ASD Guidelines Taskforce

Question 1

How early can a dx of ASD be made

Answer 1

2 years

Question 2

males or females - who is at greater risk of ASD

Answer 2

Males

Question 3

Diagnosis of ASD?

Answer 3

1. Impairment in social interaction and communication (3/3)
   - Social and emotional reciprocity
   - Impairment of nonverbal behaviours
   - Failure to develop and maintain relationships:
2. Abnormal and restricted, repetitive behaviours, interests, and activities (2/4)
   - Stereotyped speech and behaviours
   - Insistence on sameness/resistance to change
   - Restricted, fixated interests
   - Hyper- or hypo-sensitivity to sensory input
3. Signs or symptoms must be present during early development but they may not be fully evident until later, when social demands exceed limited capacities, or they may be masked by learned strategies.
4. Symptoms interfere with everyday functioning.
5. Symptoms are not better explained by intellectual disability or global developmental delay.
6. ASD may occur with or without medical, genetic, neurodevelopmental, mental or behavioural disorders, or an intellectual or language impairment.
7. Level of severity for each of the two domains may be used to refine diagnosis: Level 1: Requiring support; Level 2: Requiring substantial support; Level 3: Requiring very substantial support. These levels may be difficult to determine at the initial time of diagnosis with very young children.

Question 4

Risk factors for ASD

Answer 4

Specific genetic syndromes/risk variants
Male sex
First-degree relative or other family history of ASD

Older parental age (≥35 years)
Maternal obesity, diabetes, or hypertension
In utero exposure to valproate, pesticide, or traffic-related air pollution
Maternal infections (e.g., rubella)
Close spacing of pregnancies (<12 months)

Low birth weight
Extreme prematurity

Question 5

Goals of care in ASD mgmt

Answer 5

• Tx to target the core feature of ASD+ associated developmental, behavioral and learning challenges
• Enhance quality of life for the entire family
• Improve social function, play, verbal and nonverbal communication
• Reducing maladaptive behavior
• Promote learning/ cognition

Question 6

Factors that can increase risk for having challenging behaviours in ASD

Answer 6

Communication deficits
Coexisting medical disorders ( pain or discomfort)
Coexisting mental health problems or neurodevelopmental conditions
Physical (e.g., lighting or noise levels) and social environments (e.g., home, child care, school)
Changes in daily routines or personal circumstances
Developmental changes (e.g., puberty)
Bullying and other forms of maltreatment

Question 7

Factors associated with +ve outcome n ASD

Answer 7

early identification
timely access to behavioral interventions
higher cognitive abilities.