environment

environment

Gg1

Kamis, 14 Agustus 2008

MAAG DENGAN ENZYM (VITAZYM) ATAU MEREK ENZYM LAINNYA

Teman-teman saya ada beberapa orang yang terkena maag, sudah coba macam-macam obat, dll, tidak berhasil, dan setelah itu mendapat informasi dari orang, coba vitazym, dan ternyata sangat membantu sekali, perut langsung enak.

Enzym juga ternyata merupakan salah satu vitamin yang dibutuhkan kita selain vitamin C, B6, dll, zinc, magnesium, asam folat, dll.

Vitamin B 6 plus magnesium dengan autis / autism

Ternyata Vitamin b6 plus magnesium sangat bagus untuk anak autis/autism

Vitamin b6 plus magnesium sangat membantu untuk anak autis, membantu cepat bicara, kontak mata, sosial ada, konsentrasi,dll, walaupun tetap masih ada sedikit autis-nya.

Selain vitamin lainnya yang dibutuhkan seperti zinc, asam folat, vitamin c, calsium, dll.

Vitamin - vitamin tersebut dapat dibeli di Jakarta, di Jakarta Design Center (JDC), Tel : 5720545

www.autism.com
www.kirkmanlabs.com

Akupuntur dengan autis / autism

Akupuntur dapat membantu berbagai penyakit, seperti stroke, dll karena memperlancar peredaran darah.

Akupuntur juga dapat menyembuhkan anak autis / autism.

Tetapi harus diingat jangan sembarang mencari seorang akupuntur, harus cari yang benar-benar ahli.

Kamis, 03 Juli 2008


defeat autism now !

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The Candida Yeast-Autism Connection

Please note: treatment for candida albicans infrequently results in a cure for autism. However, if the person is suffering from this problem, his/her health ...
www.autism.com/triggers/candida_org.htm

ARI eNewsletter November 30, 2007

30 Nov 2007 ... The RIMLAND Center, a state-of the-art autism treatment facility and .... It was labeled a "cure" after it brought about extraordinary ...
www.autism.com/ari/enewsletter/enewsletter_200711.htm

Please click "Show Images / This email " to view the images and ...

"As a religion project at my school, I have chosen to help raise awareness and money so we can help find a cure for autism. This would be a great way to get ...
www.autism.com/ari/enewsletter/enewsletter_200802.htm
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Improving Diet

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Autism is a spectrum disorder, and a treatment that helps one ...... improvement or total cure of the gut problems, and a large improvement in behavior. ...
www.autism.com/treatable/adams_biomed_summary.pdf

Autism: a Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning

It is hypothesized that the regressive form of autism represents another form of ..... Table I: Summary Comparison of Traits of Autism & Mercury Poisoning ...
www.autism.com/triggers/vaccine/mercury.htm

Vitamin B6 (and Magnesium) in the Treatment of Autism

However, despite the remarkably consistent findings in the research on the use of vitamin B6 in the treatment of autism, and despite its being immeasurably ...
www.autism.com/ari/editorials/ed_vitb6.htm

Recovery

There are many treatment options and a clinician using a Defeat Autism Now! approach can work with you to find an appropriate treatment plan for you child. ...
www.autism.com/ari/faq/faq_recovery.htm

Autism and Supplements

... and eclectic treatment strategies have driven progress toward cure. ... Treatment of autism spectrum children with thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl ...
www.autism.com/medical/research/advances/autism-supplements.htm
[PDF]

AUTISM IS TREATABLE!

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vailing belief that autism was a psychological disorder,. caused by bad mothering, ... eration from autism to treatment modalities which were, ...
www.autism.com/treatable/congressionaltestimony.pdf

Vitamin B6 in Autism: The Safety Issue

There is no biological treatment for autism which is more strongly ... While B6/magnesium is not a cure, it has often made a big, worthwhile difference. ...
www.autism.com/ari/editorials/ed_b6safe.htm

www.autism.com

Autism Research Review International, 1987, Vol. 1, No. 4, page 3

Vitamin B6 (and Magnesium) in the Treatment of Autism

All 18 studies known to me in which vitamin B6 has been evaluated as a treatment for autistic children have provided positive results. This is a rather remarkable record, since the many drugs that have been evaluated as treatments for autism have produced very inconsistent results. If a drug shows positive results in about half of the evaluation studies, it is considered a success and the drug is then advocated for use with autistic patients. However, despite the remarkably consistent findings in the research on the use of vitamin B6 in the treatment of autism, and despite its being immeasurably safer than any of the drugs used for autistic children, there are at present very few practitioners who use it or advocate its use in the treatment of autism.

Research on the use of vitamin B6 with autistic children began in the 1960s. In 1966 two British neurologists, A. F. Heeley and G. E. Roberts, reported that 11 of 19 autistic children excreted abnormal metabolites in their urine when given a tryptophan load test. Giving these children a single 30 mg tablet of vitamin B6 normalized their urine; however, no behavioral studies were done. A German investigator, V. E. Bonisch, reported in 1968 that 12 of 16 autistic children had shown considerable behavioral improvement when given high dosage levels (100 mg to 600 mg per day) of vitamin B6. Three of Bonisch’s patients spoke for the first time after the vitamin B6 was administered in this open clinical trial.

After my book Infantile Autism was published in 1964, I began receiving hundreds of letters from parents of autistic children throughout the United States, including a number who had tried the then-new idea of “megavitamin therapy” on their autistic children. Most had begun experimenting with various vitamins on their autistic children as a result of reading books by popular nutrition writers. I initially was quite skeptical about the remarkable improvement being reported by some of these parents, but as the evidence accumulated, my interest was aroused. A questionnaire sent to the 1,000 parents then on my mailing list revealed that 57 had experimented with large doses of vitamins. Many of these had seen positive results in their children. As a result, I undertook a large-scale study, on over 200 autistic children, of megadose quantities of vitamin B6, niacinamide, pantothenic acid, and vitamin C, along with a multiple-vitamin tablet especially designed for the study. The children were living with their parents throughout the U.S. and Canada, and each was medically supervised by the family’s own physician. (Over 600 parents had volunteered for the study, but most could not overcome their physicians’ skepticism.)

At the end of the four-month trial it was clear that vitamin B6 was the most important of the four vitamins we had investigated, and that in some cases it brought about remarkable improvement. Between 30% and 40% of the children showed significant improvement when the vitamin B6 was given to them. A few of the children showed minor side effects (irritability, sound sensitivity and bed-wetting), but these quickly cleared up when additional magnesium was supplied, and the magnesium confirmed additional benefits.

Two years later two colleagues and I initiated a second experimental study of the use of megavitamin therapy on autistic children, this time concentrating on vitamin B6 and magnesium. My co-investigators were Professors Enoch Callaway of the University of California Medical Center at San Francisco and Pierre Dreyfus of the University of California Medical Center at Davis. The double-blind placebo-controlled crossover experiment utilized 16 autistic children, and again produced statistically significant results. For most children dosage levels of B6 ranged between 300 mg and 500 mg per day. Several hundred mg/day of magnesium and a multiple-B tablet were also given, to guard against B6-induced deficiencies of these other nutrients. (In all probability, the temporary numbness and tingling resulting from B6 megadoses, reported by Schaumburg et al., were the result of induced deficiencies of other nutrients caused by taking B6 alone in enormous amounts—a foolish thing to do.)

In both studies the children showed a remarkably wide range of benefits from the vitamin B6. There was better eye contact, less self-stimulatory behavior, more interest in the world around them, fewer tantrums, more speech, and in general the children became more normal, although they were not completely cured.

People vary enormously in their need for B6. The children who showed improvement under B6 improved because they needed extra B6. Autism is thus in many cases a vitamin B6 dependency syndrome.

After completing his participation in our study, Professor Callaway visited France, where he persuaded Professor Gilbert LeLord and his colleagues to undertake additional B6/magnesium research on autistic children. The French researchers, although skeptical that anything as innocuous as a vitamin could influence a disorder as profound as autism, became believers after their first, reluctantly undertaken, experiment on 44 hospitalized children. They have since published six studies evaluating the use of vitamin B6, with and without additional magnesium, on autistic children and adults. Their studies typically used as much as a gram a day of vitamin B6 and half a gram of magnesium.

LeLord and his colleagues measured not only the behavior of the autistic children, but also their excretion of homovanillic acid (HVA) and other metabolites in the urine. Additionally, they have done several studies in which the effects of the vitamin B6 and/or the magnesium on the brain electrical activity of the patients was analyzed. All of these studies have produced positive results.

LeLord et al. recently summarized their results on 91 patients: 14% improved markedly, 33% improved, 42% showed no improvement, and 11% worsened. They noted that “in all our studies, no side effects were observed….” Presumably, no physical side effects were seen.

Several recent studies by two groups of U.S. investigators, Thomas Gualtieri et al., at the University of North Carolina, and George Ellman et al., at Sonoma State Hospital in California, have also shown positive results on autistic patients.

While no patient has been cured with the vitamin B6 and magnesium treatment, there have been many instances where remarkable improvement has been achieved. In one such case an 18-year-old autistic patient was about to be evicted from the third mental hospital in his city. Even massive amounts of drugs had no effect on him, and he was considered too violent and assaultative to be kept in the hospital. The psychiatrist tried the B6/magnesium approach as a last resort. The young man calmed down very quickly. The psychiatrist reported at a meeting that she had recently visited the family and had found the young man to now be a pleasant and easy-going young autistic person who sang and played his guitar for her.

Another example: a frantic mother phoned me to ask for information on sheltered workshops in her city, since her 25-year-old autistic son was about to be expelled for unmanageable behavior. I knew of no alternate placements for the son, but I suggested that the mother try Super Nu-Thera, a supplement containing B6, magnesium and other nutrients. Within a few weeks she called again to tell me excitedly that her son was doing very well now and his piecework pay had risen dramatically from the minimum pay of $1.50 per week to $25 per week.

