Mid-Term Paper On Autism Spectrum Disorder

Sara Simpson

ED 260

Mid-term Paper

21 February 2018

Autism Spectrum Disorder

The disability I chose to write about is the Autism Spectrum Disorder. I chose to write about this disability because I wanted to learn more about the topic to better prepare me for becoming a teacher. “Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability characterized by three defining features with onset before ages 3 years: (a) impairment of social interaction; (b) impairment of communication; and (c) restricted, repetitive, and stereotypic patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. No longer included in DSVM-V” (Heward). With autism spectrum disorder there are several ways to identify, assess, know the causes, and be educated on how to help some

It is difficult to identify and assess someone with autism spectrum disorder. The assessment of autism in adults is more challenging that children. Recognizing if a child is on the autism spectrum disorder is based on the assessment of behavioral characteristics on the DSM. Assessment begins with screening. Signs that people look for when screening include lacking pointing at objects, lack of gestures, and many more. The next step is going through a modified checklist for autism in toddlers known as the M-CHAT-R/F. A free M-CHAT-R/F is a screening exam of twenty yes or no questions that the parents answer about the child. There is also a social communication questionnaire (SCQ). This is a forty-item tool that is also completed by a parent in less than ten minutes. Also, Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (AASQ) which is a 27-item list that is completed by either parents or teachers when screening for Asperger syndrome. Childhood autism rating scale is used to diagnosis autism in children ages two years and older, this is a fifteen-rating scale completed by clinical information from parent report, records, and observing the child. Asperger syndrome diagnostic scale known as the ASDS is used to diagnose ages five through

Some of them are: impaired social interactions, communication and language deficits, repetitive, ritualistic, and unusual behavior patterns, insistence of sameness, cognitive functioning, and unusual responsiveness to sensory stimuli. People with autism often have a hard time with social interaction. “Social communication deficits include impairments in aspects of joint attention and social reciprocity, as well as challenges in the use of verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors for social interaction” (Autism Spectrum). Children have a difficult time feeling connected to the world. They seem lost in the social world we live in. Joint attention is a social skill where two people use interaction within a shared environment. For example, when a child looks where someone else is looking. Also, another characteristic of autism spectrum disorder is being insistence on sameness. Children with autism need same routine and not constant change. They often do the same routine “He may rigidly follow seemingly nonfunctional routines or habits such as a certain route to walk to and from his desk and other classroom locations, drinking only from a particular cup, and unwrapping a candy bar in a tedious and idiosyncratic manner” (Heward