Autic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

According to a recent study carried out by the Developmental Paediatrics Unit of the Children's Hospital-Aglaia Kyriakou, 1 in 10 Greek children aged 10-11 years have Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Over the last 20 years the incidence of Autistic Spectrum Disorders has increased, resulting in the creation of new medical and therapeutic programs.
Difficulties in communication and speech make up the characteristic that leads most parents to worry and seek the expert's opinion. Children with DAF belong to this category and have a disturbance in speech, i.e. the decoding of all forms of early communication. They also have a disturbance in social relationships, mainly difficulty in social empathy, i.e. in the ability to understand each other's emotional position. Thus, the child is unable to share the social gaze, unable to show or comment on things, whether verbal or non-verbal, unable to live up to the role of a member of a group.
The rigidity in the thought process is evident. The child with ASD resists change, presents obsessive ideas and occupations, ritual behaviors, often sound, poor symbolic play, stereotypical activities.
Difficulties in the above functions lead the child to diverge from social relations, social communication, social understanding and imagination. Withdrawal and indifference to others is immediately perceived by the general public. The child prefers the solitary or parallel game rather than the group. Its social approach is one-sided and is usually achieved to satisfy the individual's interests with ASD and communication is limited to expressing mainly basic needs, ignoring any kind of involvement in mutual dialogue
By combining in-depth therapeutic approaches, the child with ASD will develop many skills that will lead him to a smooth social integration into society.

Nancy Alevizou
Speech Language Therapist MA