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Explore the importance of understanding and accepting autism, offering practical tips to support autistic colleagues and create an inclusive environment. Dive into the world of autism awareness and acceptance and discover how you can bring comfort and support to those with autism, fostering a culture where everyone thrives.

Imagine walking into a world where sounds, sights, and even the light touch of fabric feel intensely different. Where words get lost not for want of thoughts but because they simply can’t find their way out.

This world is a daily reality for approximately 18 million people in India diagnosed with autism, a spectrum of conditions that affects 1 to 1.5% of children aged two to nine years.

With the theme for World Autism Awareness Day 2024 being “Light It Up Blue,” it’s a global call to not just understand but truly accept and celebrate the unique perspectives and contributions of autistic individuals in every sphere of life.

This article aims to peel back the layers of autism, offering a glimpse into the minds of those on the spectrum and providing actionable steps for you to foster an environment of comfort, acceptance, and support. Are you ready to make a difference? Let’s dive in!

Fostering Autism Awareness and Acceptance

In a world rich with diversity, understanding and accepting autism stands as a beacon of empathy and inclusion. We need to understand that autistic individuals often bring remarkable skills to the table—be it an unparalleled focus, an exceptional memory, or a unique way of solving problems. By understanding their world, we can better support their integration into ours.

And for that to happen, improving acceptance for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is crucial for creating a more inclusive and understanding society. Here’s how we can all contribute to a more accepting and aware world.

• Practice Patience in Communication: If you’re conversing with someone on the spectrum who may need more time to respond, give them the space and time they need without pressuring them. This patience can make communication more comfortable for them.
• Create Sensory-Friendly Spaces: At home or in shared spaces, consider adjusting lighting, noise levels, and textures to create a more comfortable environment for individuals with sensory sensitivities. Simple changes, like using dimmable lights or having a quiet room, can make a big difference.
• Use Clear and Concise Language: When giving instructions or sharing information, be as clear and straightforward as possible. Avoid idioms or phrases that can be taken literally, which might confuse someone who interprets language more directly.
• Educate Your Circle: Share what you learn about autism with friends, family, and colleagues. Dispelling myths and spreading understanding can change attitudes and behaviors in your community.
• Offer Support in Social Situations: If you notice someone on the spectrum feeling overwhelmed or left out in social settings, gently offer your support or help them find a quiet place to regroup. Sometimes, just knowing someone is there to help can alleviate stress.

Every action, no matter how small, can make a big difference in fostering acceptance and understanding. Here’s a table offering communication tips that align with autism acceptance:

These tips aim to foster a more inclusive and understanding approach to communication, aligning with broader goals of autism acceptance.

How does Autism Awareness and Acceptance Help ASD Individuals?

Acceptance plays a pivotal role in transforming the lives of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), initiating a positive shift that reverberates through their experiences and interactions. Here’s a concise overview of how acceptance fosters change:

• Adequate Validation of Their Condition and Emotions: Recognizing and validating the unique sensory and communicative experiences of individuals with ASD affirms their reality, encouraging a supportive atmosphere where their feelings are acknowledged without judgment.
• Improved Self-Acceptance, Confidence, and Mental Health: Acceptance nurtures self-esteem in people with ASD, enabling them to embrace their individuality. This bolstered self-image propels them to face new challenges and reduces feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression.
• Better Relationships with Peers: Acceptance from peers enhances social inclusion, offering autistic individuals vital support, opportunities for emotional development, and a sense of community, facilitating a more understanding and inclusive society.
• Increased Quality of Everyday Life: When accepted, individuals with ASD experience fewer barriers to inclusion, receive necessary support, and feel valued within their communities. This leads to a more manageable daily life, allowing them to pursue their interests and contribute meaningfully to society.

In sum, acceptance is not just beneficial-it’s essential for enabling individuals with ASD to lead fulfilling lives, underscoring the importance of cultivating understanding and inclusivity at all societal levels.

Conclusion

In wrapping up our exploration of understanding and accepting autism, it’s clear that embracing individuals on the spectrum is not just about acknowledging their presence in our lives and communities.

It’s about actively participating in creating a world where comfort, acceptance, and support are the norms, not the exceptions. From the poignant insights into the inner experiences of those with autism to practical advice on promoting acceptance, every aspect underscores the importance of seeing beyond the diagnosis to the individual.

If you are someone on a fitness journey, you might have heard frequent mentions of muscle strengthening from your gym trainer or fitness influencers. Muscle strengthening exercises make your muscles work harder while boosting muscle health and bone density.

Regular muscle training has been linked with health benefits like better posture, reduced joint aches, lower risk of sustaining injuries, and slowing the pace of bone and muscle loss.

When you add muscle training to your fitness regime, over time you are likely to enjoy perks like better blood sugar levels, weight management, emotional state, and more confidence. According to a 2022 meta-analysis, people opting for muscle strengthening just 30-60 minutes a week are at a lower risk of dying prematurely than those who don’t.

