Autism Symptoms and Cure in Children

Information related to autism in children reveals that one out of every one hundred and fifty children have this disease. Autism is a known neurological disorder which affects many vital abilities including attention, thoughts, interaction with others, and perception. Statistics show that children are at a far greater risk of having autism than adults. Early detection of autism symptoms in children is very important. Any further delay can mean crippling the child's future. A wide range of disabilities are covered under the term autism. These disabilities could range from mild to severe. Autism causes frustration in the patient as well as in the immediate spouses. There are no specific symptoms which can be directly linked to this condition and perfect clinical diagnosis or clinical tests that can identify the disease are non-existent as well. Doctors and physicians therefore rely on response of affected children to certain stimuli or random tests to lookout for signs of autism. A single cure of autism is still evading modern science and has yet to be invented.

Autism symptoms in children have to be detected at the earliest to best manage the disease and prevent further complications. Autistic children have difficulty in coming to terms with various situations in day to day life and as such are exposed to dangers most of the time. To overcome this, they are in need of special attention, treatment, and care together with love and have to be given enough confidence to build a sense of security. Researchers and scientists, in spite of making good progress in various aspects of treatments of the disease, are yet to find a sure cure of autism. There are many reasons behind this evasiveness of cure. For one, there is no fixed identifiable cause or causes for this disease. Secondly, not all individuals display the same symptoms for this disease. Thirdly, this disease cannot be diagnosed in true sense of the word. All these factors combine to make a single cure like vaccination difficult.

There are many medications available for treatment of autism available in the market. Autism natural treatment includes social treatment. Social treatment promotes interaction of autistic children with other children in a playgroup and socializing with them. This helps in gradual erosion of symptoms of autism and results in normalization of the child. Behavioral modification approach uses a technique of rewarding the child when displaying a good behavior and punishment in case of bad behavior. Natural environments are known to stimulate all the senses. Nature reduces stress and also stimulates the senses through images, sounds, and scents. Emotional, physical, and mental health of children affected by autism gets strengthened to a great extent through regular outdoor time. This boosts their immune system which helps alleviate symptoms of autism.

Nature therapy is a modern therapy designed to complement other autism therapies. Natural activities promote healing properties. Natural environments promote all the senses. New research promotes the soothing effects nature renders to autistic patients. Children with autistic disabilities benefit physically, emotionally, and psychologically by spending appropriate time in natural surroundings.

For More information about autism symptoms in children, and cure of autism.

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What Is Really Behind the Austism Epidemic?

I recently attended a lecture by Dr. Kate McFadden, M.D., of the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Pittsburgh regarding her thoughts on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This article was inspired by her talk.

In her talk, she said that there was very little evidence of any "non-inherited factors" in people with autism. This is a bit challenging for me because so much has been made for so long on all kinds of environmental factors potentially playing significant roles in the number of children being diagnosed with autism.

And yet I cannot cite one credible scientific study that substantially supports the hypothesis of environmental factors in the prevalence of autism or autistic children. Honestly, I don't know what to think. Based on the research that she shared at the lecture, I feel like I really don't know anything at all. So this article is my attempt to work out some of the connections that might make some more sense of the phenomenon of autism as it is presenting itself in our children.

Dr. McFadden pointed to stories of "Troll Babies" dating from the 14th century where people believed that their own children were taken by trolls and replaced with "troll children" who were identical in appearance to the original child yet lacked the empathy of typical children and sometimes had "unusual wisdom." The fuller description of the literature she gave in her talk leads me to think that autism has been around for a very long time. The fact that there is a 90% concordance of autism in identical twins and only a 10% concordance in fraternal twins would lead me to believe that there is a strong genetic component in the autism phenomenon as well.

Much has been made of the relationship between vaccines and autism. The original study linking MMR vaccines and autism has been removed from Lancet's website. The author has had his license revoked and has been disciplined. This pathological pathway has been studied extensively and rigorously without significant findings in favor of the link between vaccines and autism.

