Autism is a common and heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder. An estimated 1 out of 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States. Autism affects an individual’s social, emotional, and behavioral functioning, as well as his/her family. Symptoms of ASD vary but generally fall into two areas:
While the causes and etiology of autism are continuing to be unraveled, we do know that autism is a wide spectrum with many variations of individual functioning and that functioning may improve with appropriate intervention.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is an umbrella term often used to describe a continuum of diagnoses that include Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Individuals with ASD exhibit or have a history of deficits in communication, impairments in social interactions, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors that can range from very mild to severe dysfunction.
Abilities, intelligence, and behavior will vary on the spectrum for each individual with ASD. For example, for some individuals with autism do not speak while others have advanced language skills.
Signs of autism may become more obvious during early childhood (24 months to 6 years) although they may be apparent in infancy (18 to 24 months), typically before age 3. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) lists five behaviors that warrant further evaluation:
It does NOT mean that your child has autism if they have any of these symptoms; however, these behaviors should be discussed with your pediatrician and possibly further evaluated by a multidisciplinary team. Please visit the following website for more information: www.cdc.gov/actearly.
Many individuals with autism often have language and communication delays or differences, repetitive or unusual behaviors, restricted areas of interest, and delays in social interactions and functioning. However, for high functioning autism, sometimes these delays and differences are not evident until school age, adolescence, and perhaps even adulthood. As social demands increase, the social and communication differences become more apparent in individuals with autism.
Symptoms of ASD vary but generally fall into two areas:
ASD is considered a lifelong disorder although symptoms or behaviors do not remain static over a lifetime. Recent research indicates that communication skills improve, such as the social use of language; however, interpreting social information and participating in reciprocal social interaction continues to be more resistant to change.
Social Impairment
Difficulties with social communication and reciprocal social interaction can have lingering influences on a child well into adulthood. These difficulties are thought to be significant contributions to patterns of unemployment, decreased number of friendships and romantic relationships, and low rates of independent living.
Repetitive and restricted behaviors or interests (RRBs) can be present in ASD. Repetitive actions are sometimes called “stereotypy” or “stereotyped behaviors.”
Some examples of RRB’s:
It does NOT mean that you or your child has autism if these behaviors are present. We offer screenings and evaluations at Spectra Therapies for most ages.
Many people and professionals define Asperger’s Disorder as a milder form of autism and use the term “high-functioning autism. After being in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for almost a decade (DSM-IV, 1994 to DSM-5, 2013) the categorical syndrome of Asperger’s Disorder has been removed and subsumed under the title Autism Spectrum Disorder. Although removed, may people and professionals continue to use this term.
Now considered under the umbrella term, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome in the past was distinguished from Autistic Disorder due to the absence of language delays and less symptom severity, comparatively.
Typically, individuals with less symptom severity, as previously defined by Asperger’s, have reciprocal social communication difficulties, despite most obtaining an average
to high average intelligence. Restricted and repetitive behaviors are present, such as proficient and categorical knowledge about an intense interest. Although individuals with Asperger’s do not have speech delay, the subtleties of language may still be problematic, such as understanding sarcasm, irony, and abstract concepts. It is common for individuals with a previous diagnosis of Asperger’s to have delays in motor skills and to appear clumsy or awkward.