In view of the consistent findings showing the safety and efficacy of the nutrients B6 and magnesium in treating autistic individuals, and in view of the inevitability of short and/or long-term side effects of drug use, it certainly seems that this safe and rational approach should be tried before drugs are employed.

Selasa, 01 Juli 2008

Neurofeedback May Help 'Retrain' Brainwaves In Children With Autism

ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Playing a video game called ‘Space Race’ that requires nothing more than brainpower to make rockets on a computer screen move forward is more than just fun and games. A University of Missouri researcher is using video games to see if the brainwaves of children with autism can be ‘retrained’ to improve focus and concentration.

“We are trying to awaken their brains. Often children with autism disconnect and we want to use neurofeedback to teach them how it feels to pay attention and be more alert. We want to teach them to regulate their own brain function,” said Guy McCormack, chair of the occupational therapy and occupational science department in the MU School of Health Professions. “The ultimate goal is to lay down new neural pathways and, hopefully, see changes in focus and attention span, social interaction, improved sleep, and appetite.”

Neurofeedback is a way of observing how the brain works from moment to moment. While the children play the video games, their concentration and focus are rewarded by movements on the screen and special sounds. If attention wanes, the rocket on the screen slows, sounds stop and the color changes until more attention is given to the image. As this occurs, researches watch another screen that monitors brainwave activity. The brainwave activity is measured by placing sensors on the scalp.

“The more neurofeedback training given to a child with autism, the more often the correct brain pathways are used and the stronger they become. It’s like a ‘tune-up’ for a brain that is out of sync,” McCormack said. “The brain has a lot of plasticity and, as children continue this training, it becomes engrained and spills into other parts of their lives.”

Neurofeedback technology was designed by NASA for flight simulations. It also is used to help high-powered executives achieve peak performance and to help athletes train their brains to ‘get into a zone.’

“The aim of neurofeedback is to enable children to consciously control their brainwave activity by being rewarded for their ability to focus,” McCormack said. “Neurofeedback can be compared to physical conditioning for the brain.”

McCormack says a body of evidence already exists that has found the use of neurofeedback training helps with other neurological disorders such as traumatic brain injuries, strokes, seizures, depression, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and premenstrual syndrome.

The Sinquefield Charitable Foundation gave $213,511 to fund McCormack’s study of neurofeedback for treatment of autism. The study is being conducted at the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.


Adapted from materials provided by University of Missouri.
APA

MLA
University of Missouri (2008, April 24). Neurofeedback May Help 'Retrain' Brainwaves In Children With Autism. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 2, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/04/08042317553

Kamis, 26 Juni 2008

Tuesday 10 June 2008
Bayi Lahir Kerdil dan Prematur Rentan Mengidap Autis
Penelitian terbaru tentang autis, seperti yang ditulis jurnal situs "US News & World Report", 2 Juni kemarin. Pada artikel kesehatan yang ditulis oleh Amanda Gardner itu disebutkan bahwa anak yang lahir dengan berat di bawah normal atau sebaliknya memiliki berat dua kali dari normalnya, berisiko tinggi akan mengidap autis.

Penemuan ini juga telah dibahas secara khusus dalam jurnal kesehatan "Pediatrics" edisi Juni. Dalam jurnal itu disebutkan, risiko terserang gangguan pertumbuhan, seperti yang terjadi pada anak autis, juga akan lebih mudah terkena pada anak perempuan yang memiliki berat badan di bawah berat normal sejak ia dilahirkan.

Hasil studi kasus yang dilakukan oleh para peneliti dari US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention itu, setidaknya telah menguak penyebab kelainan autis yang selama ini masih belum jelas. Namun bukan tidak mungkin dengan adanya penemuan ini akan bermanfaat bagi pasien yang memiliki gejala mirip di masa mendatang.

"Penemuan ini setidaknya telah memberikan kita petunjuk (tentang autis), yang selama ini masih minim. Namun demikian, petunjuk ini bukan juga menjadi alasan segalanya bagi para dokter anak untuk mendiagnosa anak yang diduga mengidap autis," ujar Dr Cindy Molloy, seorang peneliti autis sekaligus asisten professor di bidang kesehatan anak pada "Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics" pada rumah sakit khusus anak "Cincinnati".

Hasil penemuan ini juga memperkuat alasan kepada para orangtua untuk lebih memberikan pengawasan ekstra terhadap anak yang lahir di bawah ukuran normal, atau untuk anak yang mengalami masalah tingkah laku tentang bagaimana seharusnya mereka diperlakukan, ujar Diana Schendel, tim peneliti kesehatan di "CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities".

Apa yang dinamakan selama ini "spektrum pengidap autis" tak lain adalah gejala berkembangnya kelainan pada anak ditandai dengan masalah komunikasi dan adanya masalah pada sikap bersosialosasi.

Dari hasil data penelitian "National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke", diperkirakan akan selalu ada sekitar tiga dari 1.000 anak yang rentan menderita autis di Amerika. Namun, diperkirakan perkembangannya empat kali lebih cepat daripada anak perempuan.

***


Studi sebelumnya sebenarnya pernah menunjukkan bahwa kelahiran anak di bawah berat normal dan lahir prematur diduga menjadi faktor utama penyebab munculnya gejala autis pada anak. Padahal, alasan yang berkaitan antara kedua faktor dengan autis ini, sebelumnya belum bisa dibenarkan oleh para ahli.

Sebelumnya juga, dari hasil penelitian yang belum lama ini dilakukan para peneliti di Kanada menjelaskan, anak yang lahir prematur dengan berat di bawah normal - sekitar 3, 3 pounds --, seperti terlihat dari hasil tes menunjukkan gejala autis yang lebih positif. Namun dikatakan, penemuan itu pun masih belum bisa dijadikan alasan kuat, dan masih perlu penelitian lebih lanjut.
Namun, alasan itu baru bisa dibenarkan setelah adanya penemuan para ahli kesehatan yang sama di Kanada baru-baru ini. Para ahli kesehatan itu meneliti 565 anak yang mengidap autis yang lahir di kota metropolitan Atlanta antara 1986 hingga 1993 yang memiliki kesamaan beberapa karakter ketidakmampuan seperti yang diderita kebanyakan pengidap autis seperti keterlambatan mental, kelumpuhan otak, gangguan pendengaran dan masalah penglihatan, lalu membandingkan mereka dengan sejumlah anak yang tidak mengidap autis.

Dari keseluruhan penelitian disimpulkan, kelahiran dengan berat di bawah normal erat kaitannya dengan munculnya gejala autis dua kali lipat dibandingkan faktor lainnya. Disimpulkan, bahwa gejala itu lebih rentan terkena pada anak perempuan daripada anak laki-laki.

Juga disimpulkan, bagi semua penderita gejala autis yang sebelumnya lahir dengan berat badan di bawah berat normal, memiliki gejala gangguan pertumbuhan yang lebih tinggi, khususnya pada masalah keterlambatan mental.

Selain itu, ditemukan juga bahwa risiko terkena masalah pertumbuhan (seperti yang terjadi pada pengidap autis) memiliki dampak dua kali lipat lebih besar akan terjadi pada bayi yang lahir prematur, meski sebelumnya risiko ini dikatakan lima kali lebih besar kemungkinannya terjadi pada bayi perempuan.

"Penemuan ini dulu telah menjadi studi pertama yang memiliki cukup banyak sampel untuk membuktikannya kepada bayi perempuan," jelas Molloy. "Dengan adanya penemuan ini, mereka benar-benar sanggup mengungkap fakta sebenarnya tentang perbedaan antara laki-laki dan perempuan."

Bahkan, risiko tinggi terjangkit autis seperti yang terlihat dari kelahiran dengan berat badan di bawah normal dan dampak prematur awalnya tak pernah diduga akan berdampak besar pada gangguan-gangguan, seperti keterlambatan mental, kelumpuhan otak, gangguan pendengaran dan masalah penglihatan.

"Belum jelas alasannya mengapa bayi yang lahir dengan berat badan badan di bawah standar atau juga yang lahir prematur memiliki risiko tinggi akan mengidap masalah-masalah pertumbuhan ini," kata Schendel.

Namun, kedua faktor ini akan menjadi penanda adanya indikasi janin lemah, yang menjadi masalah adanya gangguan syaraf yang memperlambat pertumbuhannya. Dengan kata lain, bayi yang lahir dengan ukuran kerdil atau prematur memiliki kaitan erat dengan faktor-faktor yang dapat membahayakan pertumbuhan syaraf janin, seperti terjadinya infeksi selama masa kehamilan, kata Schendel.

usnews.com | Global
Oleh Redaksi Web - Tuesday 10 June 2008 - 10:45:13

Dunia Sunyi Sendiri Oskar

Liza Desylanhi

Walau tertatih, pria ini mampu bangkit dari kungkungan autis. Kini ia menjadi penulis.

Sekilas Oscar Yura Dompas tak berbeda dari pria lain. Bedanya, jika berbicara, pria yang biasa cas-cis-cus dalam bahasa Inggris ini selalu tegas, formal, dan terstruktur. Terkadang ia hanya mengulang-ngulang suatu kalimat. Perhatiannya hanya tertuju pada satu objek. Matanya selalu tertuju pada satu hal saja, seolah-olah melihat benda gaib.

Oscar mengalami autisme, gejala kejiwaan yang ditandai dengan ketidakpedulian pada orang lain. Orang-orang seperti Oscar selalu kesulitan berkomunikasi dengan orang lain. Mereka hanya asyik dengan diri sendiri.

