Autism, as defined by IDEA, refers to "a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance." and leads into some characteristics "Other characteristics often associated with autism are engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term autism does not apply if the child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance"
Currently, ASD is defined as the early presence of a dyad of persistent deficits that are present early in a child's life and that cause clinically significant impairment in everyday functioning in multiple contexts. The dyad of deficits include (1) social communication and social interaction and (2) restrictive, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. (DSM-5)
Characteristics Social Communication and Social Interaction Skills...
difficulties with social-emotional reciprocity
Inappropriate turning and talking
Poor judgments about how much or how little to say
Struggle with taking another person's perspective
Ask inappropriate questions during conversations
Many avoid social contact, but many still want friends and social interactions
Echolalia- where they repeat or echo back what has been said to them or what they have heard previously
Impaired and nonverbal
Difficulty using and understanding gestures, body language and facial expressions- "teacher look"
Hard to process and understand facial and vocal emotion in others
Asperger Syndrome:
Aggression
Compulsive behavior
Fidgeting
Social Isolation
Persistent repetition of words or actions
Poor social learners
Poor social skills
Learning...
May use objects in an unusual manner
Echolalia language or idiosyncratic language (may only be knowledgeable communicating with family members and teachers
Repetitive questioning
Distress in small changes
Meltdowns and uncontrollable tantrums if anything familiar is disrupted
Fixating on certain topics, objects or activities
hypo-responsive or hyper-responsive senses
Struggle with pragmatics*
Struggle with prosody*
Struggle with semantics*
Rule with conversation (interrupt people, irrelevant comments)
Other Conditions Associated with Autism
Developmental Conditions
ADHD
Language disorders
Intellectual disabilities
Motor coordination difficulties
Mental Health Conditions*
Oppositional defiant disorder
Anxiety
Emotional disturbance
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Medical Conditions
Epilepsy (46%)
Fragile X syndrome*
Tuberous sclerosis*
15q duplication syndrome
Prevalence
22 to 70 per 10,000 along the spectrum
1 child of 143 diagnosed with ASD
2014 study- 1 out of every 68 and 1 of every 42 boys in the U.S
Cause and Risk Factors
media led people to believe vaccinations cause autism but later studies show no relationship between the two
Bibliography Hardman, Michael L. Human Exceptionality: School, Community, and Family. Allyn and Bacon, 2017. “What Is Asperger Syndrome?” Autism Support - Leading UK Charity - National Autistic Society, www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/asperger.aspx.