Autism: Impact on Parents and Siblings

Autism is a neuropsychiatric disorder that disrupts the typical development of social, communicative and cognitive skills. These symptoms often appear within the first three years of the child's life. In the social domain, autistic individuals are unable to form typical peer relationships and interact reciprocally with others. They often exhibit strange behavior that alienates them from others. Communicative delays are characterized by a delay or lack of language. In the case of verbal individuals, they are unable to start or maintain a conversation; their speech is characterized by echolalia (repetitive speech) and idiosyncratic language. The development of their cognitive skills is limited because of their restricted range of interests and activities. They tend to specialize in limited activities and also engage in repetitive motor activities that do not have a functional purpose, such as hand flapping and body rocking ("Practice Parameters," 1999, p. 36).

Because these symptoms will change as the autistic child grows older, parents and other professionals involved need to be alert to the developments in order to provide an appropriate program for their autistic child ("Practice Parameters," 1999, p. 32). For parents, living with an autistic child can result in stress and depression ("Practice Parameters," 1999, p. 45). They not only face the daily difficulties of raising an autistic child, they also have to d

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in the gaps between therapists and specialists. Lovaas' program that includes 40 hours of therapy a week for two years costs more than $40,000 (Chance, 1987, p. 45). Greenspan's program includes thrice-weekly sessions with the interactive developmental therapist and monthly consultations with the child psychiatrists. Speech and occupational therapists are also needed to provide therapy and create programs to be used at home (Greenspan & Wieder, 1998, p. 20). When health insurance companies do not pick up these costs, parents often have to borrow money and go in debt. In addition, for parents to spend more time with their autistic child, one of the parents will have to quit their jobs to accommodate this treatment. Another stress for parents after the assessment is related to the use of drugs. Generally, drugs cannot cure autism; they are used to augment the level of performance of the autistic individual. Thus far, most of the information about psychotropic medications collected has come from adult populations. Therefore, parents have to consider the safety and efficacy of the medication selected for their autistic child. Since autistic children cannot express themselves, parents also have to shoulder the responsibility in as

Category: Psychology - A