Setelah berjuang keras, Oscar bisa berkomunikasi seperti orang lain. Lulusan Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Atmajaya Jakarta ini ingin berbagi dengan masyarakat bagaimana menghadapi orang autis. Tahun 2005 lalu ia menulis buku An Austistic Journey, mengenai pengalamannya sebagai autis. "Kalau orang yang nggak tahu pendidikan, pasti bilang anak autis itu gila," kata Oscar, 27 tahun. "Orang autis itu punya kelebihan tertentu juga."

Sikapnya yang polos dan cuek membuat pria berbadan gempal ini menjadi sasaran keisengan teman-temannya. Pengagum tokoh Bart dalam film The Simpsons ini bahkan pernah dijerumuskan teman-temannya saat ulangan. "Kalau kamu mau kayak Bart, nilai ulangan kamu harus digugurkan semua, biar dapat nilai jelek," kata teman-temannya. Oscar pun menurut. "Padahal, aku tahu jawabannya," katanya. Akibatnya prestasi sekolah Oscar jeblok. Peringkatnya terjun bebas dari 6 ke 33.

Layaknya penyandang autis lain, pria yang tinggal di Rempoa, Jakarta Selatan, ini punya energi besar. Untuk menyalurkan energi berlebihnya itu, keluarganya menyodori Oscar seabrek kegiatan sepanjang hari. Ada pelajaran tambahan, les renang, taekwondo, tenis meja, dan bola basket.

Memasuki sekolah menengah pertama, sulung dari tiga bersaudara ini belum juga bisa bergaul. Ia tetap menjadi sasaran ejekan teman-temannya. Namun, Oscar mulai jatuh cinta pada seorang gadis teman sekelas. Gejolak asmara di dada mendorong Oscar memberanikan diri menyampaikan cintanya saat study tour ke Yogyakarta menjelang kelulusan SMP Tarakanita Jakarta. "Jawabnya, nggak papa, dech. Kita boleh coba," tutur Oscar. Tapi hubungan asmara itu hanya berlangsung sebulan.

Pria berdarah campuran Manado-Banten ini melanjutkan studi di SMU Pangudiluhur 1, Jakarta Selatan. Ternyata lingkungan baru tak bersahabat. Oscar semakin sering jadi bahan ejekan. "Saya dibilang mormon," katanya. "Sakit hati, tapi nggak bisa marah."

Bahkan, para guru juga sering memukuli Oscar. Penggemar sejarah ini mengaku kesulitan menyerap pelajaran geografi dan kesenian di SMU. "Nggak bisa gambar, nggak bisa not balok," katanya.

Oscar pun tak naik kelas. Akhirnya Oscar dikirim sekolah ke Australia. Di Negeri Kangguru itu Oscar tinggal dengan induk semang yang mendukungnya untuk belajar mandiri. Tapi bukan berarti sekolahnya lancar. Teman-teman sesama asal Indonesia suka memanfaatkan Oscar. Mereka suka meminjam uang dan tak mengembalikan. Mereka gunakan uang itu untuk bisnis obat terlarang. Oscar pun mulai kenal dan mengonsumsi ganja dan heroin. Karena orang tuanya tahu, mereka memanggil pria berkulit gelap ini pulang. Tapi Oscar akhirnya balik ke Australia untuk melanjutkan sekolah.

Lulus SMU Oscar melanjutkan ke Williams Business College di utara Sidney. Karena depresi, dia hanya bertahan tiga bulan. "Karena dapat orang tua asuh yang perfeksionis," katanya.

Sepulang dari Autralia, Oscar menjadi pribadi yang sensitif dan temperamental. Ia suka marah-marah. Namun dia berjuang keras mengatasi masalah itu. Secara perlahan akhirnya ia berhasil mengendalikan emosinya. Pada tahun 200 Oscar melanjutkan ke Universitas Atma Jaya Jakarta. Ia pun berhasil menamatkan studi di kampus ini.

Kini Oscar sedang menulis buku kedua. Ia juga ingin menjadi jurnalis. Akhir April lalu ia terbang ke Singapura untuk mencari pekerjaan. Sebelumnya ia belajar menjadi penyiar radio di Jakarta. "Asyik, suasananya nggak formal," ujarnya.

Orang tua Oscar, Jeffrey dan Ira Dompas, semula tak menyadari anak sulung mereka mengalami autis. Mereka baru menyadari saat Oscar berusia tiga tahun. Setiap orang tuanya pulang kantor, Oscar kecil tak pernah menyambut, tidak seperti adiknya, Nikita. "Saat saya samperin ke kamarnya, dia lagi asyik main sendiri," kata Ira. Selain itu, Oscar juga bergerak terus. Sampai dini hari pun Oscar balita tak bisa tidur.

Jefry dan Ira berkonsultasi pada ahli kejiwaan. Ahli itu menganjurkan agar memberikan obat penenang, tapi Ira menolak. "Anak kecil kok dimasukin obat-obatan," katanya. Ira pun beralih ke dokter lain. Dokter itu menyarankan agar Oscar diberi sayur kangkung sebagai pengganti obat tidur. Aktivitasnya di siang hari juga ditambah agar malamnya tidur nyenyak.

Jefry melatih kosentrasi Oscar dengan cara menyalakan lilin di ruang gelap berdua. "Saya hadapkan Oscar untuk melihat lilin pertama. Dia bosan, kasih lilin kedua. Dia bosan juga, kasih lilin pertama lagi," kata pengusaha pelayaran ini. "Itu saya lakukan konsisten."

Ira yang waktu itu bekerja sebagai sekretaris terpaksa meninggalkan pekerjaannya untuk mengurus Oscar. Jefry yang saat itu masih kuliah harus meninggalkan bangku kuliahnya. "Kini kami mencarikan pekerjaan yang tepat untuk Oscar," kata Ira yang sekarang menjadi praktisi hukum.

Beruntunglah Oscar mempunyai orang tua yang mengerti, sabar, dan telaten membimbing anaknya yang menyandang autis. Bocah-bocah penyandang autis lainnya mungkin bernasib lain. Bahkan, dulu orang-orang autis dianggap kerasukan roh atau makhluk gaib, sehingga sering dipasung keluarganya. Pandangan seperti itu masih kuat di masyarakat yang kurang pendidikan.

Menurut pendiri Yayasan Autis Indonesia, Dyah Puspita, autisme bukanlah penyakit, sehingga tak perlu dicari obatnya. Perhatian orang tua merupakan kunci untuk mengatasi autisme. "Mereka berpikir nggak apa-apa, sampai akhirnya terlambat," kata Dyah. "Saya minta orang tua belajar mengenali kondisi anaknya." (E2)

©2008 VHRmedia.com

Jumat 27 Juni 2008 10:56
Kisah 2 Anak Berbakat (2)

Jangan pustus asa punya anak autis. Asal penangannya benar, mereka bisa berprestasi.

ARYA: KERETA API DI DALAM LAUT

Jari-jarinya bergerak lincah mencoret-coret kertas dengan pensil. Tak sampai 30 menit, sebuah sketsa
perspektif dengan obyek kereta api (KA) pun selesai ia buat. Ya, Arya Dwi Pramudita (13) memang sangat piawai menggambar, khususnya gambar dengan obyek KA. Sekilas, tak ada yang bakal menduga ia adalah anak dengan autis.

Arya juga sangat terobsesi pada KA. Hampir semua lukisannya berobyek KA, termasuk lukisan cat minyak di atas kanvas. Minat dan bakat melukis Arya mulai terlihat sejak kecil.

Ketika TK, ia hobi menggambar di tembok. "Saya kasih kertas, tapi karena kurang besar, akhirnya ia corat-coret tembok rumah. Makin besar, gambarnya makin matang dan teknis. Dia bisa menggambar perspektif KA dengan baik, padahal enggak pernah diajarin," kata sang ibunda, Dr. Kristina Wardhani (48).

Di usia 2-3 tahun, Arya sudah bisa membikin segitiga lurus tanpa menggunakan penggaris, juga lingkaran bulat yang kedua ujungnya bertemu. Menurut Kristin, umumnya, anak-anak seperti Arya memang tak pernah punya permintaan. "Kalau bukan kita yang aware, jeli melihat potensinya, mereka bakal terlantar."

Suatu ketika, Kristina melihat Arya memencet-mencet keyboard. "Saya pikir, mungkin ia suka keyboard. Saya masukkan dia ke sekolah musik sampai ikut konser segala. Tapi sampai satu titik, ia jenuh dan berhenti. Ya sudah, saya nggak mau memaksa. Kemudian Ia menekuni gambar lagi.

Makanya saya masukkan ia ke kursus." Kristina hanya ingin melatih motorik sekaligus menyalurkan bakat Arya. "Melukis itu kan, bisa melatih motorik dan konsentrasi. Kalau itu sudah tercapai, terserah dia, apakah akan menjadikannya sebagai jalan hidupnya kelak," kata dokter yang meninggalkan tugas kedinasan demi merawat Arya.

Sayangnya, kebanyakan kursus melukis ternyata diperuntukkan bagi anak-anak normal. "Sementara Arya kalau sudah punya satu konsep, enggak bisa dibelokkan. Disuruh gambar ikan, ia menggambar kereta api. Disuruh gambar laut, menggambar laut, tapi di dalamnya tetap ada KA-nya," lanut Kristina tertawa.

Dua tahun lalu, barulah Kristina menemukan guru menggambar yang tepat buat Arya. "Begitu melihat gambar Arya, gurunya langsung bilang ‘Kita langsung pakai cat minyak saja, Bu.