The experts who conducted the study explained that muscle-strengthening exercises are recommended as they can lead to better physical functioning. The benefit can, in turn, lower the risk of lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes.

How to work on muscle strengthening

Despite its advantages, the lack of awareness about muscle strengthening is impacting people’s health levels across the country. There are also myths like muscle training being strenuous that discourage people from trying their hand at it. In a study by InBody, seven out of 10 Indians were found to be suffering from poor muscle health and needed to gain muscle mass. Conducted across eight cities, the survey observed the fitness levels of citizens between the ages of 30 to 55 years.

Unlike what many people think, muscle strengthening doesn’t always involve hitting the gym or working out for hours. It can be as easy as climbing stairs, doing a couple of jumping jacks or push-ups, or heavy gardening. Let’s get to know how we can incorporate muscle strengthening into our daily lives.

1. Dancing: Put on your favorite playlist and start dancing. There’s no right or wrong way to dance. Along with burning calories, dancing aids the development of lean muscle mass.

2. Taking the stairs: By ditching the elevator and climbing the stairs, you engage your leg muscles to carry your weight, step after step. The activity when repeated every days can lead to robust leg muscles.

3. Heavy gardening: As messy as weeding, digging, planting, and mowing your lawn sounds, your muscles are going to thank you. During heavy gardening, you strengthen your muscles by engaging the ones in your limbs, abdomen, shoulder, and back. Gardening also helps in improving mobility and muscle endurance

4. Cycling: The next time you are going to a nearby spot, choose cycling over driving. The activity targets your calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes, making your legs stronger.

5. Push-ups or squats: These exercises are among the most effective forms of physical training which is why you will see them included in almost every kind of workout. By engaging all muscles of the body, they can make your core stronger and improve your upper body strength.

Why nutrition is important for muscle strength

If you are committed to muscle training but are not focussing on nutrition, you are missing out on a key parameter for good health. If exercise keeps you in good shape, nutrition is the fuel that keeps you going. There’s more to muscle building than lifting weights and working out and nutrition is an important component in your fitness journey.

According to nutritionists and dietary experts, nothing can replace a balanced and nutrient-dense diet. They also warn people against consuming supplements without medical advice as they can do more harm than good.

For gaining muscles, the two crucial nutrients to take care of are calories and protein. Being the building block of your body, protein rebuilds muscle tissue. By having adequate calories each day, you get the energy to get going. Here are a few examples of foods that can help you achieve your muscle strengthening targets easily:

• Egg: Apart from healthy fats and vitamins, each egg has six grams of protein. Serve them sunny side up, scramble them or rustle up a classic omelet, you are never running out of options with egg.
• Chicken: The reason why your dietician’s top recommendations include chicken breast is because it is an excellent source of lean protein.
• Cottage cheese: If you are a vegetarian, cottage cheese can be your go-to source of protein. You can create a number of mouth-watering dishes with it that satisfy both your taste buds as well as nutritional needs.
• Tofu: This is a protein source that’s ideal for both vegetarians and vegans. Made from soybean, tofu is also rich in calcium.
• Beans: Kidney beans, flat beans, black beans, or pinto beans are good sources of lean protein. Plus, they add more fiber, vitamins, and minerals to your diet.
• Tempeh: It’s another popular vegan protein source. It’s sometimes preferred to options like tofu as it’s less processed, so it can retain more macronutrients.
• Greek yogurt: If you are looking for a protein-rich snacking option, this one’s recommended by fitness experts too. You can top it up with fruit and nuts, add it to a smoothie, or even have it plain.

Conclusion

A quick search on the internet will show you how muscle strengthening is linked to long-term health benefits and lower mortality risk. On the other hand, the lack of muscle strength and endurance can lead to fatigue, poor metabolism, and impaired muscles. You can start small and at the pace you want and gradually build up your strength levels.

If at any point you feel confused about the technique or frequency of an exercise, consult your trainer to up your muscle training game. As your form becomes better, you get more confident and can challenge yourself to new fitness regimes.

Did you Know? We breathe approximately 10-12 times in a minute and over 28,800 times in a single day. Yet, most of us don’t think too much about it, as it is something that happens without any conscious effort.

Now, science has shown that breathing with awareness has many physical and physiological benefits and inculcating a habit of conscious breathing can transform our life.

“Conscious breathing has seeped into all parts of my life,” said Aarthi Menon, 42, an independent journalist and an Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and instructor based in Mysore. In Ashtanga Yoga, every movement is accompanied by breath and practicing it for six years has made her breathing mindful even when she is off the yoga mat.

“While most people react to situations impulsively, conscious breathing has helped me pause and delay my response, helping me avoid arguments and unnecessary fights,” Menon said. Breathing consciously has also improved her lung capacity, and she could feel a tangible difference between herself and others when she went on a high-altitude trek in the Himalayas this year. Conscious breathing has also improved her writing skills – “It has improved my clarity of thought,” Menon said.

