Autism spectrum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Autism spectrum - Essay Example Some individuals with Autism disability may live an independent life while others have learning disability and need a specialist support. Individuals with autism disorder may also experience under-or over-sensitivity to touch, sound, light, smells, colours, and taste. Andrew’s autism characteristics Andrew demonstrates some characteristics of autism disability, which makes him fit into the criteria for autism. You may come across people like Andrew in the stores, in the park, in schools, or at work. Andrew does not look different from other students, yet he behaves and communicates in a way that seems mysterious, or enigmatic (Baron-Cohen, 2008). Andrew’s autism disability has ruthlessly impaired a number of disabilities many people tend to take for granted. For instance, the teacher seems not to understand that Andrew has autism spectrum that is the way, the teacher sometimes feels that she is in a dilemma. In other words, she founds Andrew’s behaviour disruptiv e to others and becomes frustrated that, Andrew is not willing to confront to the standards of not interrupting others or involving in the school’s social activities (Baron-Cohen, 2008). ... Whether the teacher and other pupils are sad or cheerful, it sounds and looks the same to Andrew. Additionally, Andrew shows little interest in what other pupils are doing. The teacher claims that Andrew does not join or involve himself with other school activities. He ignores the class timetable and instead decides to read an encyclopedia that he carried around, or even arranging the cut grass around the school ground into neat, straight lines (Baron-Cohen, 2008). In general, Andrew focuses his attention on doing minor and simple activities. Instead of attending classes, he could spend hours arranging all the cut grass in the field behind the school into neat, straight lines (Baron-Cohen, 2008). This obsessive and repetitive habit of doing one thing all the time refers to stereotyped behaviours. Andrew however has a characteristic of disagreeing with other people’s ideas and lacks correct measures of explaining himself. This is highly depicted in his behaviour since he shouts out during classes the words like â€Å"How do you know?† or â€Å"Why?† whenever the teacher makes a certain assertion of a fact (Baron-Cohen, 2008). The teacher could note that Andrew had a natural curiosity that she was unable to stifle. All these characteristics, which Andrew has the inability to understand speech and talk, trouble and difficulties in socializing with other pupils, and stereotyped interests and behaviours-are the hub of autism spectrum (Baron-Cohen, 2008). These autism characteristics hinder Andrew from making friends and being unable to fit in at home, at school, or even in public places. Andrew has a severe type of autism behaviour. However, there are some theories that explain that causes of autism behaviour. Theories

Multiple Sclerosis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Multiple Sclerosis - Research Paper Example Consequently, there is no defined medication to cure the disorder (Courtney, 2006). However, various treatments are available to lessen its severity and slow down its progression. This paper will describe the statistics on the disease, a summary of the disease and resources available to manage it. Statistics on Multiple Sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is diagnosed in individuals aged between 20 and 40 years. Although it is not possible to determine the actual number of individuals affected by the disease, it is estimated that there are about 2.1 million people affected by the disease globally (Trisolini, et al., 2010; Courtney, 2006). In a study conducted by the World Health Organization and Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) to determine the prevalence of the disease in 122 countries globally, it was found out that the median prevalence is 30 persons in every 100,000 (Trisolini et al., 2010). In US, it is estimated that the number of people affected by MS stands at between 250,000 and 350,000. Furthermore, it is estimated that about 200 cases are diagnosed every week (Trisolini et al., 2010). Other countries with high MS prevalence as found in the study are shown in the table below. Table I showing prevalence of MS in different countries Country Prevalence of MS per 100,000 persons Hungary 176 Slovenia 150 Germany 149 US 135 Canada 133 Czech Republic 130 Norway 125 Denmark 122 Poland 120 Cyprus 110 Source (Trisolini et al., 2010) Overview of the disease MS is not contagious and researchers have also ruled out the possibility of one directly inheriting the disease. However, there are various factors thought to play a role in the disease. This include one’s gender where women get affected by the disease twice as much as their male counterparts. Additionally, an individual’s age may come to play in the disease considering most diagnoses are done on persons aged 20 to 50 (Carroll, 2010). The ethnic background of a person is also a c ritical factor where there are more Caucasians than whites affected by the disease. MS is a rare among some ethnic groups such as among Japanese and has never been identified among Africans, Eskimos, Blacks, Inuits and Aborigines. The further the people are from the equator, cold climate and latitude are risk factors in occurrence of MS (Carroll, 2010). MS is a central nervous system disease, which comprises the spinal cord and the brain. The disorder causes damage to a protective insulation called myelin which surrounds nerves referred to as axons (Calabresi, 2007). The damage may also extend to the nerves and CNS as a whole. The resulting effects are that messages from the spinal cord and brain could short circuit thereby leading to reduced or lost functioning of the body (Carroll, 2010). A majority of researchers describe MS as an autoimmune disease where white blood cells get misguided and instead of fighting disease causing organisms, they attack body cells (Courtney, 2006). Th is attack leads to CNS inflammation and could damage myelin and eventually injuring the nerves. The areas which experience inflammation are referred as active lesions and plaques refer to scar tissue where myelin gets destroyed. The number, size, and location of plaques and lesions determine the form and severity of the signs (Rolak, 2001). In deep the disease got its name from a discovery of many plaques and sclerosis describes scars. Common symptoms of MS include fatigue, visual disorder, numbness, dizziness, tremor