THEME 3: AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER Flashcards
What is the prevalence of autism?
1-2%, around 70% normal intelligence, 30% regression (loss of skills).
Asperger syndrome
Children who have autism with better cognitive and language skills
What is social cognition
- a construct at the intersections of self and other.
- social cognition starts when “like me” nurture starts.
- what is more or less important
- what is social and nonsocial
What’s needed for successful social interaction?
1-Joint attention
2- Theory of mind
Joint attention
capacity to coordinate one’s vşsua attention with the attention of another person.
Theory of mind
ability to attribute mental status of others.
Affective social competence
the coordination of the capacities to experience emotion, send emotional messages to others and read other emotional signals.
What are the deficits that characterises autism?
1- social and communication deficit
2- repetitive behaviours and fixated interest
Social and communication deficits:
1-Struggles to understand complicated emotions
2-Talks more concrete and intellectualized way
3-Use language for instrumental reasons ( when they want or need smth)
4- Most people with autism show a secure attachment with the caregiver
Repetitive behaviours and fixated interest
- Exhibiting repetitive movements: rocking, hand flapping, twirling
-Fixated interest refers to strong attachments to certain objects.
-Insist on sameness of the environment
-sensory sensitivities
What is needed to diagnose one with autism?
-3 kinds of social and communication deficits:
-2 types of repetitive behavior
1-social-emotional reciprocity
2-deficits in nonverbal communication during social interactions
3-deficits developing and maintaining relationships.
!! not responding to your own name as a toddler is a predictive of autism.
Autism in childhood symptoms
1- Life-long disorder
2-Impaired social interaction
3- Most children don’t show regression instead show progress
Long-term study of( high, medium low functioning groups)
1- The stability is highest in the children with most severe clinical presentations.
2- Lower stability with the middle group
3- highest functioning group is the least stable and likely to change diagnosis over time
—Language is the most important when predicting.
– Children with high nonverbal IQ more likely to improve.
Autism in adult symptoms
- Poor regulation of emotions ( frustration, anger)
-Less independent than adults with mental disorders.
-Part time employment not full time
Heritability and how does it occur?
-Genes and environment
- High heritability and familial clustering
Physiological functions?
1-Growth without guidance: unusual brain growth.
2- Over-prunning: overly agressive synaptic pruning in sensory and motor regions.
3-Dysfunction in the mirror-neutron system: respond to observation of others actions.
4-Atypical connectivity across brain regions
5- Hierachial Organization: prefrontal uniqely placed to influence other regions.
6-Niche construction: active construction of the environment
7- developmental rate: adaptation
3 most important cognitive skills for autism?
1- Theory of mind
2- Central coherence: perceive and construct meaning from the environment. (better at attention)
3- Executive functioning: processes that include planning, memory impulse control.
Children at the age of 5 show more symptoms than children at the age of 8.
Baron-Cohen approach?
Empathising-systemazing theory: below average empathy, above average systemising
Social-motivational , social-brain theory:
emphasises socio-emotional deficits related to social-attention, social-engagement and social rewards.
Two hit-model:
First-hit: genetic and neurodevelopment disruptions.
Second-hit: adolescent-related developmental tasks and pubertal hormones.
Interventions
-prevention efforts
- pharmacological treatment
- Psychological treatment:
- Applied behavior analysis: intensive behavioral approach with high levels of control and direction of the chid and his environment.
-school based programme
-long-term treatment
