22-ASD

Synopsis

Overview

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a spectrum of psychological conditions characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication, as well as severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behaviour. Additionally, it is a complex disorder of the central nervous system, which often first appears as delayed speech in children around 18 months of age. The disorder exists at birth and can usually be dependably diagnosed by the time the child is 3 years old.

The three main forms of ASD are:

1. Autism
2. Asperger syndrome
3. Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), sometimes called atypical autism.

Autism forms the core of the autism spectrum disorders. Asperger syndrome is closest to autism in signs and likely causes. However, unlike autism, people with Asperger syndrome have no significant delay in language development. PDD-NOS is diagnosed when the criteria are not met for a more specific disorder. Some sources also include Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder, which share several signs with autism but may have unrelated causes; other sources combine ASD with these two conditions into the pervasive developmental disorders.

Children with ASD develop normally into adults. However, they continue to have

1. impaired social communication,
2. interaction and
3. fondness for repetitive actions.

A child’s cognitive and social abilities determine how he/she turns out.

Approximately 70% of children with ASD are mentally retarded; with most requiring supervision at home and work. They enjoy a normal life expectancy, although some will have residual psychological problems (anxiety and depression) or seizures.

Characteristics

The defining characteristics of ASD are:

v Impairment of social communication

• Delayed speech and language development

• Difficulty expressing oneself or understanding others’ feelings or thoughts

• Have difficulty using and reading gestures, facial expressions and body language

v Impairment of social interaction/imagination

• Tends to ignore people

• Most would show simple attachment to parents or caregivers

• Often active although socially odd

• Some may initiate contact but in an odd, awkward or inappropriate way

• Unable to play imaginatively with objects or toys or with other children and adults

• Display limited range of imaginative activities. Play tends to be copied, repetitive and stereotypic

v Children with ASD often like repetitive and stereotypic activities

• Simple stereotypic activities like flicking fingers, spinning themselves or car wheels, watching running electronic displays, rocking or head banging

• Complex stereotypic activities: lining things, repeated replays of CDs, using fixed routes and fixation with particular topics

v Other features:

• Intolerance to noise or certain textures, apparent insensitivity or over-response to pain, heat or cold

• Uneven patterns of intellectual functioning: may have unique skills, for example in music, numbers and letters but overall developmental delay or mental retardation