lecture 22 Flashcards
Autistic spectrum disorder describes what
a wide range of developmental disorders
Autistic spectrum disorder is characterized by what
They are characterized by troubles with social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior
what are symptoms of autism
In some cases there are clear cognitive impairments, intellectual disability, or reduced imaginative ability.
• Parents usually notice signs during the first two or three years of their child’s life. Social impairments are often the first symptoms to emerge.
• Some infants with autistic disorder do not seem to care whether they are held. Some arch their backs when picked up, as if they do not want to be held.
Mild forms of autistic spectrum disorder often do not include what
a delay in language development or the presence of important cognitive deficits
Mild forms of autism is called what
often called Asperger’s syndrome
Mild forms of autism (often called Asperger’s syndrome) mostly just involve what
deficient or absent social interactions and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors along with obsessional interest in narrow subjects
are autistic people okay with language
Many people with autism have abnormal or even nonexistent language. About a third to a half of individuals with autism do not develop enough natural speech to meet their daily communication needs.
• They may echo what is said to them or they may refer to themselves as others do—in second or third person
People with autism generally have interests in what
atypical interests and behaviors
what kind of movements might someone with autism show
They may show stereotyped movements, such as flapping their hand back and forth or rocking back and forth. They may exhibit compulsive or ritualistic behaviour
autism occurs in how many peole
Incidence of autistic disorder is around 1% of population
autism is more common in men or women
Disorder is four times more common in males than in
females
• If only cases of autism with intellectual disability are considered, the ratio falls to 2:1 (males:females)
• If only cases of high-functioning autism are considered (those with average or above-average intelligence and
reasonably good communicative ability), the ratio rises to approximately 7:1 (males:females)
is autism heritable
It is thought that autism (like intellectual disability) encompasses a large set of disorders with diverse mechanisms. Autism is associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors (thought to affect brain development in the first few months of gestation in the womb).
• Estimates of the heritability of autism are around 70%, but as high as 90% for autism spectrum disorder.
• The large number of autistic individuals with unaffected family members may result from spontaneous structural variation — such as deletions, duplications or inversions of genetic material.
• Some cases of autism have been linked to maternal viral infections during pregnancy
how is the brain when autistic
There often appears to be significant abnormalities in the development of the brains of autistic children
• Kids who develop autism tend to have a slightly small brain at birth, but it grows abnormally fast and by 2–3 years of age is often about 10% larger than a normal brain
• Following this early spurt, growth of the autistic brain slows down, and by adolescence it is only about 1–2 percent larger than normal.
Hypotheses for the cellular and molecular bases of early brain overgrowth (for autism) include the following:
Altered neuronal migration during early gestation
– Abnormal formation of synapses and dendritic spines – Overconnectivity in key brain regions
– Unbalanced excitatory–inhibitory neural networks
what does an fMRI look like when someone has autism
fMRI studies on people with autism have revealed marked abnormalities in brain activity. For example, there is little or no activity in fusiform face area of autistic adults looking at pictures of human faces
The main goals when treating children with autism are what
to lessen the impact of the associated deficits and family distress, and to increase quality of life and functional independence.
Intensive, sustained special education programs and behavior therapy early in life can help children acquire self-care, communication, and life skills, and often improve functioning and decrease symptom severity and maladaptive behaviors
do medications help autism
Medications generally do not address the core symptoms, but often help reduce the irritability, inattention, and repetitive behaviors. All kinds of medications may be tried, including:
– anticonvulsants (↑ GABA receptor activity)
– antidepressants (↑ serotonin receptor activity) – antipsychotics (↓ dopamine receptor activity) – stimulants (↑ dopamine receptor activity)
what does ADHD stand for
ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
what is ADHD
a mental disorder characterized by problems paying attention, hyperactivity, or difficulty controlling (inhibiting) behavior in an age appropriate manner
when do ADHD symptoms occur
symptoms generally appear before a person is 12 years old, are present for more than six months, and cause problems in school, home, or elsewhere
is it clear when a child has ADHD
The condition can be difficult to distinguish from hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity that are still within the range of normative behaviors. Many children with ADHD have a good attention span for tasks they find interesting
ADHD is usually first discovered where
in the classroom, where children are expected to sit quietly and pay attention to teacher or work steadily on project
Symptoms of inattention include what
such things as often had difficulty sustaining attention in work tasks or play activities or is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
Children have difficulty withholding a response, act without reflecting, often show reckless and impetuous behavior, and let interfering activities intrude into ongoing tasks
who gets autism
Prevalence rates vary widely across different communities, with a range of 1 to 10% of children. Diagnosis is can be
difficult because symptoms are not well defined. Boys are diagnosed three times more often than girls
