Disability registration for autism, action plan 2021

Atypical autism is a psychoneurological disease caused by a disorder of brain structures. It belongs to a group of pathologies called autism spectrum disorders.

Atypical autism is characterized by impaired perception and understanding of the surrounding reality, stereotypical actions, poorly developed imagination, lack of interaction and social communication. Often this pathology is combined with severe specific disorders of the development of receptive speech and profound mental retardation.

The incidence of atypical autism is 2 cases per 10,000 population. Boys get sick 2–5 times more often than girls.

Impairments in social interaction are one of the signs of atypical autism.

Causes and risk factors

Atypical autism is based on structural abnormalities of the brain. Their occurrence is caused by factors, the most common of which are:

Hereditary predisposition. In patients with atypical autism, it is almost always possible to identify relatives with some disorders characteristic of this pathology. In the 90s of the 20th century, a gene was discovered that was responsible for a predisposition to atypical autism. Its presence does not necessarily lead to the disease, but increases the risk of its development when exposed to other factors.
Complicated course of pregnancy and (or) childbirth. In women whose children suffer from atypical autism, in most cases, pregnancy and childbirth occurred with various complications, such as toxemia, intrauterine infections, premature birth, and uterine bleeding.
Some diseases. Atypical autism is often observed against the background of fragile X syndrome, cytomegalovirus infection, phenylketonuria, and epilepsy.

Possible cause of atypical autism is intrauterine infection

Atypical autism: causes

Medicine names mental retardation and severe speech disorders as the main reasons for the occurrence and development of atypical autism in children. You can read more about other prerequisites for the appearance of this disease HERE.

There is also an article on our website that highlights the true causes of autism and similar problems - official medicine is silent about them

Symptoms

Symptoms of atypical autism usually appear after age three. These include:

Disorders in establishing social contacts. The severity may vary - some patients seek loneliness, while others want communication with other people, but cannot build a communication process.
Speech function disorders. Patients do not formulate their thoughts clearly enough, and they understand speech addressed to them literally, that is, they cannot understand words and phrases spoken in a figurative sense.
Emotional coldness. It is difficult for patients to express feelings, emotions, experiences, so they are perceived by others as indifferent, indifferent, and cold. Many of them lack a sense of empathy. The development of emotional disturbances is due to the difficulty of understanding non-verbal signals.
Inflexible thinking. The patient experiences fear of any, even minor changes in life or his environment. He strives to live surrounded by familiar things, to perform monotonous, habitual actions.
Irritability. Due to disorders of the nervous system, patients become overly sensitive to irritating factors. In response, aggression and irritability often occur.
Sensory impairments. The brain processes and perceives sensory information received (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory) differently than in healthy people, which can manifest itself in different ways, including unusual abilities.

Features of behavior of children with atypical autism

The severity of these symptoms may vary. Often the violations are so invisible that identifying and correctly interpreting them turns out to be a difficult task even for a specialist.

With persistent therapy, in many cases the symptoms of atypical autism without mental retardation do not progress, and sometimes it is possible to ensure that the patient’s mental state practically returns to normal.

How are autism and mental retardation related? consultation on correctional pedagogy

How are autism and mental retardation related?

Due to the fact that children with autism sometimes have difficulty mastering speech and generally experiencing the world differently than ordinary children, they are often attributed to mental retardation. This is one of the myths about autism, says defectologist Natalya Kerre, author of the book “Special Children: How to Give a Happy Life to a Child with Developmental Disabilities.” How did the idea of a connection between autism and mental retardation come about and how else does autism manifest itself in a child’s everyday life?

How are autism and mental retardation related?

You can often hear the statement that autism is necessarily combined with mental retardation. Is this true? In fact, children with autism, just like neurotypical children, may have different levels of intelligence, but very few of them are mentally retarded. Where did this opinion come from then?

The fact is that children with autism do not perform well on the standard tests that are mostly used by specialists. A child can assemble the most complex structures according to diagrams, but will not be able to cope with a pyramid or a nesting doll because he did not like the rough wooden texture. He can speak two or three foreign languages fluently, but refuse to answer the simplest questions in his native language at the medical-psychological-pedagogical commission - because he is not interested in the topic of the conversation, there are fluorescent lamps in the office that are uncomfortable for him, and the person interviewing him is too harsh perfume.

