Autism Notes

30MC and T/F and 2 essay questions

Part 1: What is Autism?
Chapter 1- Historical Background
Chapter 2- Current Concept and Definition
Chapter 3- The fuller picture: Shared Characteristics
Chapter 4- The Fuller picture: Sources of Diversity
Chapter 5- Facts and Figures: Epidemiology and Lifespan Development
Part 2: What causes Autism?
Chapter 6- A framework for explaining Autism
Chapter 7- Root Causes
Chapter 8- Brain Bases

Ch. 1: Historical Background

 Kanner: Early infantile Autism
o Lack of affective (emotional) contact with others
o Résistance to change in routine
o Manipulation objects but not for right functions.
o Muteness or language abnormalities
o Superior rote memory and visual spatial skills
 Asperger: Childhood Autistic Psychopathology
o Impairment in social interaction (odd inappropriate behaviours
o Narrow interest
o Repetitive routine
o Good grammar and vocabulary but inappropriate speech
o Limited or inappropriate non-verbal communication
o Motor clumsiness
o Mischievous behaviours
 Neurosis
o Autism was concluded to be a form of neurosis caused by disturbed mother-child
relationships.
o “Refrigerator mother”? Mothers were blamed for the child’s cold behaviour.
o Disturbance in Early mother-child relationship can be traced back to the autistic infant
off and unrewarding behaviour rather than the mother’s coldness.
 Psychosis
o Autism was conceived as a psychotic condition with a physical, brain-related cause
o It was thought that it was an early manifestation of schizophrenia (diagnosed with
either childhood schizophrenia or childhood psychosis).
 Creak’s Nine Point
o Diagnosis criteria for childhood schizophrenia
o Look at the 9 criterions
o Point 8 “speech absent or underdeveloped” will not be accepted as a descriptive of
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
  DSM Definitions
o DSM 3 (1980)
o DSM 3-R (1987)
o DSM 4 (1994)
o DSM 4-TR (2000)

ANSWERS
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