Sleep Apnea | Essay on Autism

Running head: SLEEP APNEA
Sleep apnea
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1SLEEP APNEA
Autism is a disabling neuro-developmental disorder that is most commonly seen in early
childhood. It is a heterogeneous disorder with two common features of social communication
impairment and repetitive behavioural patterns. History taking and observation of the affected
child is crucial for making a diagnosis on the disorder (2). The main aim of this essay is review
literature on clinical presentation of autism and find out treatment planning modifications in this
group of patient. The essay will also look at oral complications and preventive steps to control
such dental complications in individuals with autism.
According to the DSM-5 criteria, the core symptoms of autism include impairment in
social communication, repetitive patterns of behaviour and interest and impairment in social and
occupational areas of functioning. There are large varieties of clinical phenotypes of the
condition and some people present with intellectual disability, whereas other struggle to
communicate verbally (1). Children with autism have difficulty in communication with others
and they often show very restrictive pattern of behaviour. Speech delay is the first symptom that
is observed by parents. However, as deafness and developmental delay leads to speech delay too,
confirming the same through clinicians is necessary. There are many parents who fail to
recognize symptoms and characteristics features of autism in their children. This gives the
implication for education parents so that all their misconceptions and confusion related to autism
is addressed. During screening for autism, certain red flags of development are referred to
confirm that the child is suffering from autism. Some of the red flag symptoms include not
responding to name by 12 months age, avoiding eye contact, delayed speech, constant repeating
of words or phrases, obsessive interest and strange reactions to taste, look and smell. There are
many screening checklist available to screen for risk of autism such as the M-CHAT tool (7).
The etiology of the disorder is complex and both genetic and environmental factors are linked to
the risk of autism. The environmental causative factors included prenatal factors (such as
exposure to teratogen), perinatal factors (such as low birth weight and preterm delivery) and
postnatal proposed factors like autoimmune illness and mercury toxicity (2).
According to the principle of dental management, it is necessary to be aware of all
medical conditions of patient while planning any dental intervention in patient. In case of dental
treatment of patient with ASD, some of the challenges faced by dentist include uncooperative
behaviour of patient and cost associated with treatment. As children with autism show excessive