Dia sudah menguasai tekniknya, saya nggak mau buang-buang waktu." Belakangan, setelah masuk SMP, Arya mogok enggak mau melukis di atas kanvas lagi. "Melukis di kanvas butuh waktu, katanya. Kalau sketsa, ia masih terus bikin."
Sekarang, siswa kelas 7 SMP Al Azhar 6 Jakapermai, Bekasi, ini juga mulai tertarik bergaul dengan teman sebayanya. Bagi Kristina, inilah yang ia tunggu-tunggu. "Sebelumnya, ia susah bergaul dengan anak sebaya. Selalu mencari anak yang lebih tua.

Mungkin karena lebih bisa ngemong, ya. Ia tak pernah bisa masuk ke kelompok sebayanya. Pola berbahasa Arya sangat baku, beda dengan bahasa anak ABG. Anak lain suka HP, dia tidak. Lebih ke teknologinya. Yang lain suka game komputer, dia tidak. Tapi, bacaannya majalah CHIP. Kan, enggak nyambung."

Nah, setelah SMP, ternyata ia mulai bisa bercanda dengan teman sebaya. "Bisa mulai pakai kata-kata "lu - gue," mulai menyerap idiom anak-anak sebayanya. Buat saya ini sign positif, karena ini berarti ia tidak terlalu jauh dengan anak sebaya, meski tidak akan sama."

MODIFIKASI TERAPI
Kristina sendiri mulai mendeteksi kelainan Arya ketika Arya berusia 20 bulan. Kecurigaan Kristina muncul begitu mendapati kepandaian bicara Arya lenyap. "Itu muncul setelah Arya dapat vaksin MMR di usia 15 bulan. Mungkin sudah ada kecenderungan kelainan genetis, sel-sel otaknya sangat sensitif terhadap merkuri. Begitu dapat MMR, ia berhenti ngoceh."

Curiga, Kristina langsung ke dokter. Waktu itu Kristina belum yakin Arya punya kelainan. "Saya cari di internet. Tapi, makin ke sini, kok, makin aneh. Ia selalu menghindari keramaian, takut suara bising. Saya bawa tes terapi wicara. Dicurigai autisma, tapi IQ-nya di atas rata-rata. Ini membuat saya agak tenang karena bukan jenis yang retarded." Ketika di-EEG, gambaran gelombang otaknya memang sangat tidak normal.

Setelah itu, Kristina bertemu dr. Melly Budhiman."Kami juga dikonsul. Kami bilang, tidak akan melihat ke belakang, tapi akan melihat ke depan. Kebanyakan orang tua tidak mau menerima kenyataan anaknya autis. Saya memang syok, tapi saya pikir, pasti ada pemecahannya. Sembuh mungkin tidak, tapi membaik bisa.

Saya tidak mau mencari penyebabnya, tidak mau menoleh ke belakang." Apalagi, sang suami, Ir. Sigit Sumaryanto, waktu itu baru kena PHK. "Daripada uang habis untuk mencari penyebabnya, mendingan buat invest, buat terapi dan masa depan dia," lanjut Kristina panjang lebar.

Setelah terapi di kelas, Kristina mulai memodifikasi sendiri terapi di rumah. "Menangani anak seperti ini harus dengan manajemen. Semua anggota keluarga adalah terapis.

Kebetulan kakaknya kuliah psikologi, jadi membantu. Di sekolah, teman-teman dan orangtua murid lain saya minta ikhlas menerima kondisi Arya dan membantu. Jadi, saya merasa tidak harus selalu hadir di samping dia."

Tempat terapi bisa di mana saja. "Ia takut keramaian, kami bawa ia ke mal dari sebelum buka sampai mal dalam keadaan ramai. Lama-lama ia terbiasa. Ia takut air, kami ajak ia 2 minggu sekali ke Anyer. Ia selalu bilang, air akan menjatuhi dirinya. Kalau di kamar mandi, ia selalu menjerit-jerit."

Lantas, kenapa Arya terobsesi kereta api? "Sejak kecil, memang. Rumah eyangnya di Yogya kebetulan dekat dengan depo KA. Nah, waktu kecil ia suka diajak pulang ayahnya," kata Kristina. Meski terobsesi KA, ternyata Arya tidak suka naik KA. "Kalau di kereta, ia gelisah. Begitu sampai di stasiun, ia langsung turun untuk melihat KA-nya. Ia lebih suka berada di luar KA karena ia bisa melihat sosok KA-nya," kata Kristina yang hampir setiap tahun mengajak Arya ke Museum KA di Ambawara.

Arya juga tak menyukai mainan KA. Ia lebih suka buku tentang KA. "Ia juga langgganan majalah KA. Belakangan, ia suka mengomentari kebijakan PT KAI," kata Kristina. Ketika ditanya cita-citanya, Arya tegas menjawab, "Pengin mengabdikan diri di KAI."

Hasto Prianggoro

Foto: Daniel Supriyono/Nova
Kamis 26 Juni 2008 12:39
Kisah Dua Anak Istimewa Berprestasi (1)

Jangan pustus asa punya anak autis. Asal penangannya benar, mereka bisa berprestasi.

OSHA, OBSESI SANG ARKEOLOG
Bola matanya langsung berbinar begitu diajak berbicara tentang candi atau peninggalan budaya lainnya. "Saya suka sejarah, suka mempelajari artefak," kata Natrio Catra Yososha atau Osha (18). Osha mulai tertarik bidang sejarah sejak kelas 4 SD. "Waktu itu diajak Bapak liburan ke Yogya, ke candi Borobudur, ke Kraton Yogyakarta," kata Osha.

Sekilas, tak ada yang membedakan Osha dengan remaja seusianya. Yang tak diketahui orang, Osha adalah anak dengan autis. Hebatnya, Osha berhasil lolos tes masuk UGM dan diterima sebagai mahasiswa Jurusan Arkeologi UGM tahun ajaran 2008/2009, jurusan yang sejak lama menjadi obsesinya.

Kini, giliran sang ibunda, Hernywati, yang bingung jika harus berpisah dengan Osha. "Rasanya campur aduk. Seneng, bangga, terharu, pasti iya, tapi juga panik. Jauhnya itu nanti bagaimana?" kata Hernywati yang tinggal di Bekasi. "Saya sih, penginnya kalau bisa yang deket-deket saja. Osha memang sudah mandiri, tapi ia tidak bisa membedakan mana orang yang mau memanfaatkan, mana yang tulus. Tapi, barangkali Tuhan punya rencana lain, ya?"

Osha memang memilih sendiri jurusan Arkeologi. "Dia yang ngotot ikut tes di UGM. Saya pikir, kalau diterima syukur, kalau enggak ya sudah. Eh, ternyata diterima," lanjut Hernywati. "Saya tahu persis, minatnya memang ke sejarah. Ia pernah bilang, ‘Wah, kalau dapet Arkeologi di Yogya asyik, nggak usah nunggu Bapak libur, aku jalan-jalan sendiri ke candi-candi.'" Kata Hernywati.

Sejak SD, nilai sejarah Osha juga terbilang bagus. Setiap liburan, museum pasti dikunjunginya. "Semua museum di Jakarta dia hapal. Makanya, kalau ulang tahun, nyari hadiahnya juga gampang. Beliin saja buku atau VCD tentang muiseum," kata Hernywati.

VIRUS CITOMEGALO
Wajar jika Hernywati gundah. Hampir 16 tahun ia melewati masa-masa sulit membesarkan Osha. Sejak Osha bayi, ibu 3 anak ini sudah merasa ada yang aneh dengan Osha. "Sejak bayi, minat sempitnya sudah kelihatan. Ia sangat suka segala hal yang berhubungan dengan agama Islam. Setiap dengar suara azan, dia langsung menghentikan semua aktivitasnya dan terdiam sampai azan selesai," kata Hernywati. Di usia 1,5 tahun, kalau berjalan atau berlari seperti kurang kendali. Sering membentur benda yang menghalangi jalan atau larinya.

Setelah mulai besar, Osha makin tertarik dengan ornamen-ornamen Islam, seperti mesjid, sajadah, dan huruf Arab. "Belum bisa omong, tapi seneng banget ngikutin ritual salat. Ia juga kolektor sajadah. Kalau saya ajak ketempat belanja, pasti ia minta dibelikan sajadah. Kalau tidak dibelikan, Osha bisa menangis. Ia juga lebih bisa membaca kaligrafi Al-Qur'an dibandingkan hurup atau angka latin. "

Saat itu, "Ngocehnya banyak, tapi nggak ada artinya. Nyanyinya benar, tapi nggak ada kata-kata yang jelas. Saya sudah curiga, tapi saya pikir barangkali perkembangannya memang lain. Kalau minta sesuatu juga selalu menarik tangan, bukan bilang. Saya pikir, apa dia bisu?"
Oleh dokter, disarankan observasi ke RSCM. "Hasilnya normal.

Malah daya dengarnya di atas orang normal. Berarti bukan karena tuli. Hasil pemeriksaan EEG-nya juga normal, hanya telat bicara. Saya bingung," lanjut Hernywati yang sempat mengalami konflik dengan suami, mertua, dan keluarga besar akibat kegelisahannya akan kondisi Osha. "Saya dianggap terlalu pencemas."

Osha kemudian dibawa ke dokter saraf. "Kata dokter, Osha pernah terinfeksi citomegalo virus sehingga ada kerusakan permanen di otaknya. Dokter bilang, jangan terlalu memaksakan sekolah. Kalau cuma mampu sampai SMP, ya sudah."

Saat itu, Hernywati belum bisa menerima kenyataan. "Saya masih terus nanya, kenapa itu bisa terjadi? Dokter kemudian nanya, apakah saya mau berjalan di tempat, sibuk mencari tahu penyebabnya, atau segera mencari jalan keluar. Akhirnya saya baru sadar, saya harus mencari tahu apa yang harus kulakukan untuk Osha," lanjut Hernywati yang kemudian meninggalkan semua kegiatannya dan fokus merawat Osha.

