Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - Research Paper Example In itself, ASD is already difficult to manage in society because of the wide spectrum of symptoms that it encompasses. It may manifest readily after birth or later on in the patient’s childhood. It is thus possible that the treatment procedure varies from one patient to the other (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). Because the illness affects the social facets of the patient, house members suffer as much as the patients do. ASD patients seldom seek comfort, and prefer being alone. Some ASD patients remain mute throughout their lives. Ironically, some find it difficult to control emotional outbursts and aggressiveness. Because they cannot use nor understand other components of communication such as tone of voice or facial expressions, it is difficult to let others know what they need. ASD and Other Health Concerns A significant number of pediatric patients with ASD also have an associated medical condition. Because an estimated 3.4 of 1000 children, ages 3-10 years, ar e afflicted with ASD, whether or not the special health care needs of these patients can be provided by the state is a valid concern. Different researches have described ASD as neurobehavioral difficulties associated with 1 or more co morbidity such as epilepsy, gastrointestinal problems, depression, anxiety, and sleeping disorders. Based on the findings of the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, 5.6% (n=2, 088)of children with special health care needs (n = 535, 000), aged 3-17 years, are autistic. In 2003-2004, autistic children have significantly higher prevalence of depression or anxiety problems, and behavioral or conduct problems. Systemic problems such as respiratory ailments, skin and food allergies were also reported (Gurney et al., 2006). The same is yet to be stated in the 2005-2006 survey. Because ASD affects behavior and social interaction, it is understandable why it is often associated with brain problems. Results of ASD studies using postmortem and MRI analyses show that ASD affects the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, limbic system, corpus callosum, basal ganglia, and brain stem. The occurrence of seizures among ASD patients have been noted in the studies of. If not controlled, it will lead to. More serious neurological abnormalities prevalent among ASD patients are fragile X syndrome and tuberous sclerosis, from which 1 out of 4 ASD patients suffer (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). On the other hand, autism did not seem to increase the risk for diabetes or asthma (Gurney et al., 2006). A much more valid concern is that, as Kogan et al. (2008) found out, autistic children with special health care needs (SCHN) are significantly more likely to have less access on health care. According to the survey, factors that contribute to this poor management of autism-SHCN include sex, with autism-SCHCN occurring more likely in boys than in girls, and poverty. The medical condition is thus not alleviated in such cas es because the affected households cannot afford special health care such as medical homes and specialty care. These households have large out-of-pocket expenses, and they always encounter problems on caring for their ASD-SHCN house member. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to make ends meet because, as much as they need to work to carry the financial demands of caring for an ASD patient, parental involvement in the treatment is usually the key to a treatment’s success (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009) Objectives of the Study Based on the findings of previous researches, it is thus the hypothesis of this study that autistic children are more vulnerable to other illnesses. To prove this,