2. Definition
• According to IDEA:
• A developmental disability
• Affecting verbal, nonverbal
communication and social
interaction
• Usually evident before age 3
• Often engaging in repetitive
activities and stereotyped
movements
• Resistance to environmental
changes or changes in routine
• Unusual responses to otherwise
normal sensory experiences
3. Symptoms
• Problems relating to others socially
• Affinity for isolation
• Resistance to being picked up or held
• Significant speech deficits including
mutism and echolalia
• In some cases, extreme rote memory
• Early specific food preferences
• Obsessive desire for repetition and
routine
4. Symptoms
• Bizarre, repetitive
behavior such as rocking
• Lack of imagination, few
spontaneous behaviors
such as typical play
• Normal physical
appearance
5. Symptoms
• Ability, intelligence, behaviors
vary widely
• Typically developing until
around 18 months - child
regresses into an isolated state
• Speech varies from non-
speaking to limited to
relatively normal speech
6. Sensory Differences
• Kids with Autism often demonstrate
behaviors we deem as “bizarre”
• These behaviors are in response to
sensory differences
• That is, they often
feel, see, hear, taste, smell things
more intensely than us
• Thus, a student with Autism
covering his ears to a radio playing
may appear bizarre, but actually…
• Is very similar to what our response
would be to a train whistle…
7. Causes
• Research indicates that Autism is
triggered by a combination of
mutations in about 100 genes.
• The “spontaneous” mutation appears
to occur at the time of conception.
• Greater prevalence in older parents.
• NO Statistical Evidence relating to
Vaccines, Diet, Exposure to Toxins
8. Prevalence
• Dramatic increase in diagnosis in the last 20 years
• Due to recognition of symptoms and appropriate classification
• Also, expansion of definition and spectrum
• For example, childhood neurotics, psychotics, and schizophrenics
- once pervasive diagnoses - now very rare
9. Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Asperger Syndrome, Autism, Childhood Disintegrative
Disorder, Rhett Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder
(Not otherwise specified)
• These conditions all lie on a spectrum of varying degrees of
severity - from the mildest of Asperger‟s (not noticeable to
non-professionals) to the most severe of Autism (unwilling
to communicate or move)
• Usually characterized by EXTREME peaks and valleys in
skill sets
10. Asperger Syndrome
• Obsessive interest in a single topic
• Conversation center on obsession
• Extreme spike in memory, high
vocabulary, word choice - sound
like little adults
• Affinity to a strict routine or ritual
• Socially inappropriate behavior -
difficult to measure (eye
contact, physical space, etc.)
• Deficits in nonverbal
communication
• Lack of motor skills, coordination
• With therapy, often “pass”
11. Rett Syndrome
• Normal development until about 2 years
• Social and emotional development abruptly stops
• No longer respond parents and adults
• Pull away from social contact - stop talking
• Cannot control their feet and begin to wring their
hands
• Begin to self-stimulate, flick fingers
• Become obsessed with some object or toy
12. Pervasive Developmental Disorder/
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
• Varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and
social interactions
• Restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior
• Occurs more often in males
• Average onset is between three and four years of age
• Age-appropriate skills in vocabulary, communication, and
social relationships lost
• Seizures and other medical issues can arise
• Often teamed with other cognitive disabilities
13. Treatments
• Occupational Therapy - managing
daily living skills
• Speech Therapy - socially
appropriate use
• Visual Therapy - utilizing visual
spikes - PECS
• Social Skill Therapy - teaching
social cues that we accrue inherently
• Physical Therapy - address motor
delays and coordination
14. Treatments
• Play Therapy - often must be „taught‟ to play - Floortime, Play
Project help build communication
• NO diets, herbs, or other medications have shown to address
the issues of Autism - contrary to groups such as DAN!
15. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
• Rooted in targeting behaviors in the environment
and based on Skinner‟s behaviorism and
conditioning
• For children with Autism, social skills are targeted
and increased or decreased using conditioning
• Intricate system of analysis of environment, stimuli
and eventual replacement behaviors
• Often covered by insurance/medicaid
• DRAMATICALLY increases child‟s ability to
navigate OUR world
