A Research Topic On Autism Spectrum Disorder Essay

Autism is a form of neurodevelopment disorder in the autism spectrum disorders. It is characterized by impaired development in social interactions and communication, both verbal and non-verbal. There is an observed lack of spontaneous acts of communication; both receptive and expressed, as well as speech impairments. A person diagnosed with Autism will also show a limited range of activities and interests, as well as forming and maintain peer relationships. The individuals will display limited interests, which are often very focused and repetitive. He or she is likely to be very routine oriented and may show behavioral symptoms such as hyperactivity, impulsivity, aggressiveness, and self-injurious behaviors.

In the article Autism Society, Studies shown that autism caused by having a surplus of synapses, connections between brain cells. The surplus slowdown in the normal pruning process that occurs during childhood and adolescence brain development. In many families, there are patterns of autism or related disabilities that have a genetic basis. Children who have autism may have inherited, although researchers don’t know the direct cause of autism, they’re still investigating many numbers of theories, including the links among heredity, genetics and medical problems.

While there are many theories there is no single cause of autism. One theory assumes multiple factors interacting in complex ways (i.e. genes, environment and brain) can cause autism. Genetics play a role but do not explain the full picture or the recent increase in reported cases. According to Volkmar and Weisner (2009), "Identical twins have identical genes, while fraternal twins share only some genes. The implication of this finding was that there was potentially a very strong genetic contribution in autism. A number of studies have shown that this is the case. " (p. 26). There are medical conditions associated with autism which include, phenylketonuria, congenital rubella, tuberous sclerosis, and Fragile X. The strongest associations are with Fragile X, a genetic condition causing intellectual disability and tuberous sclerosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the brain, eyes, heart. There is no strong evidence that environmental etologies cause autism. Some researchers assume that environmental toxins can increase the rate of autism, but evidence proposed for environmental factors is based on a case by case report which is difficult to interpret (Volkmar & Weisner,

The term autism spectrum disorders derive various definitions depending on the type of professional is questioned. A medical definition of autism spectrum disorders provided by the Mayo Clinic in 2014 states, “an autism spectrum disorder is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder that impairs a child 's ability to communicate and interact with others. It also includes restricted repetitive behaviors, interests and activities. These issues cause significant impairment in social, occupational and other areas of functioning.” This is not the definition that will be referenced in this paper. The definition that is applicable to this paper is the educational definition, mandated by federal law to be used in public schools. The educational definition of autism spectrum disorders according to the book Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education by Hallahan, Kauffman, and Pullen is “a disability wherein symptom fall on a continuum from relatively mild to severe; DSM-5 divides them into two general domains: ‘social communication impairment’ and ‘repetitive restricted behaviors.’” A

In a study of 44 sets of twins, there was a high concordance rate of autism and other disorders on the ASD spectrum for monozygotic twins (92%)5. This suggests that the genetic similarity between MZ twins influences their risk of expressing Autism. Dizygotic twins however, had a much lower concordance5, supporting the hypothesis that there is a correlation between genetic similarity and Autism risk. According to the study, complications during pregnancy are not likely to be the cause of autism, but simply happen more often in twin pregnancies5. The association of severe brain damage in pregnancy and Autism has not been found in singletons5. In 29 cases of twins discordant for Autism, biological hazards associated with brain damage usually affected the autistic twin. This

Autism Spectrum Disorder is defined as a group of complex disorders of the brain. The autism spectrum contains many other disorders within itself, and each of them have different symptoms. These disorders include autistic disorder, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, and Asperger syndrome (Frequently Asked Questions, 2015). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that around 1 in 68 American children are on the spectrum, with the statistics in other countries being even higher. This number has increased in the last 40 years and could partly be because of the improved diagnosis and awareness, all because

Within the last twenty years, the amount of empirical research regarding the possible cause(s) and risk factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has increased (Lai et al., 2014). According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ASD is currently identified in approximately 1 out of 68 children living in the United States, compared to 1 in 10,000 children in 1980 (Baio, 2014). The rise in ASD prevalence highlights the need to continue research into etiology, risk factors, and effective treatments. Purpose: This paper is a critical review of current scientific studies that have focused on the ASD population about etiology of the disorder, susceptibility, and prevalence. Theories and factors that appear to influence or predict ASD outcome are reviewed. Method: Twenty-two research articles published between January 1, 2009, and November 1, 2014, in scientific, peer-reviewed journals were retrieved from the following electronic databases: ProQuest, CINAHL Complete, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The articles were evaluated for risk of bias. Results: Recent findings suggest autism is a disorder caused by interplay of multiple genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors.

