Autism Flashcards
What kind of disorder is Autism spectrum disorder?
Neurological & developmental disorder that begins early in childhood & lasts throughout a person’s life.
What were those with higher level of function with Autism diagnosed with?
Asperger’s syndrome.
How did the DSM-5 change from Asperger’s?
They got rid of it and made Autism a spectrum with grades (grade 3 (lots of support) to grade 1 (little support))
The start of Autism?
Around the 12 month mark the decline in a child’s development starts to appear.
What are the three major difficulties of ASD?
- Impaired communication
- Impaired social interactions
- Restricted behavior, interests, and activities
What is the impaired communication problem?
People with autism nearly always have problems or delays in communication. For those who develop speech, the pattern of communication is often quite unusual. (Echolalia – repeating the speech and intonation of others is common.)
What is the impaired social interaction problem?
Kids with Autism suffer with: Coordination of capacities to experience emotion, send emotional messages to others, and read others’ emotional signals.
What is restricted behavior?
Individuals with autism often exhibit repetitive, apparently pointless behaviors called stereotypies (stimming, ritualistic behaviors…)
Prevalence of ASD?
1 in 66 (1 in 42 males and 1 in 165 females) (around world consistently 4:1 ration for genders)
Etiology of ASD?
ASD is highly heritable (genetic).
What are the environmental factors?
- Maternal diet: nutrient deficiency
- Maternal smoking, alcohol, or drugs.
- Air pollutants
- Maternal and Paternal age
What is an autism comorbidity?
Immune dysregulation and gastrointestinal disturbances are common among individuals with ASD.
True or False: ASD condition resulting from overall brain reorganization, beginning early in development.
True
What is the extreme male brain theory?
Exposure to testosterone during pregnancy can influence autism since males are more logical and less emotional.
What are mirror neurons?
Neurons that will fire both when an individual performs a certain action, and when they observe that action being performed by someone else.
What neurons found in the insula and cingulate cortex might have a role in empathy?
Mirror neurons.
What does autism have to do with mirror neurons?
It seems that many of the deficits seen in autism are precisely those skills that are controlled by mirror neurons.
Do individuals with ASD have a dysfunctional Mirror Neuron system?
Kids with ASD showed reduced activity in the frontal mirror neuron system. Correlated with the severity of disorder (Higher severity – lower activity in MNS).
What are the current therapeutic advances?
Mostly, behavioural-based therapies; most common is “Applied Behaviour Analysis” (ABA).
