How Children With ASDs Are Exposed to Anxiety

Abstract

Despite information of high anxiety in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), there is argument about difference diagnosis of ASD symptoms and anxiety symptoms.Children with ASDs are exposed to anxiety. Repetitive behaviors are a central feature of ASD and have been related anxiety.The goal of this study is to identify the frequency of anxiety disorders in children and young people with intelligent disabilities and autism.

Autism spectrum disorders are more rampant in the young ones that is, the children and the young population of intellectuals. They cause a lot of anxiety in the affected individuals making them behave as though they are scared of something that is unknown to everyone but them alone. Often, they are very unpredictable and one cannot tell how they might react to situations or circumstances in the daily occurrences (Gobrial & Raghavan, 2012).

When a child is suffering from the autism disorder, there are common characteristics that the child or the affected individual will display. These are the symptoms of the autism spectrum disorder. They range from the child experiencing difficulties when it comes to sleeping, the child becomes agitated very easily, the child is seen as anti-social since they prefer not keeping company but just be alone doing what they like and the child seem to be very keen on their routine activities. More often than not, the child will show obsession with certain substances or activities that seem to bring consolation and a calming effect to them. Out of the blues, you might notice the child doing acts that may cause physical damage to their bodies such as banging their heads, thorough scratching of their heads and even biting some parts of their bodies (Schultz & Herrington, 2014).

Besides the common symptoms displayed by these children or young intellectuals, there are some behaviors that are repetitive in nature for any affected persons. These repetitive behaviors are nonetheless vital as they play a significant role to the autism affected individual.In most cases, the repetitive behavior serves to bring a calming effect to the autism affected individuals making them a bit relaxed and low their anxiety levels. Some of the most repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders individuals are the flapping of hands, spinning objects around them, playing with rocks and twirling. Children with autism spectrum disorders will often react spontaneously to bright lights, any form of noises and strong smells. It is thus recommendation to create an enabling environment for these children by ensuring that people avoid irritating noises and that the children are not exposed to excessive light. In fact, it is said that these repetitive behaviors are closely linked to the anxiety level in the affected child (Connolly & Mcconachie, 2012).

The diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders may come in several ways. This is carried out by different trained physicians and psychologists who do autism specific behavioral evaluations on the children. This is owing to the fact that the disorder cannot be evaluated using a machine as it may not give the correct diagnosis. When carrying out this diagnosis, the physicians or the psychologists may decide to; change the routine of the child suspected to be having the autism spectrum disorder. Normal child will react in a positive manner while the autism affected child will take this on a very negative note. Another way would be to take the child in a very unfamiliar environment where they meet new faces. How they interact with the people around that place communicate a lot to the physicians or the psychologist. Affected children will view the environment as hostile and will not be freely mingling with people while a normal child will be more than excited to meet new friends to interact with (Renno & Wood, 2013).

That notwithstanding, the physician or the psychologist may decide to take the child the child to extreme conditions and observe their reactions. Their sensory reaction to conditions such as noise, bright lights, their tastes and preferences as well as textures will communicate a lot about whether they are affected or not. Autism children will have very high sensory sensitivity towards these conditions while a normal child will react normally. Another critical diagnosis would be to observe the children in their day to day activities and see how they go about them. When you observe a child would is scared of sleeping in their own bed, is very hostile towards their environment and at times is scared of some objects in their home such as balloons, then have a reason to suspect that the child is affected with autism spectrum disorders (Renno & Wood, 2013).

The frequency of anxiety disorders in children affected with autism spectrum disorders can be minimized or mitigated through some activities. The guardian to the child especially is the one capable of doing this due to the trust build between themselves and the child. The guardian should be keen to apply relaxation and calming measures on the child such as helping them to take a deep breath when faced by a situation, narrating them a story and identifying with their favorite objects or activities. The guardian too can use visual technique as this is the main mode of learning adapted by the children with autism spectrum disorders. It would also work magic if the guardian is in a position to help the child rehearse stressful situations. This approach enables the child understand that such occurrence are normal and thus they should not be over-reactive when such occurrences take place(Renno & Wood, 2013).

Autism is not an extra-ordinary disorder in any individual and thus, it is important to help the affected individuals cope up with the conditions or even better recover completely from it. How well a child who is affected with autism spectrum disorders recovers is depends on his immediate environment.