Autism Spectrum Disorder Flashcards
What are the most popular ways to refer to ASD?
- autism
- autistic
- brain difference
- difficulties
What are the issues with the ASD diagnostic criteria?
- focuses heavily on impairment
-has faced criticism for pathologising neurodivergent characteristics
The DSM-V definition is broken down into…
A, B, C, D, and E
Section A of the DSM-V criteria is..
persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts with
1. deficits in social-emotional reciprocity
2. deficits in non-verbal communicative behaviours in social interactions
3. deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships
Section B of the DSM-V criteria is…
Restrictive, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities, with at least 2 of:
1. stereotyped repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech
2. insitence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualised patterns of verbal and non-verbal behaviour
3. highly restricted, fixed interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
4. hyper or hypo-reactivity to sensory inputs or unusual interests in sensory aspects of environment
Section C of the DSM-V criteria is…
Symptoms must be present in early developmental period (may not fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacity, or may be masked in later life)
Section D of the DSM-V criteria is…
Symptoms clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
Section E of the DSM-V criteria is…
These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability or global developmental delay
When was ASD first identified?
1940s by Leo Kanner - identified as a behavioural syndrome with no variation
What did early ASD research attempt to do?
- see if ASD could be distinguished from childhood schizophrenia, hearing impairments, chromosomal learning disabilities
- autism continuum and triad of impairment to explain variation
What are the important differences in the DSM-III criteria?
- pervasive lack of responsiveness to others
- gross deficits in language development
- absence of delusions/hallucinations
- 75% diagnosed with intellectual disability - seen as part of autism
What was the prevalence of ASD in 1980s
- 6 in 10,000
- 5-10:1 male:female
- underdiagnosed
What was the prevalence of ASD in 2018?
- 1 in 100
- 3:1 male:female
- over diagnosed???
What were the findings of Russel et al. (2021)
- 787% increase in recorded incidences between 1980-2018
- increase greater in females
- likely due to increased reporting and application of critera
What did the triad of impairment consist of (1988)?
- socialisation - impaired, deviant, and extremely delayed social development
- communication - impaired and deviant language and communication
- imagination - rigidity of thought and behaviour, and poor imagination skills
What differences in socialisation were noted in the triad?
- lack of ability to understand and interpret social signals and behaviours
- lack of reciprocal interests in others
- can result in social withdrawal, isolation, alienation
What were Wing and Gould’s (1979) contribution to socialisation in the triad?
- some ‘socially passive’
- some actively social in unusual way
- some appear disinterested in others entirely
- some interested in others in stilted/formal manner
What behaviours were used as evidence of impaired socialisation?
- unusual eye gaze
- atypical body posture
- problems with proxemics
- absent/deviant use of gesture
- unusual facial expression
What communication difficulties might there be in the triad?
- some do not use spoken language at all to communicate
- some may not use language effectively
- some may be competent communicators who experience difficulties in other aspects
How might language be used differently in ASD?
- echolalian and gestalt learning processing
- perserveration
- stereotyped and idiosyncratic language
- neologism/jargon
- pronoun reversal
- often unusual rhythm, intonation, and stress
- inferential use of language is an area of significant need
How might imagination be different in the triad?
- appear delayed in pretend and pre-symbolic play
- older children may play imaginatively, but in an unusual or routinised way
- stereotypes repetitive behaviours which can be simple or complex
- ‘obsessive interests’ or factual knowledge
What behaviour was noted in 1944 for Aspergers syndrome?
- restricted and repetitive interests
- used language in unusual and overly formal ways
- appeared physically and socially clumsy
- intellectually able
What were the controversies of Aspergers?
- fuzziness over if same as high functioning autism
- disorder or difference
- Nazi influences
- no longer formally recognised in DSM-V