She presented a very strong case for prenatal causes of autism. The latest brain scan evidence indicates that people on the autism spectrum process information in the neo-cortex in markedly different ways from control subjects. The evidence is mounting that there are significant structural differences in the structure and density of the axons and neurons in the neo-cortex (the wrinkly outside part of the brain). The brain "lights up" differently in people with ASD versus age-matched control subjects in functional MRI scans.

In Dr. McFadden's work, she has been focusing on axonal formation. Axons are the main branches of the neuron that connect to other neurons though other processes or extensions which include the dendrites, the dendrite spines and the synapses on those spines. Based on the evidence at hand at this moment, she believes that one of the key factors related to the differences in brain development and structure in people with autism is to be found in the cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) that play all kinds of roles in the formation of axons, which in many ways determines which parts of the brain are connected to each other and how well they communicate with each other.

One of the most powerful points (to me) in Dr. McFadden's presentation was the fact that CAMs are not only critical in the development of the brain, but also in the development of the gut (which in a way has its own kind of brain) and the immune system as well. These are the three main areas that are consistently found to be problematic in people with autism, and so I find it to be compelling evidence that CAMs are very likely involved in how autism tends to present itself.

In this article I do not have the space to cover all of the supporting evidence that Dr. McFadden presented in her talk. For example, she suggested that if there is an actual increase in the frequency of ASD cases, it could be related to genetic abnormalities that tend to increase as people tend to have children later in life. These same kinds of age-related effects have been associated with Down Syndrome and Fragile X Syndrome, and yet I have not heard of any kind of increase in these two populations because people are having children in the U.S. at later and later ages. I'm sure more demographic research needs to be conducted to determine if there are any demographic factors related to the increase of diseases that have a strong genetic basis.

The questions that are still left unanswered for me after her talk include some of the following:

1. Can we explain the similarities in brain structure and function in people with ASD mostly through biochemical mechanisms?
2. How could biochemical processes account for the generally accepted functional strengths and weaknesses of people with ASD?
3. In ASD are there interaction effects between the expression of genetic factors and biochemical factors that may not even have a discernible causal connections? In other words, could relatively independent factors within someone's genetic makeup happen to coincide with each other without having the same root causes?)
4. Might it be the case that there is some other, overriding organizational factor or group of factors (beyond environment, beyond genetics, beyond population demographics, beyond biochemistry) that might account for the consistency of the patterns of form and function in the brains of people with ASD? (I'm suggesting that perhaps there is something going on at more fundamental levels of the cosmos like collective human consciousness and the quantum plenum, for example.)
5. Is there some other kind of larger-scale environmental factor at work, meaning that a more macroscopic global increase in various types and combinations of various toxins and energetic frequencies could be interacting with human genetics to create these kinds of effects? (I don't know how this would be tested scientifically.)
6. Is autism possibly some kind of unconscious response or feedback from and for the human species to help us wake up? (This one doesn't lend itself to scientific research either.)
Have we created such a complex and challenging situation because we have unconsciously made ourselves into complex people with lots of challenges? (Again, I admit, not a very scientific question.)

Dr. McFadden, in her talk made it very clear that there is a lot we don't know about ASD. I'm thinking we're probably about at 99.999% unknowing right now. She believes the search for some kind of silver bullet cure (e.g., "let's stop doing 'X' and that will make it go away") is very tempting yet will probably not be fruitful.

There's very little that I feel confident about when I think about ASD because I constantly find my assumptions and beliefs to be upended by my ongoing education and experiences. Despite this intellectual no man's land of not knowing that I repeatedly find myself in, there is something that deepens as I continue on my journey:

I believe that there are good reasons for the prevalence of autism in our children. I don't know what they are. I do believe that our children with autism are meant to help us wake up to the truth. To what truth are we being awakened? I believe we are being called to awaken to the truth that all people are loveable, including ourselves. The most challenging people in our lives (and not necessarily only those with ASD!) are in our lives to help us access deeper and more profound levels of love and acceptance, not only of others, but of ourselves. To think that autism is something to fight or eradicate is probably not a fruitful perspective. Wars of any kind always lead to suffering.