And there are a thousand and one more reasons why formally applied examination methods give the result of that same “mental retardation.” (And how can we not recall the words of Albert Einstein: “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is a fool.”)

Another unfavorable option is when a child, with whom correctional work was not started in time, eventually develops a pronounced secondary delay in intellectual development according to the following scheme: autism interferes with communication and knowledge of the surrounding world, the life field in which the child exists is extremely narrowed (in the most severe cases - limited within the apartment), therefore, every year the child falls further and further behind his neurotypical peers.

But even in this case, initially there is no mental retardation! Don't let anyone convince you that your child is "hopeless" and "severely mentally retarded" just because he is not interested in the task of fitting a square into a square hole and a circle into a round hole. This does not speak about the state of his intelligence. To be honest, this doesn’t characterize him at all. Get busy! Look for those methods and teachers that are right for your boy or girl.

Look more broadly - almost every person with autism has their own strengths: some have foreign languages, some have mathematics, some have a passion for biology: everything that grows, runs, swims, flies. Rely on these abilities, develop them as much as possible, gradually improving what is lagging behind (in the case of autism, this is usually emotional and verbal communication).

At some point, it may seem that the child is too developed in his “narrow” area and is hopelessly behind in others. Over time, if you don’t stop working, the situation will improve, your strengths and weaknesses will be more or less balanced. And narrow interests in which the child is successful will become the very hook that will help to socialize. Why am I saying this? And listen more to yourself, feelings and intuition, rely on your everyday observations. None of us specialists know your child better than you, the parents. Regardless of what is written on standard forms, it makes sense to fight for each child to the end. Because real cases of victories in this battle are much more important than dry statistics. If someone has already succeeded, there is every chance that you will succeed too.

Is it necessary to deal with autostimulation in autism?

Children with autism are characterized by so-called autostimulation: repetitive actions that can become very strong, obsessive, especially in exciting, stressful situations for the child.

Autostimulations can be:

gustatory - puts various objects (both food and non-food) into the mouth, licks everything;

visual - the child blinks, squints, moves his fingers or waves his hand in front of the light source to make it flicker, turns the lights on and off in the room, presses rhythmically on his eyes, etc.;

auditory - makes various sounds, taps his ears with his fingers, endlessly restarts the computer to hear the screen saver sound, etc.;

tactile - rubs the skin with objects, pinches oneself or someone nearby, “hangs” on a certain texture: strokes fur, wood, leather, etc. for hours;

vestibular - sways in one place, spins, jumps, shakes hands, etc.;

olfactory - tries to sniff everything, looks for certain smells and is fascinated by them for a long time (the smell of soap, trains, certain perfumes, etc.).

How children with autism play

Autostimulation is used by people with autism either for pleasure or in exciting, stressful situations when they need to calm down. One hypothesis suggests that autistic children constantly need stimulation, and self-stimulation serves as a means of stimulating the nervous system. According to another hypothesis, the environment is a source of too strong external influences, so children resort to autostimulation in order to block excess stimuli and control the level of too strong arousal.

The intensity of autostimulation increases when other people try to deliberately direct the child’s activity in a different direction or when he finds himself in an unusual, difficult environment for him.

Autostimulation is also typical for children with other developmental disorders (cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness, severe mental retardation), for those suffering from somatic diseases, for those brought up in orphanages, for those forced to spend a lot of time in hospitals, etc. — for all groups of children who, due to congenital developmental characteristics or current life circumstances, have limited ways of communicating with the outside world, there is a lack of sensory sensations from the outside world. But autostimulation is most often observed and is particularly persistent in children with autism.

Some form of repetitive behavior that begins at an early age may persist into adulthood. It can resume even after successful correction work - in traumatic situations or when the load is excessive.

Is it necessary to deal with autostimulation? Often, parents and specialists try to harshly suppress them, hold the child’s hands, reprimand him with a sharp shout, and remove the “object of fixation” from the field of accessibility.

I believe that everything needs to be assessed from the perspective of the danger of your child’s autostimulation for yourself or others. If autostimulation is harmless (the child does not constantly put cutting objects or toxic substances into his mouth, does not scratch himself until he bleeds, etc.), but confuses adults with his “inappropriateness”, because he attracts unwanted attention from others, there is no need to prevent it.