TITIK BALIK
Melalui berbagai halangan, termasuk ditolak di mana-mana, Osha akhirnya berhasil diterima di TK Bu Kasur. "Persoalan muncul begitu mau masuk SD. Lagi-lagi, nggak ada sekolah yang mau menerima," kata Hernywati. "Sampai akhirnya Allah mendengar doa saya dan mengulurkan tangan lewat Bapak Sudarmo, Kepala Sekolah SD Al Azhar 9 Kemang Pratama. Beliau menerima Osha di SD-nya." Dua tahun pertama di SD merupakan tahun-tahun berat buat Hernywati dan Osha. "Nyata sekali, perkembangannya jauh tertinggal dari teman-temannya. Hampir semua nilainya jeblok."

Titik balik muncul di tahun terakhir Osha di kelas 2 ketika Hernywati dipertemukan dengan 2 sosok yang punya andil besar pada perkembangan Osha. Mereka adalah Dr. Melly Budhiman yang mendiagnosa Osha sebagai anak dengan autis, dan kemudian memberikan obat untuk Osha, serta Ibu Ages, pedagog yang membantu sisi akademik Osha.

Sejak itu, perkembangan Osha mulai meningkat. "Setelah mendapat treatment yang tepat, pestasi akademiknya meningkat. Kelas 3 peringkatnya bagus. Kelas 5, ia mendapat piagam untuk Kliping Sejarah," lanjut Hernywati. Waktu SMP, Osha pernah duduk sebagai pengurus OSIS Seksi Kesenian. "Rankingnya juga selalu 10 besar." Bahkan, Osha baru saja lulus UAN dengan nilai rata-rata 8,2 dan mendapat piagam penghargaan untuk karya tulis IPS terbaik seangkatan dengan judul "Akulturasi Kebudayaan Hindu - Budha di Indonesia."

Kini, Osha sedang menyiapkan diri menghadapi tes masuk UI dengan mengikuti bimbingan belajar. "Jurusan yang diambil tetap Arkeologi den Sastra Jawa," kata Hernywati. "Tapi, sekarang ia juga punya minat baru, yakni berusaha mencari tahu, apa sih, autisme."

Hasto Prianggoro

Foto: Daniel Supriyono/ Nova(tabloid nova)

Web Browser Untuk Anak Autis/Autism

AW Corner
Rabu, 11-Juni-2008; 08:32:43 WIB
Web Browser Untuk Anak Autis
( 0 Komentar )
Oleh : Team Andriewongso.com

Zac BrowserInternet memang sudah menjadi kebutuhan orang banyak untuk mencari informasi yang dibutuhkan. Begitu pula dengan anak-anak yang ingin mendapatkan informasi dan permainan dari internet. Namun bagaimana jika anak-anak penyandang autis ingin berinternet? Navigasi komputer yang terstruktur tentu akan menyulitkan mereka.


Hal ini pula yang dialami oleh John LeSieur, seorang kakek yang memiliki cucu penyandang autis. Sang kakek melihat cucunya kesulitan mengakses internet karena keterbatasan kemampuannya. Untuk itu, LeSieur mengembangkan web browser yang dipersembahkan untuk sang cucu, Zackary. Browser yang diberi nama Zac Browser For Autistic Children ini memiliki fitur-fitur yang sederhana sehingga memungkinkan anak-anak penyandang autis untuk mengekspolari halaman web.

Zac Browser Ada beberapa fungsi yang ditiadakan oleh LeSieur seperti tombol print screen atau tombol klik kanan. Ukuran tombol-tombol ikon pun di buat lebih besar dan lebih sederhana dari pada biasanya. Untuk memudahkan akses, LeSieur juga menggunakn tanda yang mudah dikenali seperti gambar bola untuk mengakses game atau gambar buku untuk teks cerita anak-anak.


Zac Browser Karena web ini didesain untuk anak-anak, tentu saja ada filter yang menyaring materi-materi yang tidak layak untuk anak-anak seperti materi kekerasan, seksual, maupun konten-konten untuk orang dewasa. Web ini juga dilengkapi dengan link untuk ke web-web yang menyediakan game, musik, dan hiburan mendidik. LeSieur juga meminimalisasi animasi yang bergerak-gerak agar anak autis lebih nyaman saat mengaksesnya.

Tentu saja, web browser ini tidak hanya dapat dinikmati oleh Zackary, cucu LeSieur saja. Bagi Anda yang juga menginginkan akses ke browser ini, buka saja www.zacbrowser.com. Tertarik?

Click to download Zac Browser with Installer.

Click to download Zac Browser- No installer - Just

Updated June, 1st juin 2008 (version 1.1.5)
Compatible with Windows Vista - XP - 2000 - ME - 98

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Kedelai

Dari Wikipedia Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas berbahasa Indonesia.

(Dialihkan dari Kacang kedelai)
Langsung ke: navigasi, cari
Kedelai

Klasifikasi ilmiah
Kerajaan: Plantae
Filum: Magnoliophyta
Kelas: Magnoliopsida
Ordo: Fabales
Famili: Fabaceae
Subfamili: Faboideae
Genus: Glycine
(L.) Merr.
Spesies

Glycine max
Glycine soja

Biji kedelai
Biji kedelai

Kedelai (kadang-kadang ditambah "kacang" di depan namanya) adalah salah satu tanaman polong-polongan yang menjadi bahan dasar banyak makanan dari Asia Timur seperti kecap, tahu, dan tempe. Berdasarkan peninggalan arkeologi, tanaman ini telah dibudidayakan sejak 3500 tahun yang lalu di Asia Timur. Kedelai putih diperkenalkan ke Nusantara oleh pendatang dari Cina sejak maraknya perdagangan dengan Tiongkok, sementara kedelai hitam sudah dikenal lama orang penduduk setempat. Kedelai merupakan sumber utama protein nabati dan minyak nabati dunia. Penghasil kedelai utama dunia adalah Amerika Serikat meskipun kedelai praktis baru dibudidayakan masyarakat di luar Asia setelah 1910.

[sunting] Keanekaragaman dan budidaya

Kedelai yang dibudidayakan sebenarnya terdiri dari paling tidak dua spesies: Glycine max (disebut kedelai putih, yang bijinya bisa berwarna kuning, agak putih, atau hijau) dan Glycine soja (kedelai hitam, berbiji hitam). G. max merupakan tanaman asli daerah Asia subtropik seperti RRC dan Jepang selatan, sementara G. soja merupakan tanaman asli Asia tropis di Asia Tenggara. Tanaman ini telah menyebar ke Jepang, Korea, Asia Tenggara dan Indonesia.

Beberapa kultivar kedelai putih budidaya di Indonesia, di antaranya adalah 'Ringgit', 'Orba', 'Lokon', 'Darros', dan 'Wilis'. "Edamame" adalah sejenis kedelai berbiji besar berwarna hijau yang belum lama dikenal di Indonesia dan berasal dari Jepang.

Kedelai dibudidayakan di lahan sawah maupun lahan kering (ladang). Penanaman biasanya dilakukan pada akhir musim penghujan, setelah panen padi. Pengerjaan tanah biasanya minimal. Biji dimasukkan langsung pada lubang-lubang yang dibuat. Biasanya berjarak 20-30cm. Pemupukan dasar nitrogen dan fosfat diperlukan, namun setelah tanaman tumbuh penambahan nitrogen tidak memberikan keuntungan apa pun. Lahan yang belum pernah ditanami kedelai dianjurkan diberi "starter" bakteri pengikat nitrogen Bradyrhizobium japonicum untuk membantu pertumbuhan tanaman. Penugalan tanah dilakukan pada saat tanaman remaja (fase vegetatif awal), sekaligus sebagai pembersihan dari gulma dan tahap pemupukan fosfat kedua. Menjelang berbunga pemupukan kalium dianjurkan walaupun banyak petani yang mengabaikan untuk menghemat biaya.

[sunting] Pemerian

Kedelai dikenal dengan berbagai nama: sojaboom, soja, soja bohne, soybean, kedele, kacang ramang, kacang bulu, kacang gimbol, retak mejong, kaceng bulu, kacang jepun, dekenana, demekun, dele, kadele, kadang jepun, lebui bawak, lawui, sarupapa tiak, dole, kadule, puwe mon, dan gadelei. Berbagai nama ini menunjukkan bahwa kedelai telah lama dikenal di Indonesia.

Kedelai merupakan terna dikotil semusim dengan percabangan sedikit, sistem perakaran akar tunggang, dan batang berkambium. Kedelai dapat berubah penampilan menjadi tumbuhan setengah merambat dalam keadaan pencahayaan rendah. Kedelai, khususnya kedelai putih dari daerah subtropik, juga merupakan tanaman hari-pendek dengan waktu kritis rata-rata 13 jam. Ia akan segera berbunga apabila pada masa siap berbunga panjang hari kurang dari 13 jam. Ini menjelaskan rendahnya produksi di daerah tropika, karena tanaman terlalu dini berbunga.

Biji

Biji kedelai berkeping dua, terbungkus kulit biji dan tidak mengandung jaringan endospperma. Embrio terletak diantara keping biji. Warna kulit biji kuning, hitam, hijau, coklat. Pusar biji (hilum) adalah jaringan bekas biji melekat pada dinding buah. Bentuk biji kedelai umunya bulat lonjong tetapai ada pula yang bundar atau bulat agak pipih.

Kecambah

Biji kedelai yang kering akan berkecambah bila memperoleh air yang cukup. Kecambah kedelai tergolong epigeous, yaitu keping biji muncul diatas tanah. Warna hipokotil, yaitu bagian batang kecambah dibawah kepaing, ungu atau hijau yang berhubungan dengan warna bunga. Kedelai yang berhipokotil ungu berbunga ungu, sedang yang berhipokotil hijau berbunga putih. Kecambah kedelai dapat digunakan sebagai sayuran (tauge).

