‘pathological’ demand avoidance. Child and Adolescent Mental Health,23(3), 220-227. doi:10.1111/camh.12242