Week 7 ASD

Question 1

What is ASD characterized by?

Answer 1

abnormalities in social communication

unusual behaviors and interests

Question 2

According to the DSM-5, ASD is characterized by?

Answer 2

significant and persistent deficits in social interaction and communication skills

restricted and repetitive patterns of interest and behaviors

Question 3

To receive a diagnosis of ASD, what else must be present?

Answer 3

1. Child must display symptoms in BOTH domains
2. Symptoms must also be persistent, occur in multiple settings and be present early in development
3. Those who display only deficits in social communication and interaction but not restricted and repetitive behaviors should be evaluated for Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder, a newly designated type of language disorder

Question 4

List 3 symptoms types under the category of social communication and interaction.

Are all 3 needed for a diagnosis of ASD?

Answer 4

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity
Deficits in non-verbal communication behaviors used for social interaction
Deficits in developing, maintaining and understanding relationship

yes, all 3 are needed

Question 5

List 4 types of symptoms under the category of restrictive or repetitive behaviors.

Are all 4 required for a diagnosis of ASD?

Answer 5

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements
Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal/nonverbal behavior
Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
Hyperreactivity or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment

no, but at least 2 are required.

Question 6

What are the severity levels of ASD, according to the DSM-5?

Answer 6

Level 1: requiring support
Level 2: requiring substantial support
Level 3: requiring very substantial support

Question 7

Distinguish between specifiers and modifiers in the context of ASD diagnosis

Answer 7

Specifier: Indicates whether the chlid’s ASD is associated with a known medical or genetic condition.

Modifiers: Indicate when other important conditions, such as intellectual and/or language impairment, are present and/or when ASD is associated with another neurodevelopmental, mental or behavioral disorder.

Question 8

ASD consists of a family of deficits that affect the child’s ______________ (3) development

These aspects of development are ________

Answer 8

social-emotional
language
cognitive

interconnected

Question 9

What are some social interaction deficits that children with ASD experience?

Answer 9

1. Profound difficulties in relating to other people
2. Limited social expressiveness and sensitivity to social cues, impaired recognition of complex emotions and mental states in everyday life, and experience little sharing of experiences or emotions with other people.
3. Atypical processing of faces and facial expressions
4. Deficits in recognizing facial expressions of emotion, particularly in detecting fear.
5. Impairments in joint attention
6. Deficits in ability to understand and respond to social information
7. Difficulty processing emotional information contained in body language, gestures etc
8. Difficulties understanding emotional information and their own bodily expressions of emotions
9. Difficulties recognizing emotions from body movements of others

Question 10

What do profound difficulties in relating to other people look like?

Answer 10

lack of monitoring of the social activities of others
lack of social and emotional reciprocity
unusual non-verbal behavior
lack of interest or difficulty in relating to others
a failure to share enjoyment and interests with others

Question 11

How are atypical processing of faces and facial expressions and recognition of facial features linked?

Answer 11

atypical processing –> focus too much on one part of the face instead of on the eyes or overall features

then over time you cannot extract information from eyes alone

cannot recognize facial expressions of fear

Question 12

Atypical facial processing in individuals with ASD is related to?

Answer 12

less generalized or narrower neural network for face detection, which may also contribute to their reduced social interest

Question 13

What is joint attention?

Answer 13

ability to coordinate attention to a social partner and an object or event of mutual interest

Question 14

When does joint attention occur?

Answer 14

9 - 14 months

Question 15

What does impairment in joint attention look like?

Answer 15

Might bring an object to a person or point to the object, but show little desire to share interest or attention with another person for the sheer pleasure of interaction.

Question 16

Children with ASD have a global deficit in their ability to form attachments. True or false?

Answer 16

false. they can form secure attachment and still prefer caregiver to stranger, but they might be less able to understand and respond to social information

Question 17

How does a deficit in understanding and responding to social information play out?

Answer 17

A child with ASD does notice when his mom leaves the room and will look for her (signs of attachment), but might have little understanding of event and how to respond to change the situation (e.g wont cry). thats why it looks like they have no attachment

their way of expressing attachment is unusual and difficult to read

parents might feel that their child is not attached at all, and may feel disheartened by the child’s lack of cuddling, reaching and responsiveness that typically accompanies attachment behavior.