Occupational therapy helps people of all ages learn or improve the skills they need for everyday life. It focuses on helping people take part in activities that are important and meaningful to them. These activities can include: Activities of daily living (eating, dressing, etc.), Caregiver and family support / training, Fall prevention, home safety, and accessibility, Memory, concentration, and executive function techniques, Routine establishment, and Use of adaptive equipment.
Transitional skills are skills that help autistic individuals move into adulthood and become more independent. Daily living skills are an important part of a successful transition to adulthood. These skills include getting dressed, taking care of personal hygiene, and preparing food.
Many people believe that autism was first introduced to the medical community in 1943. However, more recent discoveries indicate that autism may have been described in medical literature as early as 1925. Since then, research on autism has greatly expanded. Several key figures in the history of autism have contributed to our understanding of the condition today. These historical figures include Dr. Leo Kanner, Dr. Hans Asperger, and Dr. Grunya Sukhareva.
Mercer University School of Medicine is working to make autism diagnosis more accessible to families living in rural Georgia through their Early Autism Detection Program. Through this program, Mercer is using EarliPoint to help identify autism in young children in a timely manner and without requiring their families to drive long distances for testing.
Many autistic people engage in repetitive movements or behaviors known as stimming (short for self-stimulatory behavior). In the past, these behaviors were often viewed as problematic and were discouraged by caregivers, researchers, and healthcare providers. However, autistic self-advocates have helped reshape this perspective by emphasizing that stimming often serves important purposes, such as regulating emotions, managing sensory experiences, and expressing feelings.
