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1. Information from the DSM IV, & V about characteristics of autism spectrum disorders and the severity scales in DSM V from the textbook.

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1. Information from the DSM IV, & V about characteristics of autism spectrum disorders and the severity scales in DSM V from the textbook.

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Before going into how DSM IV and V characterizes autism, I want to note the differences between them;
- The major change was that "pervasive developmental disorder" was replaced with "autism spectrum disorder"
- The dispense of of IV's categories of; Rett's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS), and Asperger's disorder. They are now under a single umbrella term of ASD. This helps them give specific information and helps them be more accurate and consistent.

Characteristics of ASDs:
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Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following:

1. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., lining up toys or flipping objects)

2. Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat food every day).

3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g, strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects).

4. Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully apparent until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).

Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.

These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.

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1 Cont'd, Severity scales from text book

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1 Cont'd, Severity scales from text book

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Level 1 - "Requiring support”

Without supports in place, deficits in social communication cause noticeable impairments.

Difficulty initiating social interactions, and clear examples of atypical or unsuccessful responses to social overtures of others.

May appear to have decreased interest in social interactions.

E.g., a person who is able to speak in full sentences and engages well in communication but who lacks successful back and forth conversation with others, and their attempts to make friends are somewhat odd and usually does not result in a friendship.

Inflexibility of behavior causes significant interference with functioning in one or more contexts. Difficulty switching between activities. Problems of organization and planning hamper independence

Level 2 - "Requiring substantial support”

Marked deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills; social impairments apparent even with supports in place; limited initiation of social interactions; and reduced or  abnormal responses to social overtures from others.

E.g., a person who speaks simple sentences, whose interaction is limited  to narrow special interests, and how has markedly odd nonverbal communication.

Inflexibility of behavior, difficulty coping with change, or other restricted/repetitive behaviors appear frequently enough to be obvious to the casual observer and interfere with functioning in  a variety of contexts.

Distress and/or difficulty changing focus or action.

Level 3 - "Requiring very substantial support”

Severe deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills cause severe impairments in functioning, very limited initiation of social interactions, and minimal response to social overtures from others.

E.g., a person with few words of intelligible speech who rarely initiates interaction and, when he or she does, makes unusual approaches to meet needs only and responds to only very direct social approaches

Inflexibility of behavior, extreme difficulty coping with change, or other restricted/repetitive behaviors markedly interfere with functioning in all spheres. Great distress/difficulty changing focus or action.

As you can tell, levels 2 and 3 are very similar, the major difference is in how severely the symptoms are.

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2.    Historical information about Asperger's Syndrome

Application of evidence-based practice is the product of historical influences, decisively shaped by prevailing political and economic trends. EBP has allowed an astonishing rise in the number of individuals diagnosed with ASD.

NCLB act requires states to ensure that educators at the elementary and secondary school levels are capable of the following: Accountability, scientifically based instruction, and are highly qualified teachers. The NRC report and NCLB act have significantly influenced efforts focused on personnel preparation and EBP in the area of ASD.

Doctors at first thought autism was caused my bad parents, which created a source of shame to parents

Kanner’s model was way too narrow, which is why he thought it was rare. Autism  is actually really diverse.

German paper -alternate version of autism

Hans Asperger didn't blame parents, he said it was a lifelong polygenetic disability. Autism is a diverse continuum.

Eventually they broadened the criteria for diagnosis. In the late 80’s and 90’s changes went into effect.

Swapped out Kanners narrowed model to Aspergers model.

After this, people were seeing autistic adults for the first time.

Introduction of new tests allowed everyone to get diagnosed, not just people who know the specialists.

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3.    Psychological theories of ASDs from the textbook.

Impaired theory of mind: refers to the ability to recognize and understand the thoughts, beliefs, desires, and intentions of other people in order to make sense of their behavior and predict what they are going to do next.

Weak central Coherence: difficulty perceiving and understanding the overall picture or gist of something.

Impaired executive function: Children with ASD have been recognized as having problems with executive function.

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4. 3-5 famous researchers of autism from the TED Talk by Steve Silberman

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4. 3-5 famous researchers of autism from the TED Talk by Steve Silberman

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1. Leo Kanner
2. Lorna Wing
3. Judith Gould
4. Hans Asperger
5. Andrew Wakefield

https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_silberman_the_forgotten_history_of_autism/transcript#t-588534

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Child Psychiatrist

1943 Published a paper about Autism

Speculated Autism is very rare

Criteria for diagnosing Autism was very selective

Said it was due to cold and unaffectionate parents ("refrigerated parenting")

Due to his paper autism was seen as shameful and became stigmatized

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Wing, a Cognitive Psychologist, and her colleague, Gould, ran a study  of autism prevalence in the general population

Believed the reality of autism was colorful, and diverse - and did not fit into a "neat" box

Found a German paper about Aspergers written by Hans Asperger

Worked with the American Psychiatric Association to broaden the criteria for diagnosis to reflect the diversity of what they called "the autism spectrum"

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Ran a combination clinic and residential school in Vienna (1930s)

"Asperger framed it as a lifelong, polygenetic disability that requires compassionate forms of support and accommodations over the course of one's whole life".

Had children help him create learning opportunities that suited them

Said Autism was much more common than believed at the time

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Blamed the increase of autism diagnoses on vaccines

Published a paper claiming a link between Autism and vaccines

He has since been discredited

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5. Two Famous People with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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5. Two Famous People with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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1. Satoshi Tajiri
2. Dan Aykroyd

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Creator of the Pokemon Franchise

He has confirmed he is diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

https://www.steppingstonesca.com/single-post/2018/11/21/satoshi-tajiri-journey-with-asd-creation-of-pokemon

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Canadian comedian, singer, actor, and screenwriter

He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live

He is an originator of The Blues Brothers  and Ghostbusters

Diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome

https://childmind.org/blog/dan-aykroyd-says-being-on-the-spectrum-helped-him-make-ghostbusters/