Perakaran

Tanaman kedelai mempunyai akar tunggang yang membentuk akar-akar cabang yang tumbuh menyamping (horizontal) tidak jauh dari permukaan tanah. Jika kelembapan tanah turun, akar akan berkembang lebih ke dalam agar dapat menyerap unsur hara dan air. Pertumbuhan ke samping dapat mencapai jarak 40 cm, dengan kedalaman hingga 120 cm. Selain berfungsi sebagai tempat bertumpunya tanaman dan alat pengangkut air maupun unsur hara, akar tanaman kedelai juga merupakan tempat terbentuknya bintil-bintil akar. Bintil akar tersebut berupa koloni dari bakteri pengikat nitrogen Bradyrhizobium japonicum yang bersimbiosis secara mutualis dengan kedelai. Pada tanah yang telah mengandung bakteri ini, bintil akar mulai terbentuk sekitar 15 – 20 hari setelah tanam. Bakteri bintil akar dapat mengikat nitrogen langsung dari udara dalam bentuk gas N2 yang kemudian dapat digunakan oleh kedelai setelah dioksidasi menjadi nitrat (NO3).

Batang

Kedelai berbatang dengan tinggi 30–100 cm. Batang dapat membentuk 3 – 6 cabang, tetapi bila jarak antar tanaman rapat, cabang menjadi berkurang, atau tidak bercabang sama sekali. Tipe pertumbuhan batang dapat dibedakan menjadi terbatas (determinate), tidak terbatas (indeterminate), dan setengah terbatas (semi-indeterminate). Tipe terbatas memiliki ciri khas berbunga serentak dan mengakhiri pertumbuhan meninggi. Tanaman pendek sampai sedang, ujung batang hampir sama besar dengan batang bagian tengah, daun teratas sama besar dengan daun batang tengah. Tipe tidak terbatas memiliki ciri berbunga secara bertahap dari bawah ke atas dan tumbuhan terus tumbuh. Tanaman berpostur sedang sampai tinggi, ujung batang lebih kecil dari bagian tengah. Tipe setengah terbatas memiliki karakteristik antara kedua tipe lainnya.

Bunga

Bunga kedelai termasuk bunga sempurna yaitu setiap bunga mempunyai alat jantan dan alat betina. Penyerbukan terjadi pada saat mahkota bunga masih menutup sehingga kemungkinan kawin silang alami amat kecil. Bunga terletak pada ruas-ruas batang, berwarna ungu atau putih. Tidak semua bunga dapat menjadi polong walaupun telah terjadi penyerbukan secara sempurna. Sekitar 60% bunga rontok sebelum membentuk polong.

Buah

Buah kedelai berbentuk polong. Setiap tanaman mampu menghasilkan 100 – 250 polong. Polong kedelai berbulu dan berwarna kuning kecoklatan atau abu-abu. Selama proses pematangan buah, polong yang mula-mula berwarna hijau akan berubah menjadi kehitaman.

Daun

Pada buku (nodus) pertama tanaman yang tumbuh dari biji terbentuk sepasang daun tunggal. Selanjutnya, pada semua buku di atasnya terbentuk daun majemuk selalu dengan tiga helai. Helai daun tunggal memiliki tangkai pendek dan daun bertiga mempunyai tangkai agak panjang. Masing-masing daun berbentuk oval, tipis, dan berwarna hijau. Permukaan daun berbulu halus (trichoma) pada kedua sisi. Tunas atau bunga akan muncul pada ketiak tangkai daun majemuk. Setelah tua, daun menguning dan gugur, mulai dari daun yang menempel di bagian bawah batang.

[sunting] Produk olahan dari kedelai

Di Indonesia, kedelai menjadi sumber gizi protein nabati utama, meskipun Indonesia harus mengimpor sebagian besar kebutuhan kedelai. Ini terjadi karena kebutuhan Indonesia yang tinggi akan kedelai putih. Kedelai putih bukan asli tanaman tropis sehingga hasilnya selalu lebih rendah daripada di Jepang dan Cina. Pemuliaan serta domestikasi belum berhasil sepenuhnya mengubah sifat fotosensitif kedelai putih. Di sisi lain, kedelai hitam yang tidak fotosensitif kurang mendapat perhatian dalam pemuliaan meskipun dari segi adaptasi lebih cocok bagi Indonesia.

Kedelai merupakan tumbuhan serbaguna. Karena akarnya memiliki bintil pengikat nitrogen bebas, kedelai merupakan tanaman dengan kadar protein tinggi sehingga tanamannya digunakan sebagai pupuk hijau dan pakan ternak.

Pemanfaatan utama kedelai adalah dari biji. Biji kedelai kaya protein dan lemak serta beberapa bahan gizi penting lain, misalnya vitamin (asam fitat) dan lesitin. Olahan biji dapat dibuat menjadi

  • tahu (tofu),
  • bermacam-macam saus penyedap (salah satunya kecap, yang aslinya dibuat dari kedelai hitam),
  • tempe
  • susu kedelai (baik bagi orang yang sensitif laktosa),
  • tepung kedelai,
  • minyak (dari sini dapat dibuat sabun, plastik, kosmetik, resin, tinta, krayon, pelarut, dan biodiesel.
  • taosi
  • tauco




kacang kedelai

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:pVgepUPvrl8J:www.intra-online.com/tentang_susu_kedelai.doc+kacang+kedelai+kalsium&hl=id&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=id

Kamis, 29 Mei 2008

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Youtube

a very funny video hehe =).Its a part from Monty python's ...
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tercacah 4.9  dengan nilai maksimum 5.0


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married

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Prom dresses at the best Prom Dress Shop for 2008!
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Asperger syndrome

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Asperger syndrome
Classification and external resources
ICD-10 F84.5
ICD-9 299.8
OMIM 608638
DiseasesDB 31268
MedlinePlus 001549
eMedicine ped/147

Asperger syndrome (pronounced /ˈæspɚgɚ ˌsɪndroʊm/, also called Asperger's syndrome, Asperger's disorder, Asperger's or AS) is one of several autism spectrum disorders (ASD) characterized by difficulties in social interaction and by restricted, stereotyped interests and activities. AS is distinguished from the other ASDs in having no general delay in language or cognitive development. Although not mentioned in standard diagnostic criteria, motor clumsiness and atypical use of language are frequently reported.[1][2]

Asperger syndrome is named after Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger who, in 1944, described children in his practice who lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with their peers, and were physically clumsy. Fifty years later, AS was recognized in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), and in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as Asperger's Disorder. Questions about many aspects of AS remain: for example, there is lingering doubt about the distinction between AS and high-functioning autism (HFA);[3] partly due to this, the prevalence of AS is not firmly established. The exact cause of AS is unknown, although research supports the likelihood of a genetic basis, and brain imaging techniques have identified structural and functional differences in specific regions of the brain.

There is no single treatment for Asperger syndrome, and the effectiveness of particular interventions is supported by only limited data. Intervention is aimed at improving symptoms and function. The mainstay of treatment is behavioral therapy, focusing on specific deficits to address poor communication skills, obsessive or repetitive routines, and clumsiness. Most individuals with AS can learn to cope with their differences, but may continue to need moral support and encouragement to maintain an independent life.[4] Researchers and people with AS have contributed to a shift in attitudes away from the notion that AS is a deviation from the norm that must be treated or cured, and towards the view that AS is a difference rather than a disability.[5]

Hans Asperger described his young patients as "little professors".
Hans Asperger described his young patients as "little professors".

Contents

[hide]

Classification

Asperger syndrome is one of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), which are a spectrum of psychological conditions that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and communication that pervade the individual's functioning, and by restricted and repetitive interests and behavior. Like other psychological development disorders, ASD begins in infancy or childhood, has a steady course without remission or relapse, and has impairments that result from maturation-related changes in various systems of the brain.[6] ASD, in turn, is a subset of the broader autism phenotype (BAP), which describes individuals who may not have ASD but do have autistic-like traits, such as social deficits.[7] Of the other four ASD forms, autism is the most similar to AS in signs and likely causes but its diagnosis requires impaired communication and allows delay in cognitive development; Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder share several signs with autism, but may have unrelated causes; and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the criteria for a more specific disorder are unmet.[8] The extent of the overlap between AS and high-functioning autism (HFA—autism unaccompanied by mental retardation) is unclear.[3][9][10][11] The current ASD classification may not reflect the true nature of the conditions.[12]

Characteristics

A pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped and restricted patterns of activities and interests, and by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general delay in language.[13] Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject, one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody and intonation, and motor clumsiness are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.[3]

Social interaction

The lack of demonstrated empathy is possibly the most dysfunctional aspect of Asperger syndrome.[2] Individuals with AS experience difficulties in basic elements of social interaction, which may include a failure to develop friendships or enjoy spontaneous interests or achievements with others, a lack of social or emotional reciprocity, and impaired nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact, facial expression, posture, and gesture.[1]

Unlike those with autism, people with AS are not usually withdrawn around others; they approach others, even if awkwardly, for example by engaging in a one-sided, long-winded speech about a favorite topic while being oblivious to the listener's feelings or reactions, such as signs of boredom or haste to leave.[3] This social awkwardness has been called "active but odd".[3] This failure to react appropriately to social interaction may appear as disregard for other people's feelings, and may come across as insensitive. The cognitive ability of children with AS often lets them articulate social norms in a laboratory context,[1] where they may be able to show a theoretical understanding of other people’s emotions; they typically have difficulty acting on this knowledge in fluid, real-life situations, however.[3] People with AS may analyze and distill their observation of social interaction into rigid behavioral guidelines and apply these rules in awkward ways—such as forced eye contact—resulting in demeanor that appears rigid or socially naïve. Childhood desires for companionship can be numbed through a history of failed social encounters.[1]

The hypothesis that individuals with AS are predisposed to violent or criminal behavior has been investigated and found to be unsupported by data.[1][14] More evidence suggests children with AS are victims rather than victimizers.[15]

Restricted and repetitive interests and behavior

Those with AS often display intense interests, such as this boy's fascination with molecular structure.
Those with AS often display intense interests, such as this boy's fascination with molecular structure.

