autism spectrum disorder Flashcards
Criterion A - ASD
Deficits in social communication and social interaction across MULTIPLE contexts
EX - Problems with reciprocity/nonverbal communication, understanding of social relationships
Criterion B - ASD
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. 2+ of:
- Repetitive motor movements
- Inflexible adherence to routine
- Restricted/fixated interests
- Hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory input
ASD Prevalence
1.88
some evidence for recent increase but may be due to increased societal attention
ASD gender ratio
4:1 males to females
questions of referral bias
DISCREDITED ASD theories
“refrigerator mother”
Vaccines - thimerosal/MMR
Heritability of ASD, twin study
Heritability >.90 from twin and sibling studies (but still some differences)
MZ concordance ASD
60%
DZ concordance ASD
5% (strict autism)
Sibling risk ASD
2-5% (SHARP drop-off from MZ to DZ to SR)
ASD chromosome 7
some evidence, connections to SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT – mechanism of influence is still largely unknown
Etiological factors ASD
Maternal infection
Maternal and paternal age
25% of children experience seizures/epilepsy of some sort
Exposure to toxins
Toxins ASD
Lead, Flint Michigan
Poor regulation of household chemicals
Brain structure ASD
face processing areas: FUSIFORM GYRUS
smaller AMYGDALA
Brain development ASD - Growth dysregulation hypothesis
initial overproduction of neurons
no “pruning” (apoptosis, programmed cell death)
impaired synapse formation
ASD intellectual disability
75% ASD children have IQ below 70
What are ASD children strong in?
Block design
What are ASD children weak in?
Picture arrangement/comprehension
First birthday party study
for autism, intellectual disability (and a “normal” control)
Retrospective blinded-coding
Autism looked less at others and oriented less to their names
Family studies ASD
- Differences in personality traits - aloofness, shyness. But aloofness could be CAUSED by having a child with autism, stress.
- Higher rates of math/physics/engineering occupations.
Dawson et al., Dimensional traits
- trouble w. face processing
- not motivated by social reward
- language pragmatics - social usage
- Executive functioning in PLANNING
Deficit theories
- Theory of mind
- Weak central coherence
Theory of Mind
knowledge that others have different beliefs from one another. ASD lacks but can be trained.
Weak Central Coherence
ASD children better at processing small details
ASD Interventions: APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (ABA)
rewarding targeted behavior, hours of intervention. be careful if you’re rewarding with candy.
initial claims of effectiveness may have been overstated.
ASD Interventions: Project TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communications Handicapped Children)
Build on strengths, behavioral
Classroom-based
Ideal outcome research ASD NEEDS
- Random assignment
- Assessment of multiple outcomes w multiple methods - not just parent/teacher
- Decent sample size
- Treatment fidelity ratings
Common components of potentially effective interventions (Dawson and Osterling, 1997) ASD
• teach selective attention and language skills
• Supportive teaching environment focusing on generalization of skills
• Emphasis on PREDICTABLE ROUTINE
•Parental involvement - VERY IMPORTANT
Core deficit debates
Theory of mind vs. weak central coherence
ASD Treatment Options
Applied Behavior Analysis
Project TEACCH