I believe we are being called to live in greater acceptance of what is the case right now. I also believe that as we live from a state of love in the present moment, we will discover the many gifts that lie hidden within all of the children and adults who live with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I believe that people with ASD in many different ways are calling us to become different people, better people. They are consciously and unconsciously calling us to transformation as individuals and as a species.

So if we stop polluting the earth, will autism go away? Probably not. And yet, I believe that when we live from a place of deep love and acceptance of everyone and everything that is, we can make ASD disappear. How? In the fullness of acceptance, there is love. And when we live from love, everything and everyone is loveable. Love is not interested in fighting diseases and diagnoses. Love knows that its purposes will be fulfilled.

Perhaps our children are the means for the salvation of the world. We tend to think that our children will save us with their great intellects. Perhaps our children are really calling us to greater love. In that calling, we may find our salvation in the deeper and fuller acceptance of one another as human beings. For more information on autism and autistic children please visit http://www.autistic-children.net/

Bill Frase is a personal coach and writer who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife and son. For more information, check out his blog at http://spiritualpowerforall.blogspot.com/ or follow him on Twitter-BillFrase. The practical implications of spirituality are a really big deal too.

Brain Training for Functional Disconnect Syndrome and Other Disabilities on the Autism Spectrum

We have discussed the way nerves communicate and how they decide when they are going to send impulses to other nerve cells. We know that groups of nerves collect information and fire together in pathways that stimulate distant parts of the brain. We also know that it is essential for different areas of the brain to communicate well with each other for us to be able to do the amazing complicated things we do with our brains.

The brain is divided into the left and right hemispheres. In these hemispheres the vast array of jobs that must be done are divided up and organized. Each hemisphere is also separated into special sections or lobes. These are the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. The parietal lobe is mostly concerned with sensation of the body and locating where things happen. There is a map of the opposite side of the body inside each parietal lobe. So the left parietal lobe of the brain feels everything on the right side of the body and vice versa. The same type of thing happens for the occipital lobes sensing vision, the temporal lobes sensing hearing and the frontal lobes controlling muscle movements on the opposite side of the body. The frontal lobe is also what we call the executive center because it is responsible for making decisions and carrying out actions.

Now, imagine you are in a toy store. A train on its track is making its way around the store chugging and whistling. You turn your head to see where it is. As it comes into view you see an egg on one of the cars and you want to pick it up. It sounds like a simple thing but when you really think about it, it involves the whole brain and is quite complex. First, the ears are stimulated, changing the sound vibrations in the air to electrical impulses traveling along nerves. The impulses are sent to the temporal lobe so we can know what we are hearing and to the parietal lobe so we can know from where we are hearing it. The temporal lobes compare all the different frequencies in the sounds and their relative volumes and figure out what that whistling sound is. At the same time both parietal lobes take information from the ears and compare between the two sides which one hears the sound louder and if the volumes are changing to figure out where the sound is coming from.

The temporal and parietal lobes then send their perceptions forward to the frontal lobe so it can decide what they are, what they are doing, whether the sounds are dangerous or not and what to do about it. The frontal lobe then fires the muscles in the neck and moves the muscles in the eyes in perfect sequence to pinpoint the position of the toy train and then track its trajectory. In order to do this, it needs the occipital lobe which is now receiving visual stimulation from the eyes and forwarding it to the frontal lobe. The sound from each ear, the sight from both eyes, and the position sense in all the muscles involved must be synchronized by an internal timer so that differences in lengths of nerves and processing times do not confuse the frontal lobe like watching a movie where the sound is delayed so you see the lips moving but the words don't make sense. I haven't even started to talk about what it's going to take to judge the speed of this train, time the movement of the arm, sequence the firing of the muscles in the arm and hand, and judge and re-judge the pressure on the egg so we don't break it.