What is conscious breathing? Continue reading “The Power of Conscious Breathing”

Health Advisory
(Authors: Dr. Amit Kumar Gupta MD, MBA and Dr. Roopesh Gupta MD)

Monkeypox is a viral infection, first discovered in monkeys, that can also transmit to humans and cause symptoms and complications. Of late, its incidence has risen globally, with cases reported from more than 75 countries, including India. On 23rd July 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monkeypox as a global health emergency.

How does Monkeypox infection happen and spread?
A person can catch this infection from an infected person, an infected animal, or through contaminated objects and surfaces. Human-to-human transmission mostly happens through close contact – either direct skin-to-skin contact with someone who has a Monkeypox rash, or, less commonly, by touching items (such as clothing or bedding) that have encountered an infectious person’s sores or bodily fluids. Unprotected sex can also spread this infection. Infected pregnant women can pass this virus to their babies in the womb.

Common Symptoms of Monkeypox Disease

An infected person may remain symptom-free or develop symptoms after an incubation period of 5 to 21 days. Common symptoms include:
• Flu-like illness (fever, headaches, body aches, etc.)
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Blister-like rashes Continue reading “MONKEYPOX: An Emerging Global Health Concern”

Heard of the term ‘Use it or lose it?

This phrase is not just applicable to the cognitive function of the brain but even to the muscular tissues. Muscles are the anchor of the body that keeps the body mobile and erect. Of course, bone and joints have a very important role in locomotion (basically movement) but today we are going to discuss a less talked about Medial Condition called ‘Sarcopenia”. According to the Lancet ‘Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder involving the accelerated loss of muscle mass and function that is associated with increased adverse outcomes including falls, functional decline, frailty, and mortality.’

This basically means that the body starts losing muscle mass and function which may result in falls & frailty. It is basically an age-related muscle loss and is a natural part of aging. As we grow old the natural wear and tear increases in the body including the muscles. After age 30, one begins to lose 3 to 5% of their muscle mass per decade. Most men will lose about 30% of their muscle mass during their lifetimes.

Less muscle means greater weakness which in turn means less mobility. And there starts the vicious cycle of less muscle, less mobility, and increased weight leading to lesser mobility and further lesser muscle mass!! This also increases the risk of falls and fractures. A 2015 report from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research found that people with sarcopenia had 2.3 times the risk of having a low-trauma fracture from a fall, such as a broken hip, collarbone, leg, arm, or wrist.

The symptoms of Sarcopenia include weakness and stamina loss. This can affect the ability to carry out physical activities. A reduction in activity then leads to further muscle mass loss.

Now let’s talk about the various Causes of Muscle loss (sarcopenia) – The most common cause of this medical condition is decreased physical activity throughout the day.

Other Causes of Sarcopenia may include:
• Reduction in the nerve cells that send signals from brain to muscles to move
• A lowering of hormone levels
• A decline in body’s ability to convert protein to energy
• Not consuming enough daily calories and protein to maintain the muscle mass
• Inflammatory diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes mellitus

But just because the muscle mass is lost it does not mean it is gone forever. it is never too late to rebuild muscle and maintain it. And the solution is quite simple.

How to Avoid muscle loss
1. Exercise Regularly– This is main mantra to stay away from this condition. Encourage your parents to get into the regular habit of following any exercise routine. It may mean a 30 min regular walk or yoga or gardening or going to a gym. Anything and everything that ensures that the regime is there as a rule and not as an exception! Don’t limit moving around because they are old, have maids to do the work, Everything is home delivered (from grocery to medicines) it’s too hot or too cold to work out etc etc….. Ensure staying mobile and active is a part of their daily routine. If someone must take rest because of a medical condition, then try to get back to the routine of exercise as early as possible. Lying down for a week loses at least 5% of muscle mass! And in old age it is very difficult to get these muscles back.

2. Consume a protein rich balanced Diet – Ensure that the diet is rich in protein, as a lot of wear and tear happens in old age. Protein helps in building the muscles. So, ensure that the diet is not calorie deficit and 30 to 50% of these calories are coming from proteins. It is helpful to know the health status by getting a Health Check minimum once a year. It helps in knowing the status of basic parameters of the body. And based on that status a more individualist approach can be planned.

3. Keep a check on the Body weight – Data suggests that it becomes more difficult to lose weight once you cross the age of 50. Specially if one has never exercised before. The usual tendency is to start eating less to lose weight. It becomes a double whammy because the muscle mass is lost because of less activity and then eating less means consuming calories / nutrition deficit diet, further reducing the muscles mass. So, getting in touch with an expert like a Clinical Nutritionist will help in reducing weight without compromising the Nutrition.

So encourage your parents to stay Active and Stay fit!!