ASD and SPCD

Question 1

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder: restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least 2 of the following, currently or historically

Answer 1

• stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech
• insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized pattern or verbal nonverbal behavior
• highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
• hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment

Question 2

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder: persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or historically

Answer 2

deficits in
- social-emotional reciprocity
- nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction
- developing, maintaining, understanding relationships

Question 3

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder: symptom qualifications

Answer 3

• symptoms must be present in early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)
• symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, other important areas of current functioning

Question 4

DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder: not better explained by intellectual disability (ID) or global development delay

Answer 4

• ID and ASD frequently co-occur
• to make comorbid diagnoses of ASD and ID, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level

Question 5

DSM-5 Social (Pragmatic) Social Communication

Answer 5

• deficits in pragmatics without restricted interests or repetitive behaviors such as social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and developing, maintaining, understanding relationships
• may include formally diagnoses PDD-NOS (no longer valid)

Question 6

physical reasons behind dysregulation

Answer 6

hunger, thirst, lack of sleep, illness, disorder, infection, nutrient deficiency, lack of exercise

Question 7

sensory reasons behind dysregulation

Answer 7

sensory overload, sensory processing challenges, sensory needs, sensory triggers

Question 8

emotional reasons behind dysregulation

Answer 8

trauma, stress, anxiety, feeling unsafe or uncertain, change in routine, excitement, anger, other emotions or connection needs

Question 9

medical model -> strengths-based model

Answer 9

• autistic person
• individual’s strengths and needs
• non-speaking
• security in routines
• special interests

Question 10

rethinking restrictive and repetitive behaviors

Answer 10

• help guide typical development
• relieve sensory overload
• cope with anxiety
• express emotion
• enjoyable

Question 11

stimming

Answer 11

self-stimulating actions that are repeated to stimulate the senses

Question 12

echolalia

Answer 12

• repeating noises, sounds, words, phrases
• can be a small or large part of a child’s language
• done with the same pitch/tone
• purposeful

Question 13

immediate echolalia

Answer 13

• aides in language processing
• turn in conversation
• repeat to remember

Question 14

delayed echolalia

Answer 14

• tied to an emotional experience
• used to communicate dysregulation

Question 15

interpreting echolalia

Answer 15

• utterances may not make sense to you in the immediate context
• but, knowing the reason for the echolalia will help you know how to respond
• supporting working memory, want clarification or support, like the way the sound sequence feels in their mouth

Question 16

gestalt language processing (GLP): model of language acquisition

Answer 16

• child acquires gestalts as initial unit of language and then learns to break down (mitigate) later
• contrasted with analytic processing

Question 17

GLP: neurodiverse

Answer 17

typically use blend of analytic and GLP

Question 18

gestalt

Answer 18

• multi-word “chunk” that is heard, stored, and used before speaker has awareness of internal structure
• delayed echolalia
• scripting

Question 19

gestalt language processing (GLP): 4 stages

Answer 19

1. echolalia (“let’s-get-ready-to-rumble.”
2. mitigated echolalia (“let’s get ready to rumble”)
3. word combinations and isolated words (“let;s get going”)
4. grammatical utterances (“I want to go to the park!”)