ASD

Question 1

ASD

Answer 1

neurodevelopment condition that affects cognitive, sensory and social processing, changing the way that they see the world and interact with others

Question 2

Why is ASD considered an invisible disability

Answer 2

not physically obvious but may have trouble with social communication, sensory issues and executive functioning

people may mask their sx too

Question 3

DSM CX

Answer 3

A) social and communication interaction (3 sx from each)
- persistent deficits in social and emotional reciprocity
- non verbal communicative behaviour and relationships
- difficulty adjusting to behaviour to suit context, trouble making friends

B) restrictive and repetitive behaviours, interests or activities
- echolalia, hand flapping
- needs routines and cannot stray
- highly fixated interests
- hyper or hypo-activity to sensory input ]

C) must be present ealty in life

D) not explained by intellectual disability (they can cooccur thought)

Question 3

3 domains of ASD

Answer 3

Social
- difficulties in social interacting and relationships e.g understanding social cues, forming friendships and emotional reciprocity

Repetitive and restrictive behaviour
- repeating the same hand movements, insistence of routines, highly focused interests, sensory sensitivities

communication
- trouble stating or maintaining conversations, difficulty with tone and sarcasm, nonverbal communication

Question 4

Social communication disorder

Answer 4

difficulties with language and communication
- not restricted to repetitive behaviour

Question 5

common misdiagnosis

Answer 5

Social communication disorder (meets all criteria but repetitive behaviour)

Intellectual developmental disorder (ability in educational areas)

language disorder (speech)

OCD (routines)

normal personality and social variances

Question 6

prevalence

Answer 6

seeming to be increasing (increased access and support?)

2.2%

more common in males 4:1
No IDD = 16:1
severe IDD = 1:2 (more females)
- females are often dx later

Question 7

Denmark Study ASD

Answer 7

incdicne rate and cumultive risk of being diagnosed with Mental deisrodee in childhood

by 18, 15% had been diagnosed with a mental disorder

Question 8

Risk factors

Answer 8

Siblings 50% higher than general population
- higher in monozygotic twins
- recurs in families 7-20%

Due to: pregnancy factors and perinatal complications, maternal and paternal age (higher = more likely)

Question 9

Comorbidities

Answer 9

IDD 50-80%
ADHD
Anxiety
Mood
Tic
Learning and language
Seizure

Question 10

positive and negative outcomes of ADHD

Answer 10

Positive:
- higher IQ
- language skills
- early identification and intervention
- stronger adaptive skills

negative:
- emotional regulation
eating - aversion to range of foods and textures
sleep disturbances

Question 11

The embedded figures test

Answer 11

A cognitive/perceptual test that measures field dependence vs field independence.

Task: Individuals are shown a complex figure (the “field”) and must find a simple shape hidden within it.

• purpose is attention to detail and processing and central coherence

Question 12

Outcomes of embedded figures test

Answer 12

People with ASD perfome better at picking otu the shape in comparison to others

they are detail oriented (weak central coherence) bottom up processing, they look at the shape for what ot is not the whoel picture

whereas normal people will see the picture and then try find the shape (top down)

Question 13

What type of tasks are people with ASD better at

Answer 13

pattern recognition, maths etc

Question 14

Weak central coherence

Answer 14

Difficulty with big picture thinking

detiled focus e.g procesing information peice by piece rather than bigger picture

bottom up rather than top down

e.g looks at leaves, rather than look at the forrest

Question 15

why no tx

Answer 15

need support and accomodation to thrive not aimed toward making someone less autistic, its more helping autistic people live a better life

Question 16

management and support

Answer 16

early intervention

variability in sx and impairment
- individualised planning, formulation driven

consider domains of impairment
- adaotive fucntion
- social function
- acadmeic progress
- communication

Question 17

Intervention in NZ

Answer 17

children receive much less than MOH recommend

recommended 60-100hrs a month
- actual =8.7 hours a month
- ideal = 19hrs

want more behavioural support