How is autism actually treated? You hear people saying the diagnosis changed their kids life or it’s important to be diagnosed early, but how?
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Finding out you’re autistic in your mid 20s or beyond is helpful but rough. “Ooooh…” to pretty much your entire life. Higher functioning autistic people who go undiagnosed are square pegs trying to fit into a round hole in a sense that’s really hard to understand unless you go through it.
You hopefully learn some coping mechanisms, you play the part, but the thought of being diagnosed different, especially in your *brain* of all things, is terrifying.
An early diagnosis means a few things. It’s not a surprise or huge deal to the kid later on in life. Your brain works differently, that’s how it is, here’s how you make it work in this world built for people whose brains work this way. Think lefty in a right handed world. Ideally, all the coping mechanisms one would need are taught to them young, rather than self learned over a lifetime. They aren’t shocked to find out at the age of 30 that many of the things they’d struggled with their entire life were just a difference in how the brain works rather than some fault of their own- they’re just told young that they’re wired differently.
Sorry, haven’t spoken much about treatment as that’s not really my place to, but that’s why an earlier diagnose is important.
Finding out you’re autistic in your mid 20s or beyond is helpful but rough. “Ooooh…” to pretty much your entire life. Higher functioning autistic people who go undiagnosed are square pegs trying to fit into a round hole in a sense that’s really hard to understand unless you go through it.
You hopefully learn some coping mechanisms, you play the part, but the thought of being diagnosed different, especially in your *brain* of all things, is terrifying.
An early diagnosis means a few things. It’s not a surprise or huge deal to the kid later on in life. Your brain works differently, that’s how it is, here’s how you make it work in this world built for people whose brains work this way. Think lefty in a right handed world. Ideally, all the coping mechanisms one would need are taught to them young, rather than self learned over a lifetime. They aren’t shocked to find out at the age of 30 that many of the things they’d struggled with their entire life were just a difference in how the brain works rather than some fault of their own- they’re just told young that they’re wired differently.
Sorry, haven’t spoken much about treatment as that’s not really my place to, but that’s why an earlier diagnose is important.
The biggest thing with diagnosis, especially early diagnosis, is the knowing. When you have a name for something, you also have resources and support. My son has a disorder with symptoms that overlap with autism and he was diagnosed right around age 2 – had we gotten him diagnosed later, we’d have had a much rougher time of it.
When people aren’t given proper supports for a disorder, they tend to develop maladaptive coping methods, fail to succeed, etc. If someone knows that they struggle to make eye contact because they’re autistic, they can learn ways to cope with that and know they aren’t just weird. Many people with ADHD, for instance, are told they’re lazy, or scatterbrained, or a flake, etc, etc. But they aren’t. Their brains just don’t work the same as everyone else’s. I have OCD, which often involves intrusive thoughts. If a person doesn’t know that intrusive thoughts are normal and not a reflection of who they are (they can run the gamut from self harm to deviant sexuality and more), they can end up suicidal over them.
Autism is no different, for the kids and their caregivers. Diagnosis is life-changing for anyone (autism parents are just the ones in the front row all the time).
My girlfriend got her diagnosis well into adulthood, and in her case the main benefits have been it gives other people (including me) better resources to understand her needs, and because with the diagnosis comes the opportunity to e.g. get disability accommodations at school or work or possibly go on government disability if you need to.
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There is no “treatment”, only therapies and strategies to help them develop the skills and functions they are struggling with.
Autism is a huge spectrum – my twins are non-verbal and delayed but with some areas where they have age-appropriate or even advanced skills. One of my twins is hyperlexic which means he can spell and read, but he has no speech.
They attend a specialist autism schools where autism-specific strategies are embedded throughout the day – total communication approach (so signing, speech, PECS which uses picture cards to communicate or an AAC device), intensive interaction which is child led and about an adult watching what the child engages with and copying their play / actions to increase social awareness, etc), short periods of focus with plenty of movement breaks, choice of activities they can access for learning and an individualised curriculum.
They also have direct therapies – speech and language, occupational therapy to help with sensory needs, one has music therapy as he’s very interested in music, etc.
Then they have weekly outings into the community – things like going to a farm shop or supermarket and buying something etc.
Obviously you’ll have autistic people that don’t need any of this and need different things – for example my twins don’t have anxiety because they lack the social awareness, where for some autistic people social anxiety is the most pressing issue.
Autism encompasses a large spectrum of symptoms and behaviors. Children with autism struggle in school and later in academia and diagnosing early makes a world of difference in their overall academic performance, if the schools are actually equipped to deal with autistic children. In the standard educational system most autistic students struggle to perform and integrate, even if their autism does not prevent them from actually grasping the contents of the classes. The difference can be immense since in the case of early diagnosis and proper adjusted curicculums the student can get good grades, enroll in university and have more career opportunities afforded to them. In the case where it goes undiagnosed, not only will their grades be bad which effectively destroys any hope of higher education but they’re also on the receiving end of very shitty behaviors from their teachers and often parents, who assume the child is simply spoiled, lazy, dumb or useless and the child has to hear a lot of those comments from a very early age. These people think they’re “disciplining” bad behavior and giving the kid a lesson but all they do is destroy the kid’s confidence.
Treatment on the other hand involves working with therapists and professionals who can help an autistic child better adjust to their condition and function with it. Not all cases are the same. Some autistic people have zero communication abilities while others experience difficulties but are not completely unable to communicate. Milder cases may appear as simply shy or awkward people but from their perspective they’re struggling and this causes a lot of anxiety. It’s not universal but for many cases there is room for improvement for an autistic person’s communication skills and anxiety management and this helps them immensely in adulthood and their professional lives.
Of course autism cannot be cured outright, but a supporting environment in an autistic child’s formative years is essential.
There is no “treatment”, only therapies and strategies to help them develop the skills and functions they are struggling with.
Autism is a huge spectrum – my twins are non-verbal and delayed but with some areas where they have age-appropriate or even advanced skills. One of my twins is hyperlexic which means he can spell and read, but he has no speech.
They attend a specialist autism schools where autism-specific strategies are embedded throughout the day – total communication approach (so signing, speech, PECS which uses picture cards to communicate or an AAC device), intensive interaction which is child led and about an adult watching what the child engages with and copying their play / actions to increase social awareness, etc), short periods of focus with plenty of movement breaks, choice of activities they can access for learning and an individualised curriculum.
They also have direct therapies – speech and language, occupational therapy to help with sensory needs, one has music therapy as he’s very interested in music, etc.
Then they have weekly outings into the community – things like going to a farm shop or supermarket and buying something etc.
Obviously you’ll have autistic people that don’t need any of this and need different things – for example my twins don’t have anxiety because they lack the social awareness, where for some autistic people social anxiety is the most pressing issue.
I was diagnosed at 28 after my panic attacks were so severe I finally sought help. (I hyperventilate, eventually can’t take in new air because I can’t breathe out, my limbs go numb from oxygen deprivation, and I do a fair impression of a fish on land until i fully pass out or get myself under control).
For me, my diagnosis meant being able to identify and understand my overload triggers (to even know to look for that!).
Once I realized my panic attack were triggered by over visual stimulation, I found some things to help.
Sun glasses in the grocery store. Park in the roughly same place so when you feel panicky and have to leave you can find your car (if the 1 aisle is too full to park I shop another day).
I’m now 41. I’ve found ways to reduce my triggers to the point of almost never having public panic attacks again. I don’t think I could have without my (pretty late) diagnosis.
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