Without communication, timing and sequencing within the brain we simply can not operate smoothly in the world. As we know many of our children are experiencing functional disconnections of these different parts of their brains that we may have previously described as "sensory integration problems", clumsiness, poor eye contact, unusually high pain threshold, difficulty following directions or so many other things. The Listening Program, the Integrative Metronome, the other therapies we do in our office and the exercises we have patients do at home are intended to connect or reconnect the different areas of the brain in the proper sequence so our kids can perform the majestic complexity that we all take for granted.

Dr. Martin Rukeyser DC, is a Chiropractor who lives and practices in Port Saint Lucie, FL. He maintains a solo chiropractic office called Life Chiropractic http://www.lifechiropracticpsl.com and is also one of the co-founders of the Brain Training Center of the Treasure Coast http://www.flbraintraining.com - a practice dedicated to improving the lives of children and adults with Autism, ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, Aspergers, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Marty has long held a personal and professional interest in brain function and development and the connection between a healthy body and brain.

Dr. Rukeyser graduated Magna Cum Laude from Life University Chiropractic College in 1998. Prior to coming to Florida, he directed two clinics in a medically under-served community in in rural Mississippi. Dr. Marty, was raised in Long Island, NY and met his wife Ashley while in Mississippi. They have two sons, Ben and Jonah.

Do People With Asperger's Syndrome Have Empathy For Others?

have Asperger's Syndrome. I have tremendous capacity for empathy for others. I have continued to increase my ability to express that empathy. Do Aspies really lack empathy or is it felt, experienced, and expressed differently? Perhaps in ways that neurotypicals (NT's) do not recognize as empathy or do not experience as being the way they expect to be given empathy.

As I've written about in other contexts related to Asperger's Syndrome, it seems reasonable to say that there are many differences in those who have Asperger's Syndrome (AS). Men and women seem to have differing ability and context as well as understanding when it comes to something like empathy and compassion as well. (Attwood) There is still a difference not only in the way boys and girls are socialized, what those social norms contain, but also in what society expects from boys versus girls. Attwood, in his book, "The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome" talks about this and concludes that females find ways to learn to express and to care-give in ways that perhaps many aspie males don't.

In my own experience with empathy, as an adult with AS, I know that I feel tremendous empathy for others. That can be someone I am talking to, sitting in a room with, or someone I see on the evening news who has suffered a tragic loss. There is also a very profound sense of connectedness to humanity in its macrocosm that means I experience a lot of empathy and compassion for a lot of world events and things that I see on the news and so forth that aren't a part of my own life.

A lot of this empathy that I have and feel that is palpable within me there isn't maybe as much expression of it at times. It depends if I am coaching with someone, or writing. If I am just in my own world, doing my own thing, in the splendor and wonder of my narrow focuses of interest (which are in themselves paradoxically vast) then there is much more that I feel that others can't know - that isn't measurable.

The way that Asperger's Syndrome is defined, like many other pervasive developmental disorders, or even mental illnesses pathologizes and categorizes differences in what are highly divisive and negative ways. There is little if any consideration given to the different ability of many with Asperger's in and through which things are felt, experienced, processed, and expressed differently. Not being the same as the feelings, experiences, processing, and expression of neurotypicals (NT's) the presumbed NT's who set out the defining criteria of Asperger's Syndrome fail to give consideration to different ability. What is different about those with AS in the minds of those defining it and those who continue to forward that narrow definition of it, despite endless individual manifestations and expressions of AS from all the people who have it, is that there is a tremendous lack of tolerance for difference.

It's as if there is some segment of society, "professionals" (?) that are charged with defining the ever-illusive "normal". It's flawed logic to begin with. It leaves no room for each to march to the beat of his or her own drummer, to be introverted versus extroverted without scrutiny and/or without penalty of judgment and being patholigzed.

