Regarding this issue, Dr. Nguyen The Dung, Head of the Department of Treatment and Care for Autistic Children (Central Acupuncture Hospital) said that there are 3 signs to detect autism in children:

The first manifestation is a lack of social interaction skills, children do not participate in group games, often find hidden corners and play alone. Children with signs of autism often do not concentrate, do not interact with the person they are communicating with, do not make eye contact, and have almost no facial expressions.

The second manifestation is that autistic children have abnormalities in language and communication. For example, when a child is 1 year old, he or she can usually say a few single words, but autistic children at 2-3 years old still cannot say a single word. Children have abnormal speech such as meaningless pronunciation, talking to themselves, repeating words, repeating advertisements, children have passive language, only speaking when there is a need such as asking for food, asking to go out...

Intervention for autistic children at the Speech Therapy Unit - General Clinic, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, through games. Illustrative photo: VNA

The third manifestation is behavioral disorders. Most autistic children have behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity, head spinning, running in circles, tiptoeing, looking at hands, moving fingers, tilting the head to look, putting hands in the mouth, not knowing how to avoid danger. In addition, children may have other disorders such as being easily agitated, irritable, tantrums, head banging, biting or hitting people...

Children with autism often have an obstetric history, the first factor being the age of the parents, especially the older the mother, the higher the chance that the child will have autism; or the child is born prematurely, asphyxiated at birth, or traumatized during the rearing process. The exact cause of autism has not yet been found, but changes in certain genes increase the risk of children developing autism. If the father or mother carries one or more of these gene changes, they can be passed on to the child. In addition, some factors that increase autism are watching too much TV, computers, smartphones, etc.

If parents suspect their child has autism, the first thing they should do is seek advice from a doctor or specialist. Early diagnosis and treatment of autism will help their child's activities become better and more developed later on. Depending on the severity and condition of the disease, each doctor will give different treatment regimens. Autistic children all have brain defects, so doctors will have to treat the brain first. Oriental medicine mainly uses acupuncture and hydroacupuncture to "open the mind and awaken the spirit" (to be able to speak and awaken the mind), combined with language intervention for high efficiency. To treat the brain, doctors apply hydroacupuncture tonics and hydroacupuncture vitamins to the acupoints, and they are effective after only 1-2 courses (3 weeks/course). Depending on each patient, the doctor will perform acupuncture on the opening and awakening points. After receiving acupuncture, hydroacupuncture, and acupressure, children receiveeducation , language intervention, and exercise for 30-60 minutes/day, depending on each child's cognitive ability, to adjust their behavior, language, and senses.

Treatment for autistic children before the age of 3 is best. If detected and intervened in time, it will be easier to form deficient skills in children, improving their ability to integrate. The complex functional disorders manifested in autistic children are revealed in the first 3 years of life, so detecting abnormal signs in children during this period is completely within the ability of parents, as long as parents pay attention to observe their children. If children are detected late and intervened late, they will lose many opportunities to integrate into life.

Health-related questions should be sent to the “Your Doctor” section, Economic -Social-Internal Affairs Editorial Department, People’s Army Newspaper, 8 Ly Nam De, Hang Ma, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. Email: [email protected], [email protected]. Phone: 0243.8456735.