If a child is deprived of available sources of pleasure and calming mechanisms, this will cause an accumulation of tension up to the point of a nervous breakdown, and the regular creation of such situations will lead to a neurotic reaction, the consequences of which you are unlikely to like. Over time, you will be able to teach your child to “stim” less noticeably or only within the house (although in severe stressful situations, this reaction may return for more than one year, sometimes for life), select those objects that you can carry with you and that will allow the child to perform autostimulating actions unnoticed by others: prickly balls, pieces of fabric with pleasant textures for the child, which he can touch, etc. But in any case, a persistent fight against autostimulation should not be the primary task of correctional work.

How children with autism play

All types of activities in children with autism develop in a unique way. Autistic children enthusiastically manipulate objects. We all go through this stage of understanding the objective world at an early age. However, normally, at the next stage of development, the child’s fascination with the world of things weakens and social relationships come to the fore. Unlike children without developmental disabilities, in children with autism the leading stage for a long time remains precisely the stage of studying the objective world. The main motive for their manipulations with objects is the attractive sensory properties of the latter: color, texture, sound when falling, etc. A child with autism often uses objects without taking into account their intended purpose: tastes toothpaste and soap, chews plasticine, sniffs toys, etc. Moreover, unlike his normally developing peers, he can persistently repeat these attempts; he is not stopped by pain from the sharp edges of an object or an unpleasant taste or smell. An autistic child often stubbornly refuses to act with objects in accordance with their functional purpose; the social purpose of objects is less important for him than the sensory property he likes. The same thing happens with toys: he rolls the rings from the pyramid, but does not want to collect it; scatters the cubes and the constructor, refusing to build and assemble; lays out blocks of plasticine in a row, refusing to sculpt, etc. An autistic child can be forced to act with objects and toys in accordance with the meaning inherent in them (assemble a pyramid, build a tower of cubes, etc.), but demanding awareness from him without taking into account this “sensory fascination” is almost useless. The development of role-playing play, which requires taking on a certain role and acting in accordance with it, is difficult for an autistic child, and often without special training this type of play is not developed at all. The child finds himself completely helpless in a situation where it is necessary to discuss the rules of the game, distribute roles, and agree on joint actions.

It is difficult to use substitute objects in accordance with the plot of the game: it is very difficult for an autistic child to understand how a stick can be a spoon, a thermometer, and a shovel. The child uses objects and toys in accordance with his own logic and persists in this. Role-playing play, even if it appears on its own, is unstable, interrupted by actions not justified by the game logic, by changing the role, which also does not receive development.

An autistic child, as a rule, has favorite stereotypical games - repeated repetition of the same actions, in which he can manipulate objects for hours, sometimes performing very strange, from the point of view of others, actions.

Stereotype games lack a visible plot. When an adult makes an ill-considered attempt to join the game or stop it, the child demonstrates displeasure or pronounced aggression/self-aggression. Quite often, children with autism ignore toys and get much more pleasure from manipulating with non-play objects - and this is precisely manipulation, the object is not a substitute (in such manipulation a stick does not become a spoon, sand does not become porridge in a plate). The presence of other children is ignored (that is, the child seems to be “stuck” at the “playing nearby” stage, which is typical for children without developmental disabilities under three years of age).

Physical education for a child with autism: which is best?

The motor sphere in autism also develops in a unique way. The child may appear motorically awkward, with muscles that are too tense or relaxed, and with very poorly developed fine motor skills. But at the same time, he can show miracles of dexterity in those areas that are interesting and important to him: he can easily climb onto a high cabinet if he likes to jump from a height or needs to get a toy from there; unwrap the candy tightly wrapped in a candy wrapper that he wants to eat, etc. However, in order to balance the level of motor skills and teach a child to voluntarily control his body (both gross and fine motor skills), additional classes are usually needed.

It is better to select “physical education” for a child based on his interests and preferences: hippotherapy, children’s yoga, swimming, and rhythmics have proven themselves very well. But perhaps martial arts or dancing would be better suited for your child - there is no single recipe here.

Working on the physical development of a child with autism should not become the only means of correction, but if you use this area as an auxiliary one, the results will be very good, since the close connection between physical and mental development is quite obvious, especially when we are talking about such a complex developmental disorder as autism. In addition, physical activity directly affects the sensory area, helping to normalize it.