I don't happen to think there is anything particularly horribly wrong with my brain as someone with Asperger's Syndrome. Again, the differences between aspie brains and NT brains, see the NT's pathologize the aspie brains as "dysfunctional". Why not just different? For all that people with Asperger's have contributed to this world through the unique genius that is a bonus to our differences, geez, I don't see that being categorized as negatively as the ways in which we "don't get NT social". Who needs it? I mean I straddle that line. I have pushed myself way far to "get it". However, "getting it" to some extent, and being able to connect socially, feel and express empathy and receive it doesn't mean that I want or need to be in that "space" that often. I just don't. I do find myself in that space often in terms of the work I do, writing I do, and knowing what others need from me at times. The rest of the time, time I can have for me, in my splendid aspie world, is time cherised in that world. That is not a statement about egocentrism or being unaware. Again, it's difference.

The egocentrism of my Asperger's is something that I am now very aware of. There are ways around it. Do they feel natural - no. Will they ever - I doubt it. Does it matter to me - not any more.

There are also many feelings, such as love, empathy, compassion, and so forth, that are compromised to varying degrees with individuals with Asperger's Syndrome. This does mean they can't continue to learn ways to increase understanding these emotions and their expression. Within the social impairment (so called - I'd say again, different ability) of Asperger's Syndrome in terms of social relating does feeling or expressing empathy become more challenging or difficult for many with AS, yes. This has to do with the different ways that we process information. It has to do with the NT social context that most with AS, even when we understand it to varying degrees, do not find it to be the way that we engage, the way that we would relate that would be first-nature to us.

Many people with Asperger's Syndrome have a capacity for empathy. Some more so than others. Some maybe not so much. Again, Asperger's Syndrome is not the same for each and every person who has it. However, the blanket statement in the pathologizing DSM-IV definition of Asperger's Syndrome (which by the way is not even slated to exist as such in the up-coming DSM-V professionals now preferring it just be lumped in with autism so that everyone can get even more confused) that people with Asperger's lack empathy is not all that accurate. It is a statement without explanation. A statemment, black-and-white as it is, that doesn't take into account each aspie's individuality, and the reality that people can feel more than you can know. This is especially true when much that can be felt by those with Asperger's Syndrome isn't met with the same need for expression, socially or otherwise, often as it is for those who are neurotypical.

This begs the question how professionals can even really accurately assess what someone with Asperger's feels or has the capacity to feel. How can you know if I lack empathy just because perhaps I didn't express something that was wanted, coveted, expected or that NT's define as a "social norm"?

You really can't, can you?

Should we as people with Asperger's Syndrome, make up some book and pathologize NT's who have a greater need and/or desire to relate many things, empathy being perhaps one of those feelings, to others more often than we do because to us that is not "normal" or necessary?

I believe that most aspies do feel empathy. I also believe that they want to experience empathy from others but that often both are lost in terms of expression and reception to the different ways in which we think, process information and to the different degrees to which we feel the need to actually "socialize".

That does not a lack of empathy make. That makes for difference. More difference that is not understood, not tolerated and that is pathologized by the "powers that be" who decide how it is that we are all "supposed" to relate to one another.

Small box that, don't you think?

© A.J. Mahari - All rights reserved.

A.J. Mahari, herself a person with Asperger's Syndrome, is a Life Coach, BPD/Mental Health and Self Improvement Coach who also works with adults with Asperger's Syndrome in supporting them, and helping them to learn coping skills and compensatory strategies to take their different abilities and learn how to make the most out of what can be an incredible gift. If you'd like to read more about my own thoughts and experience with and about Asperger's Syndrome please visit my website at http://aspergeradults.ca

Autism and the Importance of Knowing the Funding Options

Ever since autism spectrum disorder has come to the public's attention, funding for research and education has increased dramatically. There was a time when ASD when misdiagnosed and extremely misunderstood, but as more and more cases were reported, the world realized that this was an epidemic of global proportions.

