Ap Psychology Personal Statement

We are living in a time where a remarkable and advanced medical treatments exist. However, scientists and medical professionals are constantly faced with diseases and disorders that contemporary humanity needs a cure and treatment. Amongst the disorders that affecting our young people today is the autism spectrum disorder. It is a “complex and life long behavioral disorder marked by impairment in social and communicative abilities”(Evans, et al., 2008). People living with autism range from those with high IQ’s to those with intellectual retardadtion.

In a research project monitoring the brain waves of a child observing a task and completing a task, it was found that the two sets of brain waves were almost identical. However, when testing an autistic child, it was found that two different sets of brain waves were created. This research suggests that autistic children have a lower number of mirror neurons, which would help explain their deficiency in social interaction, imitation, and empathy.

“A wealth of new brain research is lifting the veil” on Autism and revealing its effects on a child`s mind (Cray and Wallis 43). Neuroscientist Eric Courchesne at Children`s Hospital of San Diego revealed that “while children with autism are born with ordinary-size brains, they experience a rapid expansion by age two” (Cray and Wallis 45). Much of this growth is due to the excessive amount of white matter, the nerve fibers that link various areas of the brain. The abundance of white matter has doctors convinced that Autism is a problem with the way the brain is wired. Marcel Just, director of Carnegie Mellon`s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wrote that “there is a lack of synchronization” between the different areas of the brain (Cray and Wallis 46). Local areas of the brain, such as the frontal lobes and the amygdala, are over-connected while links between more distant regions, such as the right and left hemispheres, are poorly connected. One area of the

Jason's Introduction: In 1943, a psychiatrist by the name of Leo Kanner discovered a difference in the brains of some children. He called it autism. Hi. I'm Jason South. I’m an 18-year-old cartoonist. You may not be able to tell, but I have high-functioning autism. My parents have always described me as someone who is "in between neurotypical and autistic". Autism is a neurological disorder that often affects the ability to socialize. It also affects the senses. For example, autistic people may lose focus easily, go on and on about a narrow subject of interest, not realizing others may not share the enthusiasm, and not understand that other people have different thoughts. As far as the sensory stuff, certain

Autism spectrum disorder hinders a child’s capability to interact and communicate with others; “ASD is now defined by the American Psychiatric Association 's Diagnosis

For many centuries, countless individuals have had problems with numerous forms of expression, such as communicating effectively, building relationship, or thinking critically. These multiple forms of complications left their loved ones with an unknown reason for their lack of interaction. It wasn’t until recent years that a name was finally given to classify the disorder these individuals possessed—autism. Autism is a mental condition, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts (qtd. in Young). The term first came about in the 1940s, when researchers used it to describe children with emotional or social problems (“History”). Even though the term first appeared in the 1940s, this disorder did not become prominent until recent years. The rise in autism has been steady since it was first exposed to society. Autism prevalence has increased from 1 in 5,000 in 1975 to 1 in 150 in 2002 to 1 in 68 in 2012 (McNamee). In this paper, I am going to examine various reasoning behind the rise in autism, with my main focal point being, “Why has autism become such a major source of attention and debate in recent years?” I plan to deliberate between different theories that have created attention about the autism community, as well as establish my personal viewpoint on this topic.

This guide is an UNOFFICIAL summary of the book, "NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity," by Steve Silberman. It is a supplement to the original book, to make its main ideas easier to understand and put to practice.

Neurodevelopmental Disorders are conditions that become evident in early developmental stages before children are introduced to elementary school (APA, 2013). These disorders have developmental deficiencies that restrict children from “personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning” (APA, 2013, pp. 31). Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder, has been represented as a complex brain abnormality that effects children’s cognitive, behavioral, and social performance (APA, 2013; Sears, 2010). Autism has become a growing global phenomenon affecting children among nations (Currenti, 2010; Sears, 2010). The objective of this paper is to provide a prevailing overview of this neurological disorder that has affected many children by analyzing the prevalence, diagnostic criteria, diagnosable problems and the causes of ASD, and acceptable evidence-based treatment options.

Although there are uniting factors, particularly in the fields of social and behavioral development, there is an even greater diversity in functionality of people with autism. As a result of this, a nonverbal adult and an award-winning scientist may both have received a diagnosis on the autism spectrum (Grandin, 2011, p. 4).

Grinnell College has given me a wonderful opportunity to explore many different subjects I hold interest in. When I enrolled here, I envisioned myself as an English or History major. After dabbling in subjects from Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies to Spanish, I have found that I hold a passionate interest in Psychology. I have always had an interest in mental disorders and diseases, which led me to my Tutorial: Exploring Autism. It was there that I was introduced to my first true whiffs of psychological thought, what we understand of how the mind functions, and what some abnormalities look like. I continue to hold my interest in mental disorders and disabilities, and would thus like to focus on areas of psychology that pertain to it.

I’ve had a personal encounter with a child who has autism. It was hard to socialize with him because he avoided making eye contact with me and he wanted to spend time alone. Since that day, autism has become very intriguing for me & now I can study a topic that interests me. Through this study, I’ve learned how grateful I am for the life I have and although I go through challenges every day, others have it much worse. I’ve also learned that the tiniest problems in the brain can affect your whole personality & the way you interact with others.

A Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, used the term Autistic to describe the thought patterns of some of his schizophrenic patients in 1910. Since then, Autism has become a greatly studied subject over the years for psychologists and neurologists due to its nature of focusing on mainly one skill in the human brain and making it superior to any other and greatly stronger than that of a “normal” child. These children are known as savants, or children with the ability to do rigorous tasks at high speeds and beyond the ability of a “normal” child. One of the most profound mysteries of autism has been the remarkable ability of most autistic people to excel at visible spatial skills while performing so poorly at verbal skills (Grandin, 2006). In

Schumann, Elizabeth Redcay, Joseph A. Buckwalter, Daniel P. Kennedy, John Morgan( Maping Early Brain Development in Autism)

Today we compared two people who were autistic one is a character named Chris and one is a real person named Carly she also has autism. But I know that Chris has aspergers and we don’t know what type of autism Carly has. Carly can communicate but she can not use her voice to talk. Carly communicated with channing tatum on a device and in the book Chris talked to Sioban with his voice. Another difference between these two autistic people is that there is only two settings for carly a coffee shop and a interview place. While Chris has a special education school setting. A similarity would be that in public place they both get overwhelmed by senses. The Last connection seen was that both Carly and Chris have a literal aspect to their brains because

I loved my career as a Pre-K teacher and connected with many of my “naughty” kids. This ignited my curiosity in special education specifically neurological disabilities. When I finally realized my passion, I enrolled at Texas State University and began to work towards receiving my BA in psychology with a minor in special education. I had finally discovered my interest in research. I filled my schedule with advanced statistics, cognitive, and research classes. I received research training with Dr. Katherine Rice Warnell in the Social Cognition Across Development Lab investigating the links between social cognition and autism. While working in the lab with Dr. Warren, I developed analytical and observational skills and discovered my desire to understand the effects of neurological issues in development. As I began to investigate graduate school programs; I found Dr. Noah Sasson’s research on comparing social cognitive dysfunction in autism and schizophrenia. Which combines my interest in neurological disorders and the cognitive