Autism Flashcards
1
Q
Origins
A
- KANNER (1943); first “diagnosed” by mother; “can’t reach son” as doesn’t pay attention to her; “shadow” in own world; no sense of relationship/personal offering; speaks in 3rd person
- WING (1952); recognised signs of rare Asperger’s in daughter; devoted life to work in the area; “… nature never draws a line without smudging it…”
- COHEN (1980); didn’t “know there were people” til 7y; still actively reminds himself; never befriended anyone; doesn’t know what to do w/people
2
Q
Modern Representation
A
- RAIN MAN, THE MOVIE (1988); Savant Syndrome; brought it to public awareness more than any movements since Dr. Down’s diagnosis in 1887; critically claimed to be authentic and sensitive; “… thinking in pictures…”
3
Q
Statistics
A
- 75% autistic children also have learning disability; remainder have “borderline” learning disability
- roughly equally common across culture/social class
- 3-4 : 1 = boy : girl ratio; more frequent in males
- 6/10000 are “clearly autistic”
- 20/10000 have autistic characteristics
- autistic continuum disorders have Asperger’s syndrome as a variant
4
Q
Asperger’s Syndrome
A
- severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction
- inability/lack of desire to interact w/peers
- lack of social cue appreciation
- stereotypically socially/emotionally inappropriate behaviour
- Wing called it “shading into eccentric normality within autism spectrum”
5
Q
Autism Causes
A
PARENTAL INFLUENCE
“MMR VACCINE”
BIOLOGICAL CAUSES
LACK OF THEORY OF MIND/EMPATHY
6
Q
AC: Parental Influence
A
- “REFRIGERATOR MOTHER”: historical notion of cold/rejecting/strict parents/mothers “causing” autism
- attachment theory; concept of lack of bond between mother-child
- damaging w/absolutely no evidence BUT cold parenting may be due to genetic factor of parent possibly having undiagnosed autism
7
Q
AC: MMR Vaccine
A
- LANCET (1998); advocated link
- controversy; “3-in-1” (measles/mumps/rubella)
- 2-3 times annually; 4-6y & 12-13y (USA)
- KAYE (2001); autism increased; 0-3/10000 = 1988; 2.1/10000 = 1999 though MMR didn’t change; didn’t consider awareness explanation; risk of increase “still unknown”
- TAYLOR (2002); 278 autistic kids; 195 atypically autistic kids; longitudinal since 1979 through MMR intro
- no causal link evidence
8
Q
AC: Lack of Theory of Mind/Empathy (ToM)
A
- BARON-COHEN (2006); “… ability to attribute mental states to others to infer others thoughts/feelings (aka. cognitive empathy); drive to respond w/appropriate emotions to someone’s mental state (aka. affective empathy)
- both ToM components impaired in autism/Asperger’s
- causes Triad of Impairment (TOI)
9
Q
AC-ToM: Triad of Impairment
A
- caused by:
DEVELOPMENTAL DEFICIT/DELAY - attempts to control frightening/unpredictable world; chaotic internal world = monitored external world
- autism defined by “absence” compared w/”normal”, non-disabled development of ToI characteristics:
SOCIAL IMPAIRMENT
LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT (turn taking/gesturing affected in particular)
RESTRICTED BEHAVIOURAL REPERTOIRE
10
Q
AC: Biological Causes
A
- major biological roots:
GENETICS = 91% MZ twin concordance; 0% DZ twins; 3% regular siblings affected
ILLNESS = rubella/meningitis/tuber sclerosis/encephalitis direct causes of significant autism cases; often increased neurological abnormality (ie. EEG/MRI)
11
Q
AC-BC: Neural Bases
A
- temporal lobe/cerebellum/frontal cortex/hippocampus/amygdala abnormalities
- fMRI suggests the temporal lobe fusiform (“face area”) is impaired; interesting as associated w/face recognition/emotional expression; aligns w/difficulty in computing facial emotions in autistic people
12
Q
AC-BC: Circuit Bases
A
- decrease of social brain circuits between brain clusters involved w/emotional social behaviour (limbic brain), language/communication and visual perception/movement interplay
- participants w/greatest social interaction difficulties had strongest decrease
13
Q
AC-ToM-TOI: Developmental Deficit/Delay In Communication
A
- people w/autistic characteristics are disadvantaged; don’t have abilities to “attend” to others via social/communication skills
- at risk of misunderstanding “social world” and adopting anxiety/idiosyncratic “coping” behaviour
- causes TOI
14
Q
AC-ToM-TOI: Social Impairment
A
- ABSENT/IMPAIRED IMITATION: doesn’t wave good-bye/mechanical imitation of context behaviour
- ABSENT/ABORMAL SOCIAL PLAY: preference of solitary play
- IMPAIRED FRIENDSHIP NAVIGATION: lack of understanding for conventions OR complete withdrawal
- NO/LACK OF WANTING TO SEEK COMFORT FROM OTHERS IN TIMES OF DISTRESS:
15
Q
AC-ToM-TOI: Social Impairment (Cause)
A
- lack of Theory of Mind (ToM); inability to consider own/others mental states; underlies difficulties in social relationships
- ie. FRITH (1989); “Sally Anne”; autistic people are severely delayed in ToM; Sally steals Anne’s marble from her basket; when Anne wants to play with it, where will she look?