Government funding increased, along with private donations for scientific research and education, has had an a huge impact on the development of children and families how deal with this malady on a day to day basic. A large increase has come at the state level, with school districts now seeing the immense growth in students diagnosed with ASD. Some schools have hired autism specialists and teachers whose primary duty is focusing on the sensory needs and educational variances of the individual students. Tax dollars are responsible for this these extra funds, and with improvement rates skyrocketing, this funding appears to be a permanent fixture in the state schools.

Scientific research money is provided often at the federal level, with government grants making up more the ¾ of all funding. Private donations and fund-raising help to pick up the shortcomings in money needed to fully understand the disorder. Gift giving foundations, such as the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation, raise the funds for scientists and researchers to try to find any genetic links or environmental factors that could be linked to the increase in numbers of reported cases. Autism Speaks gathers funds from various public and private donors for research, education, and family support.

The U.S. Department of Education has taken a proactive role in funding at the educational level. The grant money often goes to Early Childhood Intervention programs that offer services to children as early as the age of two. Some state Medicaid programs help offset any shortage in funding that may occur, providing a consistent support to children and families. This is due to the realization the these programs indeed do make a difference, since discovering the rates of improvement in ASD children who get educational assistance at an early age.

On a yearly basis, foundations are being set up to advance scientific knowledge and research in order to serve the community at large and to protect our most vulnerable of children. Special education classes globally have stepped up their curricula to serve those students with ASD, as their needs often differ from those with other disabilities. As children advance in school, the use of classroom 'shadows' have shown to make a difference as children with ASD are integrated into the mainstream curriculum.

For example, The Kinney Center Operating Fund collects funds for sensory camps and summer day camps, up to $35,000, as well as training for emergency responders, such as EMTs and police, with up to $30,000. State funding for CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training in ASD modalities have also risen.

For parents, caregiver and educational specialists, knowing the funding options available can make a difference in the care and teaching of children diagnosed with this epidemic disorder.

Jason Alan Franklin has been working as a freelance writer ever since escaping the corporate time-clock in 2009. He is a content ghost writer for many web sites around the world, a music writer for OnixLink, and an envornmental writer for DetectEnergy.
He currently lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife and two children.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Alan_Franklin

The Important Aspects Of Autism Care

Autism is prevalent in the news since one in every 150 children is currently being diagnosed with some form of autism. Autism is found in boys 4 times more often than it is found in girls. Autistic children often do not talk or think like so-called normal children. They have difficulty managing emotions and do not play or form relationships well with other children. Most cases of autism will present before age three, and generally displays some type of repetitive or ritual behavior. Verbal and non-verbal communication can be impaired, and some children do not speak at all. Infants often reject cuddling with parents and remain aloof when reaching the toddler stage.

Autism care can take on different aspects. Autism has no known cure, but people with milder cases of autism can live independently. When the autism is severe the individual will require livelong supportive and medical services.

Important Aspects of Autism

Effective autism care requires early recognition of the problem and quick intervention. This is the most important aspect of autism care. Common signs of autism can include language, social skills and behaviors.

Language - a child with autism may have delayed speech development. They often repeat the same words and/or phrases over and over, and may have abnormal and inappropriate tone of the voice. Often they cannot hold a normal conversation for their age.

Social Skills - an autistic child does not seem to be able to develop empathy or sympathy with others. The child will have a short attention span and generally cannot make eye contact with another individual.

Behaviors - autistic children have repetitive movements and rituals that must be followed at all times. They get upset with changes in routine and often bang their heads repetitively. They are also sensitive to light and sound.

While every child with autism will display different symptoms, these important aspects of autism are generally seen in some variation in children. The appropriate autism care is directly related to the symptoms presenting in the autistic child. Types of behavioral and developmental therapies include speech and language, occupational and sensory integration, and social developmental.

Understanding and recognizing key important aspects of autism will help the parents get the child in the appropriate treatment and educational programs early enough to potentially affect the improvement of the symptoms so the child can better interact in social situations. Autistic children often display an outstanding skill in another area such as music and rote memory. They display genius ability in some area, which finding social interaction beyond their scope of abilities.

