Chinanews client, Beijing, April 2nd, by our side, there are such a group of children, they are called "children of the stars."
They always seem to be immersed in their own world, and it is difficult for people to walk into their hearts.
Today is World Autism Day.
Autism is also called autism. According to statistics, there are more than 10 million people with autism in China and more than 2 million children with autism.
Let the "stars" no longer be lonely, how to discover and heal the children's heart in time?
On March 30th, on the eve of "World Autism Day", a public welfare exhibition of children's art works of Shandong Province was held in Jinan, calling for the care of "children of the stars".
Photo by Sun Hongyuan
A group that cannot be ignored
Chinese children with autism may exceed 2 million
Speaking of "loneliness" and "autism", people always seem to think of "withdrawal" and "psychological problems". However, from a professional point of view, autism is a widespread and serious developmental disorder.
Children suffering from autism are mainly manifested as social communication and social communication barriers, as well as narrow interests and stereotyped repetitive behavior patterns.
According to statistics, there are more than 10 million people with autism in China and more than 2 million children with autism.
Autism has become a global public health problem that seriously affects children’s health. The World Health Organization ranks it as the first child mental illness.
"This disease will cause varying degrees of damage to children's social communication ability, academic functions, etc." Zhang Lili, chief physician of the Health Care Department of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, said that childhood is the period of the most vigorous individual growth and development, the fastest changes, and the greatest plasticity. In order to diagnose such diseases in time and start rehabilitation training as soon as possible, so as to actively improve the long-term prognosis of children, so that children can integrate into collective and social life as soon as possible, it is particularly important to detect loneliness-like symptoms in the development of children as soon as possible.
However, in reality, due to limited cognition and other reasons, it is often difficult for parents to find abnormalities in their children.
Zhang Lili remembered a two-year-old child. Before the diagnosis, because she had been playing on her own, her mother did not find anything unusual. She always thought that the child was behaved. “Until the child was delayed in speaking, she didn’t respond when she called her name. She basically didn’t look at her family. They looked at each other and didn't stick to their mother to play together. The mother took the child to the hospital for treatment before he was diagnosed with autism."
"The child's mother was very sad. After being persuaded by the doctor, she actively carried out rehabilitation treatment. After returning to the clinic one year later, the child's condition improved." Zhang Lili said.
Experts say that if parents can discover the differences in children with autism as early as possible, they can gain valuable opportunities for medical treatment and early intervention, which can significantly improve the outcome of children with autism.
Zhang Lili, the attending physician of the Health Department of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, is visiting.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
How to detect autism early?
Don't watch, ignore, don't talk...Kids should pay attention to these behaviors!
Then, in daily life, which abnormal behaviors of children need to be paid attention to?
For different ages, experts remind parents to pay attention to these special performances of their children.
"First of all, in infancy, the physical and psychological needs of the child are abnormal." Zhang Lili said, physiologically speaking, in the infancy, the child sleeps too little or too much, cries very weak or screams, or appears particularly quiet and abnormal. Irritability, difficulty in being comforted, difficulty in feeding, etc. should be brought to the attention of parents.
In addition, experts believe that social activities have already appeared in the early stages of life. When the mother is breastfeeding or smiling at the baby, even a three- to four-month-old baby responds.
If the child hears the voice and ignores, does not look, does not speak, does not laugh, and cannot recognize it, it may also be a manifestation of autism.
"For example, there is no response to the sound or the inability to follow objects, not looking at faces, not following moving faces or objects, making no sound or seldom smiling when being teased, and not being able to distinguish between the faces of mothers, or the faces of parents and strangers. She doesn’t have much intimacy towards her mother, she has no alertness, fear, and avoidance behavior towards strangers, lacks curiosity, and has a narrow range of interests.” Zhang Lili said.
Experts point out that after a child is 1 year old, if he does not respond to verbal instructions, his acquaintances call him by name as if he did not hear him, avoiding others' eyes, and lack of nonverbal communication with others, which should not be ignored.
Drawing: Lei Yuzhu
Zhang Lili said, “During the child’s early childhood, if the child lags behind the children of the same age in large-scale exercises, he will like to run non-stop and aimlessly when he learns to walk. The lack of symbolic games, lack of imagination, creativity, and the surrounding environment and children Parents are not interested in their activities and have stereotyped behaviors. For example, they only recognize a fixed route when walking, and their favorite toys and eating habits are single. Parents should pay attention to it."
In the preschool period, the children's communication needs and abilities with the environment will further reflect the problem.
"We must carefully observe whether the child has contact with the environment or the requirements for communication, whether he only likes to play alone, does not know how to make friends, can he understand pretend games, and can he incorporate daily activities into the game?"
In addition, experts also cited more specific performance.
For example, children have communication difficulties, often repeat short sentences from others or on TV, have poor language development, and tend to use postures and gestures to express what they desire.
For another example, children react strongly to changes in the environment and daily routines, and appear very rigid.
"It is also important to train children to have difficulty in urination and defecation, children cannot control their urination, children do not care about other people's feelings, and will not abide by rules, etc., which are also important manifestations." Zhang Lili said.
Data map: The picture shows a child with autism playing in a special education center in Xi'an.
Photo by He Tong Image source: CFP Vision China
How to help autistic children?
Expert: Parental care, scientific treatment
Early detection, early diagnosis, early intervention, and early treatment are the key to scientific treatment of autism.
Experts emphasize that the sooner the intervention, the better, and there is no doubt that children who are diagnosed will intervene immediately.
Because children are in the early stages of development and development, for some children, even the most professional psychiatric and developmental behavioral pediatrics experts cannot make an immediate diagnosis. At this time, parents should not "wait a while" and "take a look." The idea that whether autism is diagnosed or suspected, it should be intervened as soon as possible.
At present, the methods of autism treatment include applied behavior analysis, structured education, interpersonal relationship development intervention, floor time, key behavior training techniques, and early Denver intervention models.
Experts said that different children need to formulate plans according to specific conditions, and it is recommended that parents choose formal rehabilitation institutions and use scientific intervention methods.
In addition, experts further pointed out that children with autism need more care from their parents.
"It should be noted that when taking care of infants of a small month, it is recommended that parents raise the infant in person and increase parent-child communication with the infant," Zhang Lili said. For example, in the process of feeding and nursing, talk with the infant emotionally. , Tease, smile, voice or nod to the baby's voice.
Experts said that as babies grow older, they should gradually cultivate their regular eating and sleeping habits, and play more parent-child games with babies such as looking in the mirror, hiding cats, and finding sound sources.
"Under the circumstance of ensuring the safety of babies, parents can help them expand the scope of activities, encourage contact with the external environment and people, and help babies recognize the different expressions of others."
"For young children, we should give them opportunities to explore the environment, express their wishes and emotions, guide and encourage them to play some functional games, and do simple housework." Zhang Lili said, guiding the children to imitate feeding the dolls and patting them to sleep, encouraging them Helping parents to clean up toys, sweep the floor, and help with things can cultivate the children's ability to communicate with others to a certain extent, and further provide opportunities to play with children.
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