Interest in the social world, as a rule, does not arise spontaneously and does not become an important motive for the life and activities of an autistic child, although anyone who has more or less long-term experience of communicating with autistic people sees and knows that such children and adults most likely cannot, than they don’t want to communicate.

Treatment

Methods for effective treatment of atypical autism have not been developed to date. Therapy is aimed at eliminating the symptoms of the disease and social adaptation of patients. It is developed individually for each child and is carried out most of the day over a long period of time.

It is important for children with atypical autism to provide conditions for social adaptation

Atypical autism

Atypical autism in children is a nonspecific pervasive developmental disorder. This is a type of autism spectrum disorder. Just like the classic Kanner syndrome, the atypical form of autism is characterized by impaired communication skills of the child, limited interests and developmental delays.
However, the difference is that signs of nonspecific pervasive developmental disorder appear somewhat differently - for example, later than usual (over the age of 3 years), or they are less pronounced. Do not think that atypical autism is easier than usual. On the contrary, a number of symptoms with this form of the disease may manifest themselves more strongly

Are children with autism given disabilities?

According to Russian legislation, a disabled person is a child who has persistent mental, cognitive or physical impairments. Deviations should appear in the following:

inability to care for oneself;
problems with self-control;
inability to live independently in society;
learning problems;
difficulties in acquiring skills at work;
difficulties in carrying out various labor activities.

It is important to clarify whether autism is legally a disability or not. In some particularly severe cases, the commission, based on the results of a medical and mental examination and monitoring of the child over time, decides to assign this status. Confirmation of the child's need for special care and assistance entitles parents to receive financial assistance from the state. It is expressed in benefits and material payments.

Rehabilitation of a child is mandatory, regardless of whether it is indicated that a specific form of autism is a disability. The main thing is to focus on correct diagnosis and rehabilitation, and not on the assignment of disability. At the same time, the availability of financial assistance also contributes to the speedy restoration of health and possible removal of the diagnosis.

Disability registration is carried out for a five-year period. This is enshrined in the provisions of Resolution No. 339, issued by the Russian Government in 2021. In some cases, it may be established before reaching adulthood.

What are the benefits of registering for disability?

To clarify whether autism always implies a disability or not, it is necessary to consider the advantages of registering the status of a person in need of special care and assistance from the state. Often parents refuse to receive the document, fearing the lifelong status of a disabled child.

This position is incorrect, since no one will know about the presence of the certificate, and its execution provides many advantages to parents. The list of advantages includes the following benefits:

extraordinary registration in kindergarten;
free preschool attendance;
registration in the speech therapy group of a kindergarten;
receiving free medications and vouchers to sanatoriums;
possibility of studying at home;
free receipt of books;
extraordinary visit to specialists;
free mastery of professions;
registration of a number of documents free of charge;
free travel on public transport;
emergency care at a local clinic;
receiving a fifty percent discount on seasonal travel on any type of transport;
receiving assistance in rehabilitation from social service employees.

The mother of the child is also provided with some benefits:

the opportunity to take annual leave during the summer;
prohibition on dismissal without her consent;
provision of four days off per month.

Regional legislation may provide for other social support measures. Their list must be obtained from the social protection authorities.

Features and symptoms of the disease

Description of autism

The pathological process affects three areas of the baby’s development:

Social adaptation.
Development of correct speech.
The creative side of thinking.

The main feature that characterizes the atypical form of pathology concerns directly the interaction plan in society. There are two clear examples of this trait:

A complete lack of desire to communicate with other people.
An active desire to communicate, but with unsuccessful communication due to certain mental characteristics.

An atypical mental disorder primarily affects speech development, so very often it is difficult for others to understand the speech of a patient with an atypical form of autism.

Parents can learn about what autism is from the commentary of an experienced specialist.

Video - What is autism?

Emotional development also suffers. This form of pathology is characterized by a complete absence of nonverbal communication. That is, the patient from the outside seems indifferent and indifferent to everything around him.

It should be noted that children suffering from atypical autism are characterized by a high level of irritability, they perceive the surrounding reality with difficulty and cannot think flexibly.

Attention! A child can easily be influenced by external stimuli (bright lights, loud sounds), which will lead to an overly emotional reaction.

