Autism Flashcards
What is impaired in autism?
Social interaction
Communication
Behaviour
What disorders form part of the autism spectrum?
Asperger’s syndrome
Autistic disorder
Pervasive developmental disorder
What do deficits in social interaction include in ASD?
- Lack of eye contact
- Delay in smiling
- Avoiding physical contact
- Unable to read non-verbal cues
- Difficulty establishing friendships
- No desire to share attention
What do deficits in communication include?
- Delay, absence or regression in language development
- Lack of appropriate non-verbal communication
- Difficulty with imaginative or imitative behaviour
- Repetitive use of words or phrases
What do deficits in behaviour include?
- Greater interest in objects, numbers or patterns than people
- Stereotypical repetitive movements
- Intense and deep interests that are persistent and rigid
- Fixed routines
- Anxiety and distress outside regular routine
- Extremely restricted food preferences
What are some examples of stereotypical repetitive movements in ASD?
Hand-flapping
Rocking
Lip smacking
How is Autism diagnosed?
Autism specialist
How is autism managed?
Depends on severity
CAMHS
Psychologists
SALT
Dieticians
Paediatricians
Social workers
Specially trained schools
National autistic society
Why are women typically more difficult to diagnose with autism?
Females tend to be better at masking
Tend to be better at socialising
Why are behavioural factors in women with autism harder to recognise?
Where males will be more interested in puzzles, trains etc, more atypical things
Females tend to be interested in more normal things and so their enfatuation goes unnoticed
Why can autistic children be known to exaggerate?
Overidentification
Autism can cause a sense of overidentification with stories or events which can make them believe an event was happening to them e.g.
When going to school a friend fell off the platform, then going to say they neaerly fell off the platform today instead of their friend
What are some possible co-occurring disorders alongside autism?
- Intellectual disability
- Heterogenous mental health conditions
- Epilepsy
- Sensory problems
- GI problems e.g. IBD, coeliac, chronic diarrhoea
What assessment tools are used for autism diagnosis?
ADOS (Autism diagnostic observation schedule)- only looks at current behaviour and skills
DISCO (Diagnostic interview for social and communication disorders)
ADI-R (Autism diagnostic interview- revised)
3Di (developmental, dimensional and diagnostic interview)
What are the principles of management for autism?
- Supportive intervention environment
- Educational support
- Identify social support outside family
- Find ways to improve QoL
- Identify employment opportunities
- Develop independence
- Manage co-occurring mental and physical health
