Symptoms, Therapy Options For Autism Spectrum Disorder

A viewer wants to know what treatment options are available for a family member who has been diagnosed with autism. Dr. Lacy Anderson has more on symptoms and treatment options for autism spectrum disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder is actually very common. Some kids have mild symptoms and others have more severe symptoms and may even be non-verbal. 

In children, you may notice speech delay and mood swings. They may be very sensitive to loud sounds and clothes that may be itchy or uncomfortable. Many of them are highly intelligent. 

I have a child on the spectrum and when he was a toddler, we had to cut the tags out of all of his shirts and buy socks with no seams in the toes. He still won’t wear sweaters even as a teenager because they are too itchy. He wouldn’t go to sleep at night and if he had a tantrum, it would last much longer than other kids. 

There is absolutely help out there for children. We did occupational therapy for a year which helped tremendously with his symptoms and also helped me parent differently with him than my other kids. 

As a teenager, he is happy and doing well but we are so thankful that we started therapy for him at age four. Be sure and talk to your child’s doctor about treatment options.