There are many environmental factors that can contribute to Autism during the prenatal development. Although many can be avoided, some factors are non-avoidable. Assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at McMaster University, Stelios Georgiades (n.d.) states that “Because autism runs in families, researchers saw autism as almost entirely genetic. The old thinking was that heritability accounted for up to 90 percent of all cases. A comprehensive study of twins with autism showed that environmental factors also play an important role in driving autism recurrence in families. By environment, researchers mean anything non-genetic. This study highlighted the reality that even though autism runs in families, we can’t assume that it’s entirely inherited”.

Autism is a neurological disorder with many forms and severities, better known as autism spectrum disorder, that begins early in childhood and lasts throughout the individual’s life. Autism spectrum disorder is defined as developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges (CDC). Previously, autism was recognized in distinct groups and types. Now, autism is referred to as a spectrum because there is an overlap among all the different forms of autism and a wide variation in symptoms. Autism is a very common disorder, and is more common among boys than girls. Autism spectrum disorder affects one out of every sixty-eight children in the United States (NIMH).

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopment disorder that affects people as young as infancy that can become more evident throughout their childhood. The word Spectrum refers to a wide range of disorders that are closely related through similar symptoms, as it will be explained later in this paper. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders also known as the DSM-5 diagnostic manual, updated the types of disorders listed as: Autistic Disorder, Rett 's Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder also known as PDD-NOS. These types of Autistic disorders have affected over 3 million individuals in the U.S and

Autism is a brain development disorder that a child is usually born with. The disorder was first described in 1943 (Goldman, 2003, p.852). It is know to affect about 1 in 1000 people in the U.S and is more common in males than in females (Goldman, 2003, p.852). The symptoms are very widely ranged. In general, there is failure to develop language and communication skills, unable to form normal social relation ships, and a need to follow a routine.

The causes of autism are somewhat a mystery. Many blame genetics and environmental causes. Researchers of autism reason that it is so hard to define the cause because it is not a single disorder, but a spectrum of disorders. “Genetic factors are the most significant cause for autism spectrum disorders. Early studies of twins found the average concordance for identical twins to be 70% and estimated heritability to be over 90%, in other words, that genetics explains over 90% of whether a child will develop autism. Many of the non-autistic co-twins had learning or social disabilities. For adult siblings the risk for having one or more features of the broader autism phenotype might be as high as 30%.”

In 10% of children with autism are also identified as having Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis or other genetic and chromosomal disorders. Almost half (46%) of children identified with ASD has average to above average intellectual ability. There are a lot of risk factors with ASD, for example, studies show that if one of the identical twins has autism, there is a 36-95% higher chance of the other twin receiving the same disorder. However, if they’re not identical twins, 0-31% chance of the other being affected. Parents who have a child with ASD have a 2%–18% chance of having a second child who is also affected. Giving birth and the age of the mother is very important, in children with mothers who are much older, those who were born prematurely or with low birth weight have higher chance of ASD. Lastly, Autism spectrum disorder generally co-occurs with other developmental, psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal, and genetic diagnoses. The co-occurrence of one or more non-ASD developmental diagnoses is 83%. The co-occurrence of one or more psychiatric diagnoses is

Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the United States. As such, the medical community has a clear interest in learning about the nuances and subtleties that characterize ASD. Learning about the myriad causes and influences that characterize ASD is helpful. In elucidating the things that tend to underlie ASD, it is hoped that more can be learned about the disorders that fill the spectrum.

In the United States, out of the 4 million children that are born every year. Autism affects every 1 in 88 children, which is 1.13% (The Centers for Disease Control Prevention). According to Goldnas (2012), “boys make up eighty percent of autistic children and fifty percent of all are alleged to be mentally retarded” (Goldbas, p. 63, 2012). In the United States, autism is now to be considered an epidemic. There have been to many parts of the world that autism spectrum disorder has been increasing. Because of the increasing number of cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD research has been done to try and figure out what are the causes of autism. There is little information known about the environmental factors as to what really causes Autism. Although, there has been research that has shown that autism can be hereditary. Many of the cases of autism have been attributed to environmental exposures.