Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder that affects a person’s social and communication abilities. We can diagnose autism spectrum disorder when the child is 18-24 months of age.

A child with autism have a strong area of interest even though they have atypical developmental milestones Even though everyone develops at slightly different paces almost everyone have same general developmental milestones and learn the same sets of skills at about the same time. In a child with autism the developmental milestones especially speech and language milestones and social skill development will be badly affected.

Sometimes the children with autism have repetitive behaviours and sensory issues.

Each person with autism spectrum disorder is unique. As Autism is a spectrum disorder it significantly varies from person to person. There are many symptoms seen in autistic children. These include problem with understanding and using verbal communication and non verbal communication, difficulty in social interaction, Atypical play skills, insistence on sameness, Temper tantrums , aggressive behaviours etc.

HYPERACTIVITY AND AUTISM

• Hyperactivity is one of the most common symptom in children with autism. Hyperactivity is the state in which children is abnormally or unusually active.
•  Usually people with Hyperactivity cannot postpone what they desire and they experience attention problem.
•  The problem of Hyperactivity can be observed in children in their 2 years of age itself.
• Most of the children with Autistic features have Hyperactivity as a comorbid symptom.
•  Many researchers points that the hyperactivity in autistic children is due to genetic factors. The genes likely influence the production or regulation of the brain’s neurotransmitters which are signaling molecules in the brain that are released by  one of the neuron and received of another reason.
• Studies shows that Hyperactivity mainly occurs as a result of lack of dopamine secretion in children’s brain. Dopamine is a specific neurotransmitter that get released when the brain is involved with behaviours like getting a reward, taking, a risk and being impulsive.
• Norepinephrine is another neurotransmitter involved in attention and arousals.
•  It’s thought that lower amounts of  these two neurotransmitter floating around contribute to symptoms of hyperactivity.
• There may be hereditary functional problem present in frontal lobe of the brain.

We can suspect Hyperactivity in children if they are unable to follow commands, impatient and hasty. Most of the time the child can get into trouble because usually the child want to get what they want right away.

The child who’s naughty can’t be consider as a hyperactive.

The grade of Hyperactivity differs in child to child. Parents may face difficulty in controlling the situation because we can not predict the behaviour of a child with Hyperactivity .The may talk by interrupting others speech, they do not have any safety concerns.

Children with autism have already social deficits such as difficulty in opening conversation, concluding conversation, peer interaction, joining peers , decoding facial and body language , monitoring social gestures. Combination with these symptoms when the child have hyperactivity will be very difficult to manage.

As in some cases, children with autism have hyperactivity and this can affect their academic performance. Where the child is on the spectrum depends if the child receives a vocational education or general education at the earliest as they need special support.

HOW TO CONTROL HYPERACTIVITY

When we are giving treatment to the child with autism associated with hyperactivity, parents should remember that don’t go with so many opinions that someone gives. Consulting a specialist and confirming the diagnosis should be the first step. After that take treatment accordingly. A detailed assessment by a child development specialist team can confirm Hyperactivity in children. Activities to reduce hyperactivity, motor activities, activities to improve attention and concentration etc can be provided by an occupational therapist which will help the child to subside the problem. Calming activities can also be adopted.

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