How Do Repetitive Behaviors Affecting Autistic Children?

Autistic spectrum condition is a lifelong disability which affects how an individual communicates and relates to, other people. The understanding of autism has greatly improved since the 1940s when it was identified and one thing that we are aware of is that there is no cure however, there are many things that can be done to support people with autism. There are a large number of symptoms that are in relation to autism, such as a delay in speech development, not responding when their name is called and despite being able to hear, being intolerant of others entering their personal space. In addition to these, there are behavioural symptoms such as insisting on a familiar routine and becoming very anxious or upset if this is disrupted or changed, they will sometime talk at people rather than having a two-way conversation and a failure to understand or implement social rules.

Autism is a developmental disability caused by neurological dysfunction. It affects the way a person understands and responds to the world, how they hear, see, feel, sense, perceive and interpret everything around them. This may affect how they eat, sleep, dress, work, spend leisure time etc. They are likely to have repetitive behaviour

This paper is a summary of two articles, Practical Oral Care for People with Autism and Practical Oral Care for People with Down syndrome. They talked about separately in this paper. First talked about was Autistic and how oral care is important for them to maintain. Though when being the health care provider you need to be educated on how to interact with this patient because you use different techniques than a regular patient. The Down syndrome patient is other techniques that a health care provider should be aware of. And for both of these patients you will learn strategies when it comes to examining or assessing these types of patient’s oral care. Oral care is important for every patient frankly because it is a place bacteria like to live. It will be our duty to teach our patients and these two articles that was used in the paper should help prepare you for the moment.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a name that is used for a group of developmental disorders. Children with Autism have great difficulty with bonding emotionally with others, they find it hard to make eye contact with others, communicate their feelings and express themselves to the people who are closet to them. Autism effects the brain which inhibits these children to interact, communicate, and concentrate. A child with Autism will display behavior such as, repetitive behavior, rocking, flapping hands, repetition of words, and will want to always arrange objects.

Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.

Autism is described by many struggles in behavior, social situations, verbal and nonverbal abilities and sensory difficulties (Rotatori et al. 2003). Children with this disorder often display abnormal enactments because of the troubles one have with returning to her environment. Behavior difficulties may perhaps arise as the effect of her amplified sensitivity to a noise, visual or what she felt.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) consist of a wide range of neurobiologic disorders that affect a person’s everyday life (Park et al., 2016). Approximately 2 million Americans and their families are affected by an ASD (Darby, 2015, 929). It is important to involve the patient, the caregiver, and the dental staff in order to provide adequate care and oral hygiene instructions. The hygienist should plan out a treatment plan in regards to special considerations, drug-induced oral manifestations, and the types of medications a patient can be prescribed. The hygienist will need to develop a treatment plan that is accustomed to that particular individual based on the patient’s learning abilities.

The DSM 5 defines autism spectrum disorder as a persistent deficit in social communication and interaction across various areas. The deficits occur in the areas of social and emotional functioning, non-verbal communicative behaviors, and fostering relationships. The DSM 5 also includes repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as factors to consider when seeking to understand if a child has autism. The child can become fixated on specific objects, strongly adhere to schedules or ritualized patterns. When patterns are broken, the child has a difficult time transitioning to a new schedule or pattern of existence. Additionally, the child may be hyper or hyperactivity to various sensory aspects of the environment. As denoted

Some individuals with autism develop an intense interest in things to the exclusion of other things going on around them and their interest could seem almost ‘obsessive’ to most people. It is sometimes possible to ‘channel’ an individual’s interest and use it as a way of supporting them to develop skills and knowledge, for example, using the bus timetable to assist with numeracy skills or independent living. Some individuals with autism may feel the need to calm their anxiety or to stimulate themselves; this can be seen through self-stimulatory behaviours such as spinning, pacing, waving hands in front of face. There are times were individuals may display repetitive movements and behaviour.

Autism according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as “a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, to commutate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns.” Autism was believed to be a psychiatric or emotional illness, and doctors told mothers that they were the cause. They were wrong. The cause for autism is still a mystery, however, the facts remain that autism in children is on the rise. Erin Allday of the San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Environmental factors play a more important role in causing autism than previously assumed and, surprisingly, an even larger role than genetic.” There are theories based on that

Children with autism usually play alone. Often they engage in repetitious activities, such as arranging objects in meaningless patterns, flipping a light switch on and off, or staring at rotating objects. Some engage in repetitious body movements, such as spinning, flapping their arms, swaying, rocking, snapping their fingers, and clapping or flapping their hands. In some cases these movements may be harmful, involving repeated biting of their wrists or banging their head. Children with autism frequently become upset at minor changes in their surroundings and daily routines.

Finally, the third and broadest area of impairment is repetitive behaviors. Autistic children often exhibit some degree of a repetitive behavior that can range anywhere from mild to extreme. This can include a variety of actions such as constantly rocking back and forth, toe-walking, eye-rolling, spinning, and clapping. The child could have set routines that they feel a need to obsessively follow every day. This can even take the form of an overly focused interest on something that the child enjoys such as science, music, or art. When these repetitive actions are observed in the child over long periods of time they are then referred to as “stereotypic behaviors“.

A child who lies on the Autism Spectrum (AS), “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by repetitive and characteristic patterns of behavior and difficulties with social communication and interaction. The symptoms are present from early childhood and affect daily functioning,” (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2015) “the vital characters of autism include a impairment in social interaction and communication and a highly restricted area of activities and interests. Similarly, individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome and other disorders on the autism spectrum also display a sustained impairment in social interaction and develop restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, often referred to as stereotypical. Stereotyped behaviors include repetitive mannerisms such as finger flicking, whole body rocking, and repetitive

      Autism is a disability that can create a barrier between the individual and his or her friends, family, and community. This disability often interferes with an individual’s ability to communicate, interact with others, engage in play or leisure skills, and to relate to the world around them. People with autism may exhibit repetitive movements, have unusual responses to people, be resistant to change and demonstrate aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior.

Repetitive behaviors like head banging and repetitive routines are consistent for individuals with autism. If the routine is disturbed, he or she screams and throws a temper tantrum (Wing, 24). Like their need for consistency in routines, autistics also need and demand absolute consistency in their environment. Changes in their environment cause them to act negatively (“Autism”). And individual with autism has a different sensory system than normal people, the stimulations are affected differently. For example, they have oversensitivity to light and this oversensitivity may cause seizures (“Autism”). At least one quarter of children with autism have an epilectic seizure before they become an adult. Other behaviors that may occur are high levels or anxiety, odd fears (ex. of color or shape), and emotions that change from one extreme to the other (Wing 31+; Siegel 49).