ASD Case Study Summary

Roger Evans is a 5-year-old enrolled in general education kindergarten classes. Roger has been identified as having ASD during a routine check-up at the age of three. Roger’s parents had been unemployed and receiving government aid. Roger’s parents have not been taking advantage of supportive resources. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have not informed the school that Roger has been identified as having ASD. During the first week, Roger’s teacher Ms. Moore observed Roger sporadically sitting by himself during lunch and recess rocking back and forth and hitting himself in the face. Ms. Moore also noticed that Roger was anti-social with his peers. Ms. Moore recorded her observations for two weeks. Roger’s behavior became a daily occurrence. Ms. Moore met with the principal, counselor, special education, and Roger’s parents to discuss her concerns. Roger’s parents admitted that Roger had been identified with ASD and has been fine at home.

Research has found that on average 33% of youths in the juvenile justice system are identified as disabled and eligible for special services. However, there has been little research studying the characteristics or prevalence rates of youth with ASD in the criminal justice system. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly have impairments in communication, social skills, deficits in abstract thoughts and specific interests that could prevent individuals with ASD from understanding legal and illegal behaviors. It is also suspected that the high rates of psychiatric comorbidity associated with ASD, for example ADHD, may increase the risk of delinquency in youth with ASD.

Acute Stress Disorder (also known as ASD) is a trauma or stressor related disorder that is diagnosed in an individual within 2 days to one month after a traumatic event has occurred. This disorder can be a sign for posttraumatic stress disorder (also known as PTSD), but PTSD cannot be claimed in a patient until four weeks after an event has happened.

For many adults diagnosed with ASD, taking the risk of leaving the security of a parent’s or relative’s home is driven by the desire for independence and involvement in community life. In 2011, the Autistic Self Advancement Network (ASAN), Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), and the National Youth Leadership conducted 72 one-on-one interviews to ask persons diagnosed with ASD what they sought in a community. Most interviewees expressed they desired a community that:

Another method that is commonly used as an intervention for students with ASD is the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM). ESDM is an inclusive behavioral intervention for infants to preschool-aged children (Dawson et al., 2009; Vivanti et al., 2014). The learning objectives are based on individual strengths and weaknesses, with a focus on developmental fields that are foundational to social and social-cognitive learning and development (Vivanti et al., 2014). The students with ASD work to enhance their verbal and nonverbal communication, emotion sharing, imitation, joint attention, play, social orienting, and attention (Rogers et al., 2012).

Each year, more than 200,000 people are diagnosed with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the U.S. ASD or Autism can be characterized as a brain development disorder that directly affects the nervous system. As noted on AutismSpeaks.org, ASD can be deemed as an intellectual disability. Symptoms of Autism can include difficulty with communication, difficulty in social interactions, obsessive interests, and repetitive behaviors. The severity of these symptoms vary with all ASD patients. Some patients with ASD thrive in non-interactive subjects such as math, art, and music.

When people hear Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) they think right away about the child. Does anyone think about the parents of these children and the journey they are about to embark on? Did you? My research will focus on the families of these children and how they are affected by raising an ASD child. How does the stress impact a mother and father, physically, emotionally and mentally? Raising a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of the most difficult challenges a family can face. Do these parents have any hope that society can support them, and their ASD child effectively?

When the phrase “sensory processing pattern” is coupled with behavioral responses in autistic disorder, one might agree that the two belong together. Not knowing much about autistic disorder, yet very interested in the topic, I found it fascinating that some sensory processing (SP) difficulties have a high correlation with the behaviors of autism, while other SP difficulties have been found to have little to do with the disorder. This can be seen in the study that was conducted in 2007 which was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The article, The Relationship between Sensory Processing Patterns and Behavioral Responsiveness in Autistic Disorder: a Pilot Study, investigated the correlation between sensory processing patterns and the social, emotional and behavioral receptiveness of autistic children. (Baker, Lane, Angley, & Young, 2007).

Lane, Young, Baker, and Angley (2010) examined sensory processing with 54 children with autism and the connection to sensory processing associated with adaptive behavior. Three distinct sensory processing (SP) subtypes were found as a result such as sensory modulation with taste/smell sensitivity, sensory-based inattentive seeking, and sensory modulation with movement sensitivity. This study was conducted using a questionnaire given to the parents called a Short Sensory profile. This looked at all 7 sensory areas such as tactile, taste/smell, movement and visual/auditory sensitivity, under responsive, auditory filtering, and low energy (Lane, Young, Baker, & Angley, 2010). The Vinland Adaptive behavior scales was used to interview the child's parents in order to assess the child's adaptive behavior skills. The result further provided evidence that children with ASD do experience more differences in SP than their peers. It resulted in high levels of sensory domains in auditory filtering, taste/smell sensitivity and low energy. It also showed a correlation that individuals with sensory modulation with taste/smell sensitivity have significantly greater communication

According to the 2014 estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in 68 children have been identified as having an autism spectrum disorder (ASD); a rate that has been steadily growing over the past 20 years (National Autism Association, 2015). Increases in reported frequencies for ASD are most likely due to a combination of factors including broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness as well as a true increase in the number of people with ASD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Autism it self does not effect life expectancy and, in general, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can expect to live as long as the non-cognitively impaired population (National Autism Association,

Diagnosis is usually determined on behavioural symptom, without making reference aetiology. However, considerable research has been done based on etiological factors. Although not a single cause has been verified, available data suggests that the condition results from different forms of casual factors. This includes genetic, neurobiological and environmental which develops into characteristically behavioural symptoms. It is generally believed that ASD is connected to hereditable genetic differences and possibly mutations, though not all children can be confirmed to having a genetic link or mutation that is obvious to family members.

The sensory integration theory postulates that the deficiencies in learning and behavior on children with autism spectrum disorder are due to brain dysfunctions. Occupational therapy may engage the stabilization of sensory integration to enhance the children sensory experiences that can enable individuals to comprehend response tactics and accustom to sensory inputs and centralize on the primary systems of the body that are sensory stimulators which includes; tactics, vestibular and proprioceptive (Gavalas, Christina, Toron, & Marjorie, n.d., p. 59). In the recent past, occupational therapists have devised weighted

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sensory activity schedule intervention is effective in supporting participation of children with autism and if it increases their task performance in the classroom. There was no specific theoretical foundation for this study, however multiple studies have previously been completed using sensory based interventions using equipment, but have shown mixed results. The design for this study is a non-concurrent AB single system research design, which can be a mixture of quasi-experimental and non-experimental designs. The dependent variable for this study is sensory processing. The independent variable is the phase in the study because each phase sensory activity schedule changes in each phase.

Children with ASDs have many listening and attention deficits. Thirty to fifty percent of individuals diagnosed with ASDs are also diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), a disorder associated with difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behavior (Leitner 1). Children diagnosed with ASDs, especially if they are diagnosed with ADHD too, are often hyperactive and can run without ever tiring (Furneaux 29). To help children with these deficits, variable-speed tape recorders and personal FM listening systems may be used (Stanberry 2-3). Variable-speed (VSC) tape recorders allow a user to listen to pre-recorded text or to capture spoken language and play it back later (Stanberry 5). The user can than speed

The second article I examined was a correlation study entitled “Sensory Integration and Praxis Patterns in Children with Autism” This study was conducted by Susanne Smith Roley, Zoe Mailloux, L. Diane Parham, Roseann C. Schaaf, Christianne Joy Lane, and Sharon Cermak. The objective of the study was to characterize sensory integration (SI) and praxis patterns