Despite the various forms of manifestation of atypical autism, common symptoms are distinguished:

impaired communication skills (no eye contact during communication);
reluctance to have social contacts and make friends with peers;
new verbal constructions are learned with great difficulty, and previously memorized verbal elements are quickly forgotten;
there are pronounced problems in interaction with other people;
all information that comes to the patient is perceived literally, without distinction between semantic and figurative;
non-verbal communication (manifestation of emotions) is also perceived very literally, and sometimes without understanding at all;
lack of ability to express emotional states;
complete indifference to the outside world;
habitual monotonous lifestyle;
self-immersion;
spending a long time on an incomprehensible task (laying out and rearranging any objects) without reacting to the external environment;
an atypical reaction to something new, especially if it is a sound or smell.

The first signs of autism

It is important! Signs of autism generally appear in the child’s first years, but parents may not notice this for a long period of time, considering the child’s isolation to be an individual trait. Then mental disorders with subsequent problems of interaction in society become more pronounced, then the problem of treating the disease arises.

Prognosis and prevention

A positive outcome of overcoming cognitive impairment, restoring self-care and communication skills, improving motor skills and adaptation in a family environment is possible with early detection of the disease and immediate implementation of corrective work, including special training, pharmacotherapy and involvement of patients in social institutions. With active therapy, symptoms do not progress, mental state approaches normal (if there is no severe mental retardation). Preventive measures have not currently been developed.

Is it worth filing for disability?

Let's figure out whether autism is a disability or not. Whether it is necessary to register a disability for a child diagnosed with autism should be decided not only by parents, but also by specialists. If the disease has led to significant impairments, of course, disability must be registered. Money and benefits will never be superfluous. Do not be afraid that disability is for life, it is given for a year or 5 years. If in the future the experts consider that the child’s condition has improved, the disability will be lifted.

Financial assistance in obtaining disability for an autistic person

Having considered whether a child with autism is given a disability, it is necessary to study the types and amounts of financial assistance from the state to such families. If a minor belongs to the first group, his family is entitled to a monthly payment of 10,376 rubles and an additional 5,500 thousand to parents for care. If a child is being raised by an outsider, the second type of payment is reduced to 1,200 rubles.

Disabled people of the second group are paid monthly 8,647 rubles. Additionally, the above-mentioned payment for child care is transferred.

Regional legislation may provide for other payments to autistic children and their parents. Their availability must be checked with the social security department.

Diagnostics

The diagnosis of “atypical autism” is confirmed by a psychiatrist. In addition to him, a pediatrician, neurologist, and clinical psychologist take part in the process of examining the patient. A number of criteria are used for diagnosis: developmental abnormality of the dysontogenesis type, manifestation without reference to an early age, symptoms of qualitative disorders of social interaction and/or stereotypy, lack of necessary criteria for childhood autism. Patient examination includes the following methods:

Clinical conversation.
Informative clinical and anamnestic data is provided by parents, and when the patient is in a medical institution, by staff. A conversation with the patient is possible in rare cases, after several meetings with the doctor (after getting used to it). The speech is marked by repetitions of phrases, echolalia, monosyllabic answers, stories about oneself in the third person (“Misha went to bed”, “he doesn’t want to eat”).
Observation.
Analysis of immediate emotional and behavioral reactions is the main way to obtain diagnostic information. At the first meeting, patients often do not make contact and try to avoid contact with the doctor (they cry, show aggression). Later, more diverse manifestations of the disease are discovered: stereotypies, coldness of emotions, lack of interest in social interaction.
Study of cognitive functions.
When diagnosing, it is important to differentiate autism of the psychotic type from autism with mental retardation. The study of the cognitive sphere is complicated by disturbances in interpersonal interactions and speech development. The psychologist uses non-verbal techniques - collecting pyramids, composing individual pictures and plot stories, Kos cubes, Raven's progressive matrices test.
EEG.
Electroencephalography data confirms the likelihood of the diagnosis. With stable psychosis, an increase in the theta rhythm is determined, at the regressive stage - a reduction in the alpha rhythm, with catatonic-regressive psychosis, the theta rhythm is not detected, the beta rhythm increases. During remission, the alpha rhythm is restored, theta activity decreases or completely disappears.