People with Asperger syndrome display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines or rituals, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, or preoccupy themselves with parts of objects.[13]

Pursuit of specific and narrow areas of interest is one of the most striking features of AS.[1] Individuals with AS may collect volumes of detailed information on a relatively narrow topic such as dinosaurs or deep fat fryers, without necessarily having genuine understanding of the broader topic.[1][3] For example, a child might memorize camera model numbers while caring little about photography.[1] This behavior is usually apparent by grade school, typically age 5 or 6 in the United States.[1] Although these special interests may change from time to time, they typically become more unusual and narrowly focused, and often dominate social interaction so much that the entire family may become immersed. Because topics such as dinosaurs often capture the interest of children, this symptom may go unrecognized.[3]

Stereotyped and repetitive motor behaviors are a core part of the diagnosis of AS and other ASDs.[16] They include hand movements such as flapping or twisting, and complex whole-body movements.[13] These are typically repeated in longer bursts and look more voluntary or ritualistic than tics, which are usually faster, less rhythmical and less often symmetrical.[17]

Speech and language

Although children with Asperger syndrome acquire language skills without significant general delay, and the speech of those with AS typically lacks significant abnormalities, language acquisition and use is often atypical.[3] Abnormalities include verbosity; abrupt transitions; literal interpretations and miscomprehension of nuance; use of metaphor meaningful only to the speaker; auditory perception deficits; unusually pedantic, formal or idiosyncratic speech; and oddities in loudness, pitch, intonation, prosody, and rhythm.[1]

Three aspects of communication patterns are of clinical interest: poor prosody, tangential and circumstantial speech, and marked verbosity. Although inflection and intonation may be less rigid or monotonic than in autism, people with AS often have a limited range of intonation; speech may be unusually fast, jerky or loud. Speech may convey a sense of incoherence; the conversational style often includes monologues about topics that bore the listener, fails to provide context for comments, or fails to suppress internal thoughts. Individuals with AS may fail to monitor whether the listener is interested or engaged in the conversation. The speaker's conclusion or point may never be made, and attempts by the listener to elaborate on the speech's content or logic, or to shift to related topics, are often unsuccessful.[3]

Children with AS may have an unusually sophisticated vocabulary at a young age and have been colloquially called "little professors", but have difficulty understanding figurative language and tend to use language literally.[1] Individuals with AS appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of nonliteral language that include humor, irony, and teasing. They usually understand the cognitive basis of humor but may not enjoy it due to lack of understanding of its intent.[10]

Other

Individuals with Asperger syndrome may have signs or symptoms that are independent of the diagnosis, but can affect the individual or the family. These include differences in perception and problems with motor skills, sleep, and emotions.

Individuals with AS often have excellent auditory and visual perception.[18] Children with ASD often demonstrate enhanced perception of small changes in patterns such as arrangements of objects or well-known images; typically this is domain-specific and involves processing of fine-grained features.[19] Conversely, compared to individuals with HFA, individuals with AS have deficits in some tasks involving visual-spatial perception, auditory perception, or visual memory.[1] Many accounts of individuals with AS and ASD report other unusual sensory and perceptual skills and experiences. They may be unusually sensitive or insensitive to sound, light, touch, texture, taste, smell, pain, temperature, and other stimuli, and they may exhibit synesthesia, for example, a smell may trigger perception of color;[20] these sensory responses are found in other developmental disorders and are not specific to AS or to ASD. There is little support for increased fight-or-flight response or failure of habituation in autism; there is more evidence of decreased responsiveness to sensory stimuli, although several studies show no differences.[21]

Hans Asperger’s initial accounts[1] and other diagnostic schemes[22] include descriptions of motor clumsiness. Children with AS may be delayed in acquiring motor skills that require motor dexterity, such as bicycle riding or opening a jar, and may appear awkward or "uncomfortable in their own skin". They may be poorly coordinated, or have an odd or bouncy gait or posture, poor handwriting, or problems with visual-motor integration.[1][3] They may show problems with proprioception (sensation of body position) on measures of apraxia (motor planning disorder), balance, tandem gait, and finger-thumb apposition. There is no evidence that these motor skills problems differentiate AS from other high-functioning ASDs.[1]

Children with AS are more likely to have sleep problems, including difficulty in falling asleep, frequent nocturnal awakenings, and early morning awakenings.[23][24] AS is also associated with high levels of alexithymia, which is difficulty in identifying and describing one's emotions.[25] Although AS, lower sleep quality, and alexithymia are associated, their causal relationship is unclear.[24]

Causes

Further information: Causes of autism

Hans Asperger described common symptoms among his patients' family members, especially fathers, and research supports this observation and suggests a genetic contribution to Asperger syndrome. Although no specific gene has yet been identified, multiple factors are believed to play a role in the expression of autism, given the phenotypic variability seen in this group of children.[1][26] Evidence for a genetic link is the tendency for AS to run in families and an observed higher incidence of family members who have behavioral symptoms similar to AS but in a more limited form (for example, slight difficulties with social interaction, language, or reading).[4] Most research suggests that all autism spectrum disorders have shared genetic mechanisms, but AS may have a stronger genetic component than autism.[1] There is probably a common group of genes where particular alleles render an individual vulnerable to developing AS; if this is the case, the particular combination of alleles would determine the severity and symptoms for each individual with AS.[4]

A few ASD cases have been linked to exposure to teratogens (agents that cause birth defects) during the first eight weeks from conception. Although this does not exclude the possibility that ASD can be initiated or affected later, it is strong evidence that it arises very early in development.[27] Many environmental factors have been hypothesized to act after birth, but none has been confirmed by scientific investigation.[28]

Mechanism

Further information: Mechanism of autism

Asperger syndrome appears to result from developmental factors that affect many or all functional brain systems, as opposed to localized effects.[29] Although the specific underpinnings of AS or factors that distinguish it from other ASDs are unknown, and no clear pathology common to individuals with AS has emerged,[1] it is still possible that AS's mechanism is separate from other ASD.[30] Neuroanatomical studies and the associations with teratogens strongly suggest that the mechanism includes alteration of brain development soon after conception.[27] Abnormal migration of embryonic cells during fetal development may affect the final structure and connectivity of the brain, resulting in alterations in the neural circuits that control thought and behavior.[31] Several theories of mechanism are available; none are likely to be complete explanations.[32]

Functional magnetic resonance imaging provides some evidence for both underconnectivity and mirror neuron theories.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging provides some evidence for both underconnectivity and mirror neuron theories.[33][34]

The underconnectivity theory hypothesizes underfunctioning high-level neural connections and synchronization, along with an excess of low-level processes.[33] It maps well to general-processing theories such as weak central coherence theory, which hypothesizes that a limited ability to see the big picture underlies the central disturbance in ASD.[35] A related theory—enhanced perceptual functioning—focuses more on the superiority of locally oriented and perceptual operations in autistic individuals.[36]

The mirror neuron system (MNS) theory hypothesizes that alterations to the development of the MNS interfere with imitation and lead to Asperger's core feature of social impairment.[34][37] For example, one study found that activation is delayed in the core circuit for imitation in individuals with AS.[38] This theory maps well to social cognition theories like the theory of mind, which hypothesizes that autistic behavior arises from impairments in ascribing mental states to oneself and others,[39] or hyper-systemizing, which hypothesizes that autistic individuals can systematize internal operation to handle internal events but are less effective at empathizing by handling events generated by other agents.[40]

Other possible mechanisms include serotonin dysfunction[41] and cerebellar dysfunction.[42]

Screening

Parents of children with Asperger syndrome can typically trace differences in their children's development to as early as 30 months of age.[26] Developmental screening during a routine check-up by a general practitioner or pediatrician may identify signs that warrant further investigation.[1][4] The diagnosis of AS is complicated by the use of several different screening instruments.[4][22] None have been shown to reliably differentiate between AS and other ASDs. The current "gold standard" in diagnosing ASDs uses the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)—a semistructured parent interview—and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS)—a conversation and play-based interview with the child.[1]

Diagnosis

Standard diagnostic criteria require impairment in social interaction, and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and interests, without significant delay in language or cognitive development. Unlike the international standard,[6] U.S. criteria also require significant impairment in day-to-day functioning.[13] Other sets of diagnostic criteria have been proposed by Szatmari et al.[43] and by Gillberg and Gillberg.[44]

Diagnosis is most commonly made between the ages of four and eleven.[1] A comprehensive assessment involves a multidisciplinary team[2][4][45] that observes across multiple settings,[1] and includes neurological and genetic assessment as well as tests for cognition, psychomotor function, verbal and nonverbal strengths and weaknesses, style of learning, and skills for independent living.[4] Delayed or mistaken diagnosis can be traumatic for individuals and families; for example, misdiagnosis can lead to medications that worsen behavior.[45] Many children with AS are initially misdiagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).[1] Diagnosing adults is more challenging, as standard diagnostic criteria are designed for children and the expression of AS changes with age.[46] Conditions that must be considered in a differential diagnosis include other ASDs, the schizophrenia spectrum, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, semantic pragmatic disorder, nonverbal learning disorder,[45] Tourette syndrome,[17] stereotypic movement disorder and bipolar disorder.[26]

Underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis are problems in marginal cases. The cost of screening and diagnosis and the challenge of obtaining payment can inhibit or delay diagnosis. Conversely, the increasing popularity of drug treatment options and the expansion of benefits has motivated providers to overdiagnose ASD.[47] There are indications AS has been diagnosed more frequently in recent years, partly as a residual diagnosis for children of normal intelligence who do not have autism but have social difficulties. There are questions about the external validity of the AS diagnosis, that is, it is unclear whether there is a practical benefit in distinguishing AS from HFA and from PDD-NOS;[48] the same child can receive different diagnoses depending on the screening tool.[4]

Treatment

Further information: Autism therapies

Asperger syndrome treatment attempts to manage distressing symptoms and to teach age-appropriate social, communication and vocational skills that are not naturally acquired during development,[1] with intervention tailored to the needs of the individual child, based on multidisciplinary assessment.[49] Although progress has been made, data supporting the efficacy of particular interventions are limited.[1][50]

The ideal treatment for AS coordinates therapies that address core symptoms of the disorder, including poor communication skills and obsessive or repetitive routines. While most professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better, there is no single best treatment package.[4] AS treatment resembles that of other high-functioning ASDs, except that it takes into account the linguistic capabilities, verbal strengths, and nonverbal vulnerabilities of individuals with AS.[1] A typical treatment program generally includes:[4]

Of the many studies on behavior-based early intervention programs, most are case studies of up to five participants, and typically examine a few problem behaviors such as self-injury, aggression, noncompliance, stereotypies, or spontaneous language; unintended side effects are largely ignored.[55] Despite the popularity of social skills training, its effectiveness is not firmly established.[56] A randomized controlled study of a model for training parents in problem behaviors in their children with AS showed that parents attending a one-day workshop or six individual lessons reported fewer behavioral problems, while parents receiving the individual lessons reported less intense behavioral problems in their AS children.[57] Vocational training is important to teach job interview etiquette and workplace behavior to older children and adults with AS, and organization software and personal data assistants to improve the work and life management of people with AS are useful.[1]

No medications directly treat the core symptoms of AS.[53] Although research into the efficacy of pharmaceutical intervention for AS is limited,[1] it is essential to diagnose and treat comorbid conditions.[2] Deficits in self-identifying emotions or in observing effects of one's behavior on others can make it difficult for individuals with AS to see why medication may be appropriate.[53] Medication can be effective in combination with behavioral interventions and environmental accommodations in treating comorbid symptoms such as anxiety, depression, inattention and aggression.[1] The atypical neuroleptic medications risperidone and olanzapine have been shown to reduce the associated symptoms of AS;[1] risperidone can reduce repetitive and self-injurious behaviors, aggressive outbursts and impulsivity, and improve stereotypical patterns of behavior and social relatedness. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and sertraline have been effective in treating restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors.[1][2][26]

Care must be taken with medications; abnormalities in metabolism, cardiac conduction times, and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes have been raised as concerns with these medications,[58][59] along with serious long-term neurological side effects.[55] SSRIs can lead to manifestations of behavioral activation such as increased impulsivity, aggression and sleep disturbance.[26] Weight gain and fatigue are commonly reported side effects of risperidone, which may also lead to increased risk for extrapyramidal symptoms such as restlessness and dystonia[26] and increased serum prolactin levels.[60] Sedation and weight gain are more common with olanzapine,[59] which has also been linked with diabetes.[58] Sedative side-effects in school-age children[61] have ramifications for classroom learning. Individuals with AS may be unable to identify and communicate their internal moods and emotions or to tolerate side effects that for most people would not be problematic.[62]

Prognosis

As of 2006, no studies addressing the long-term outcome of individuals with Asperger syndrome are available and there are no systematic long-term follow-up studies of children with AS.[3] Individuals with AS appear to have normal life expectancy but have an increased prevalence of comorbid psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety that may significantly affect prognosis. Although social impairment is lifelong, outcome is generally more positive than with individuals with lower functioning autism spectrum disorders;[1] for example, ASD symptoms are more likely to diminish with time in children with AS or HFA.[63] Although most students with AS/HFA have average mathematical ability and test slightly worse in mathematics than in general intelligence, some are gifted in mathematics[64] and AS has not prevented some adults from major accomplishments such as winning the Nobel Prize.[65]

Children with AS may require special education services because of their social and behavioral difficulties although many attend regular education classes.[3] Adolescents with AS may exhibit ongoing difficulty with self-care, organization and disturbances in social and romantic relationships; despite high cognitive potential, most remain at home, although some do marry and work independently.[1] The "different-ness" adolescents experience can be traumatic.[66] Anxiety may stem from preoccupation over possible violations of routines and rituals, from being placed in a situation without a clear schedule or expectations, or from concern with failing in social encounters;[1] the resulting stress may manifest as inattention, withdrawal, reliance on obsessions, hyperactivity, or aggressive or oppositional behavior.[52] Depression is often the result of chronic frustration from repeated failure to engage others socially, and mood disorders requiring treatment may develop.[1]

Education of families is critical in developing strategies for understanding strengths and weaknesses;[2] helping the family to cope improves outcome in children.[15] Prognosis may be improved by diagnosis at a younger age that allows for early interventions, while interventions in adulthood are valuable but less beneficial.[2] There are legal implications for individuals with AS as they run the risk of exploitation by others and may be unable to comprehend the societal implications of their actions.[2]

Epidemiology

Further information: Conditions comorbid to autism spectrum disorders

Prevalence estimates vary enormously. A 2003 review of epidemiological studies of children found prevalence rates ranging from 0.03 to 4.84 per 1,000, with the ratio of autism to Asperger syndrome ranging from 1.5:1 to 16:1;[67] combining the average ratio of 5:1 with a conservative prevalence estimate for autism of 1.3 per 1,000 suggests indirectly that the prevalence of AS might be around 0.26 per 1,000.[68] Part of the variance in estimates arises from differences in diagnostic criteria. For example, a relatively small 2007 study of 5,484 eight-year-old children in Finland found 2.9 children per 1,000 met the ICD-10 criteria for an AS diagnosis, 2.7 per 1,000 for Gillberg and Gillberg criteria, 2.5 for DSM-IV, 1.6 for Szatmari et al., and 4.3 per 1,000 for the union of the four criteria. Boys seem to be at higher risk for AS than girls; estimates of the sex ratio range from 1.6:1 to 4:1, using the Gillberg and Gillberg criteria.[69]

Anxiety and depression are the most common other conditions seen at the same time; comorbidity of these in persons with AS is estimated at 65%.[1] Depression is common in adolescents and adults; children are likely to present with ADHD.[70] Reports have associated AS with medical conditions such as aminoaciduria and ligamentous laxity, but these have been case reports or small studies and no factors have been associated with AS across studies.[1] One study of males with AS found an increased rate of epilepsy and a high rate (51%) of nonverbal learning disorder.[71] AS is associated with tics, Tourette syndrome, and bipolar disorder, and the repetitive behaviors of AS have many similarities with the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.[72]

History

Named after the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger (1906–80), Asperger syndrome is a relatively new diagnosis in the field of autism.[73] In 1944, Asperger described four children in his practice[2] who had difficulty in integrating themselves socially. The children lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with their peers, and were physically clumsy. Asperger called the condition "autistic psychopathy" and described it as primarily marked by social isolation.[4] Unlike today's AS, autistic psychopathy could be found in people of all levels of intelligence, including those with mental retardation.[74] He called his young patients "little professors",[75] and believed some would be capable of exceptional achievement and original thought later in life.[2] His paper was published during wartime and in German, so it was not widely read elsewhere.

Lorna Wing popularized the term Asperger syndrome in the English-speaking medical community in her 1981 publication[76] of a series of case studies of children showing similar symptoms,[73] and Uta Frith translated Asperger's paper to English in 1991.[75] Sets of diagnostic criteria were outlined by Gillberg and Gillberg in 1989 and by Szatmari et al. in the same year.[69] AS became a standard diagnosis in 1992, when it was included in the tenth edition of the World Health Organization’s diagnostic manual, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10); in 1994, it was added to the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic reference, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).[4]

Hundreds of books, articles and websites now describe AS, and prevalence estimates have increased dramatically for ASD, with AS recognized as an important subgroup.[73] Whether it should be seen as distinct from high-functioning autism is a fundamental issue requiring further study.[2] There is little consensus among clinical researchers about the use of the term Asperger's syndrome, and there are questions about the empirical validation of the DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria.[3]

Cultural aspects

Further information: Sociological and cultural aspects of autism

People with Asperger syndrome may refer to themselves in casual conversation as aspies, coined by Liane Holliday Willey in 1999.[77] The word neurotypical (abbreviated NT) describes a person whose neurological development and state are typical, and is often used to refer to non-autistic people. The Internet has allowed individuals with AS to communicate and celebrate with each other in a way that was not previously possible due to their rarity and geographic dispersal. A subculture of aspies has formed. Internet sites like Wrong Planet have made it easier for individuals to connect.[78]

Autistic people have contributed to a shift in perception of autism spectrum disorders as complex syndromes rather than diseases that must be cured. Proponents of this view reject the notion that there is an "ideal" brain configuration and that any deviation from the norm is pathological; they promote tolerance for what they call neurodiversity.[79] These views are the basis for the autistic rights and autistic pride movements.[80]

Simon Baron-Cohen has argued that AS and high-functioning autism are different cognitive styles, not disabilities, and that a diagnosis of AS/HFA should not be received as a family tragedy, but as interesting information, such as learning that a child is left-handed. According to Baron-Cohen, "people with AS/HFA might not necessarily be disabled in an environment in which an exact mind, attracted to detecting small details, is an advantage."[5] Tony Attwood argues, "the unusual profile of abilities that we define as Asperger's syndrome has probably been an important and valuable characteristic of our species throughout evolution."[81]

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