In DSM5 (the "Bible" of psychiatric diagnoses), autism (or autism as it is called) falls under the autism spectrum disorder . The basic features are:
① Extremely withdrawn, unable to develop interpersonal relationships with others
② speech retardation, loss of the ability to use language to communicate with others
③ Repeating simple game activities with a desire to stay the same
④ Lack of ability to imagine objects and dexterous use of objects
It was discovered in 1943 by American Leo Kanner after observing 11 children with autism. At the same time, another pediatrician, Hans Asperger (hence the nickname of childhood Alzheimer's) also discovered the same phenomenon and published a related doctoral thesis, officially named "autism" (Autism) .
Cause:
① Genetic factors: The incidence of cognitive deficits and language retardation in autistic families is 50 times higher than that of the general population; many studies have shown that ASD is affected by genetic factors, and the heritability is about 0.80
②Neurobiological factors: increase in brain volume in the first few years
③Perinatal factors: 1/3 of children with autism have complications during the perinatal period; they have suffered from injury, asphyxia, hypoxia, etc. during childbirth; infants after birth have suffered from complications such as spasms and epilepsy
④ Psychological factors : Some researchers have proposed that children with ASD have deficits in "theory of mind" (a person's ability to understand that others may have different expectations, beliefs, intentions, and emotions from their own), leading to social dysfunction.
Symptoms/clinical manifestations:
①Non -verbal communication barriers
② Sensory and movement disorders
③Intelligence and cognitive impairment
④Social interaction disorder: avoid contact with people
⑤Language developmental disorder: delayed or no language development
⑥ narrow scope of interest, stereotyped behavior
Epidemiology:
①Onset in early childhood and may be obvious in the first few months of life ②The prevalence of boys is 4 times that of girls ③Comorbidities: 1/3 have learning disabilities, anxiety disorders, etc.
Treatment: The most promising treatment modality is psychotherapy, including high-intensity psychological interventions and family therapy; and there is evidence that pharmacotherapy is less effective than behavioral interventions
The heroine Temple in the film "Autism Journey" is a very typical "high functioning autism" , and she is also a typical case used in the ASD chapter of the book "Abnormal Psychology". According to Temple's personal development timeline, I roughly sort it out:
· Four-year-old diagnosed with autism:
Temple's mother took her to a doctor's office when she was four years old, and answered questions about the doctor: for example, she had not spoken at that time, no communication with others, refusal of close contact (hug), no eye-to-eye contact, others No response to talking to her, stereotyped behaviors such as spinning in place, staring at a stationary object, etc.
· Study stage:
At Temple high school, her mother sent her to a boarding school after she was beaten by her classmates for being bullied for a long time; at the new high school, Temple met a scientific sensitivity that made her unusual and focused. The teachers he cultivated also benefited from this experience. Temple was finally able to enter the university, graduate school, and finally embark on the road of scientific research, break through himself, and become a legend.
Symptoms Temple showed during her schooling period: she has communication barriers with her classmates (except for the visually impaired roommate she met in college, but she also relieved some of Temple's symptoms that she doesn't like physical contact with people), and only has a sense of knowledge in the field of image science. Interests (unable to understand abstract subjects such as language), facial expressions, body language, etc. are different from ordinary people (there will be relatively inappropriate reactions and performances, such as answering the teacher's questions loudly in class)
· At Aunt's Farm:
Temple got the second "trigger" in her life at her aunt's farm during the summer vacation, and she discovered her strong interest in animal husbandry, which also laid the foundation for her later achievements.
On the farm, some of her exchanges with her aunt and some of her actions also reflect the characteristics of very typical autistic patients, such as:
- She communicated with her aunt about "emotions, sorrows and sorrows", which are difficult to decipher from Temple's expression. Temple is afraid to communicate with strangers, she repeatedly emphasized "I don't understand people", it can be seen from this : Although she can recognize other people's emotions, but does not really understand
- She has a strong attachment and extreme concern for some simple inanimate and complex machinery - such as she is very attached to the squeeze machine, and describes it as a source of security, similar to hugging people. This is also a "stereotype", but also a "self-stimulating" activity
- She is gifted in animal husbandry, but has to deal with her natural social deficits for a lifetime
- She can't communicate further with others, can't generate topics, and doesn't pay attention to whether others are interested in her words
- She is very imaginative (this is slightly different from the previous symptom description), for example, the automatic door of the convenience store is "dog head" in her imagination, so she is very afraid
- She has a particularly high demand for the fixed environment, for example, she put a sign with her name on the room her aunt prepared for her, but found that the sign was blown on the ground by the wind, and she could not accept it
- Her ability to remember images vividly, her brain is like an image scanning camera, but at the same time she also receives too much external information, too many sounds, too many distractions, too many associations, so it is sometimes difficult to focus on one On the matter, thinking drifts
- Sensitive to sound and color, may feel hurt if overstimulated
I think Temple in the film is undoubtedly unfortunate, but also lucky at the same time. Unfortunately , her autism is innate, the cause is unclear, and there is no cure; fortunately , she has no intellectual disability, or even a gift, and can achieve something in her field of expertise. And she has won the support of many people around her, whether it's the Harvard-graduated Kochi's mother who has never left her, resisted the outside world (for example, the doctor would suggest sending her to a welfare institution), spoke for her, and helped her communicate with the school. The dormitory kept Squeeze Machine's aunt, a roommate who became her true friend, a teacher who tapped her talents, a magazine owner-editor-in-chief and a farmer who admired her talents, and so on.
She's a Visual-thinker, which is shown very well in the film. I used to think that the world of loners might be "unusually quiet", which is why they are very withdrawn and reluctant to be in contact with people. But Temple's example is that there are too many sounds, pictures, associations, pictures, etc. in her mind, too many stimuli and distractors, which cause her to react differently than ordinary people.
But - Different but not less . This sentence is the best interpretation for autistic patients. It is also the most worthy of consideration for all of us who care about related disciplines.
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