ASD Diagnosis

Having a child given a diagnosis of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a very stressful event for parents. It is imperative to understand that there is much that can be done for both parent and the child. From the current literature we know that parents of children diagnosed with autism worry about many things like lifetime dependency to family dissonance. We know that these parents are distressed and angry, the parents of children with more unusual behaviors feel a lot more stressed than the parents of children with fewer unusual behaviors. However, having a strategy to approach it correctly and to get the best possible help for your child is probably the most important step, one can take to relieve stress and to aid the child’s development.

Specific data in regards to the individual’s social development and behaviour is collected. Inquiries about core ASD symptoms including, unusual, or repetitive behaviours and social relatedness are done, the family’s input is important.

In my personal story, I reviewed my own experience of being a parent to a child with an ASD diagnosis. As it was demonstrated both from the literature review and though my personal story, it is clear that facing an ASD diagnosis is a big crisis. Part of the crisis relates to the stigma of ASD. Parents face judgment and resentments toward their children from the general public as well as judgment on their parenting style. This judgment comes as a result of the typical appearance of most children with

The goal of this review was to examine ASD and how it has impacted families. The literature was consistent in its findings, which stated that, Autism is a complex disorder that is diagnosed in childhood and has a wide range of symptoms. Many of the studies showed that children with ASD have the same symptoms such as hyperactivity, anxiety and self-injurious or aggressive behavior. The initial autism diagnosis leaves parents and siblings confused and they may have a hard time accepting that the child/sibling they were anticipating is not the child/sibling they expected. This transformation in their family can impact the relationship in the family, as feelings of fear and worry overwhelm the family system. ASD impacts parents and siblings as it changes the dynamics of the family. It is significant for families to find coping mechanisms that work for them as they

Parents utilize a lot of time, energy, and finances into pursuing a diagnosis, working with school professionals, and receiving mental health services. Parents and siblings are also affected by the emotional and behavioral needs of the child with AS, such as an AS child needing more attention and support services than their siblings do. “Children with AS lack natural empathy, which interferes with the ability to be sensitive to the needs of others” (Polirstok & Houghteling, 2006, para 5), affecting family relationships. An AS child tends to withdrawal from social situations and from their own family, which tends to result in an Aspie perceiving oneself as a social failure leading to other mental health disorders, such as depression. Some parents feel isolated by their child’s difficulties and a diagnosis provided support systems, such as an Asperger parent support group. One research participant in the Calzada study stated, “Sometimes I mix with mothers of children with the same diagnosis and their children are in special schools but they’ve got the same label. I find that hard to understand. I look at their child and think they’re nothing like my child; I can’t see any similarities but they’ve got the same diagnosis.” (2006, para. 44). A lack of universality for parents seems to be a negative effect of removing the Asperger diagnosis from the DSM-5, resulting in feeling isolated and unsupported as a

Interviewing the parent of a child diagnosed with learning disability can be intimidating. It is difficult to gauge how much a parent wants to reveal about their child. Also, it is not unusual to discover that one parent is at a different place of acceptance than the other parent. Each family member’s journey is different; for example, it is not rare for a father to work out the emotional difficulty of a special needs diagnosis differently than a mother.

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.

Several experts came to a conclusion that a diagnosis of a nonexistent person is possible. Further, in an attempt to diagnose a person from the past, whom they had never met or even assess, using the biblical account and “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM.) was likely to be an accurate diagnoses. Eric Lewin Altschuler et al. contemplate the idea that Samson, from the Bible, had a Personality Disorder known in modern times as (ASPD). In their study, they concluded that according to the “DSM-IV” the minimum criteria for an individual to be diagnosed with ASPD are three, to which Samson meets six of the decisive factors. With the Bible in one hand and the DSM-IV on the other they stated, first,

2013). The correlation between anxiety disorder among parents and symptoms of anxiety in their children with ASD has only recently begun to be associated with one another. There is indications that parents of children with ASD are more likely to have mood disorders, including anxiety disorders, when compared to people that don't have ASD. Studies have also found that anxiety symptoms among parents typically predates birth of the child with ASD, suggesting that higher rates of anxiety problems in parents are not due, at least not entirely, to the increased stress of raising a child with ASD (Conner, C., Maddox, B., & White, S.

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.

Olson (2013) indicated that Latinos and Chinese families/parents hold certain cosmological beliefs in their respective cultures. For instance, Latinos believe that nothing can be done to alter the status of autism in their family members while the Chinese hold the belief that children with ASD could naturally outgrow its presence in their lives. In the case of African American families, Julien (2013) stated that the urge and urgency to seek clinical and therapeutic services is very low because of their belief that caring for a child with ASD is a family responsibility and also believe that society frowns at ASD and individuals are face with persistent stigmatization. African American belief systems also make some of the parents of children with ASD to seek for solutions from churches, spiritual leaders, trusted friends and family members instead of try to access conventional treatments. A parent’s beliefs, interpretation of situations, emotional and psychological processes shapes his/her mental reasoning and this network of thoughts affects parental choice of treatment for their ASD

This approach provides a label for people with disability, these labels may be helpful to medical professionals but can cause social stigma. Historically, the term autism has been stigmatized as an abnormal medical condition that is regarded as a deficit that needs to be ‘fixed’.

Research has shown that parents of children with ASD are more likely to be blamed for the condition. Siblings are the least likely to be blamed for the condition and have a lower amount of stigmatization aimed towards them. It has been found that a majority of mothers but only a minority of fathers encounter the stigmatizing behaviours. This is most likely due to the fact that mothers are often with their children more out of the day so will hear more of the stigmatization. In an Australian study investigating felt and enacted stigma among parents of children with ASD, it was found that most commonly parents imagined that others were critical of their child-raising abilities, not accepting of them and made them feel embarrassed (Gray, 2002). These stigmatizing behaviours were most commonly found to be displayed when in public such as at the supermarket or shops. Due to the fact that more commonly it is the mother that must do these duties the mothers are being stigmatized more. It has also been found that parents of those affected are more likely to be classed as less competent by others than the siblings of those affected are. In a study done in Belgrade it was found that highly significant positive correlations were present between the constructs of responsibility for the condition, blame for deterioration of the condition, shame, competence and avoidance (Milacic-Vidojevic,

1. As a “spectrum” disorder, ASD doesn’t consist of just autism, but rather the conditions of delayed developments, such as the Asperger’s syndrome and autistic disorder.

A pilot study by McLeod (1999) over three years, with a sample of eight adults, using case studies and both qualitative and quantitative methods of research (including questionnaires, interviews and follow-up) described parents of individuals on the Autism spectrum, as ‘the