Another important reason for understanding the basic aspect of autism is that there could be an underlying psychiatric or neurological problem. Some autistic children suffer seizures. If not appropriately diagnosed, the autistic child could receive the wrong autism care, treatment and medication. Early intervention with doctors and neurologists can pinpoint a diagnosis that will ensure the child receives the proper medication and educations support.

Early autism care could include medications to treat hyperactivity or mood changes, along with medications that can control seizures in the autistic child. There are also nutritional and vitamin therapies that have shown improvement in autistic children.

Find out more about autism care

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Simpson

The Powerful Use of Language and How It Impacts Autistic Children

When looking at the language we use with our autistic children it is useful to break it down into categories. There are four things on which to focus when you want to use appropriate language with your child.

1. Stay Away from Negatives

One thing to remember is that the subconscious mind does not "hear" negatives. When you tell a child "not" to do something, that child will actually do it because the negative word is filtered out by the subconscious. For instance, if you say to a child, "Don't run," the child will only hear the word "run." It is better to say, "Please walk," or "I would like you to walk," or simply, "Walk." Depending on how you generally speak to your child, you may have to work hard to change the way you phrase requests. Just try to focus on the positive and minimize the negative. This means that when you phrase requests for your child, you must use positive language and state what the child is to do, staying away from saying what the child is not to do.

2. Break Things/Requests Down

Another thing to remember when talking to autistic children is that they do not have the same level of concentration as an adult or even another child does. For this reason, it is important to break tasks down for them so that they won't feel overwhelmed. It is so easy for us to just say, "Clean your room," but an autistic child wouldn't know where to begin. You need to break it down and ask her to clean up only her clothes. You can even tell her to pick up the clothes according to color. Tell her to pick up the red clothes, then the blue clothes, then the pink clothes. Then ask her to clean up her toys. You will get better results and your child will feel better about it too.

3. Offer Choices

Children of any age need to feel like they are in control of their lives and this need may be even more pronounced in the autistic child. After all, she is trapped within a mind in which she knows she needs to communicate, but also knows she cannot. Autistic children also do not like change, which is a part of life. This must be extremely frustrating. By giving an autistic child the ability to make choices, you can help alleviate some of the frustration of the child's situation. The key to doing this is to ensure that the choices are simple, otherwise you risk overwhelming the autistic child, which will very likely cause undesirable behavior instead of preventing it. Of course, there are some things that children simply have to do, but you can make it easier for them by offering choices around those things. For instance, they have to eat, but by offering them a choice of what to eat, they can have what they like and feel good about it. If your child is non-verbal or not very verbal, then you can still offer choices by using pictures of food and having her point to the picture of what she wants. This ability to control one's life is something we all want and we must value that need in our children.

4. Talk to Them and about Them in a Positive Manner

Your child will be whatever you tell them consistently and your positive message can make the difference between your autistic child growing up to be a functioning adult in a career that she enjoys or an adult that has a difficult time functioning in society. Have you ever met an autistic adult who was happy in her life and career and said that her parents always told her she could do anything she wanted and that she could achieve anything? Well, guess what? She did exactly that. But if those same parents had told that same child that she wasn't able to do certain things or that something was out of her reach because of her autism, she would very likely not have achieved much of anything. The adult standing before you would likely have a very different life.

If you complain that your child is slow, then she will be slow. However, if you tell her she is smart and that she can do anything she wants, she will take that into her life and you will see it in her efforts at school and beyond. It is important to convey to your child that she is great. When you do this, the child will be great and they will believe they are great.

The key is that when you use the appropriate language with children it becomes a win-win situation for everyone.

Rachael Mah is a Master Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner and Coach. Rachael's passion is to help parents and teachers to coach their children and students to succeed in life as individuals. Please visit http://www.motivateschoolkids.com for details.