Autism Prevalence, Research And The Historical Viewpoint

Gillian Stanley and Mary Konstantareas (2006) researched children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. The files they observed were of 131 children who were diagnosed with Autism. 1992. However, 29 files were excluded due to testing complications. The writers state that the gender ratio was also 1 girl for every 6 boys, or 15 girls and 86 boys. The study took place between March, 1982 and January. The participants ranged from 24 to 216 months of age (Stanley & Konstantarea 2006).

Autism spectrum disorders are a class of developmental disorders that impair social skills, behavior, and communication (Center for Disease Control). ASDs are considered ‘spectrum’ disorders because each patient has a unique experience in the nature and severity of their symptoms (Center for Disease Control). Under the umbrella of ASDs, there are three types of disorders, including Autistic disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (Center for Disease Control). Autistic disorder is the most severe of the three, and patients exhibit significant problems with language, communication, and behavior (Center for Disease Control). Furthermore, people with Autistic disorder often have some intellectual impairment (Center for Disease Control). Asperger Syndrome is a milder form of autistic disorder where patients have some developmental delays, but their language and intellect are not affected (Center for Disease Control). The mildest of the ASDs is the pervasive developmental disorder. These patients usually don’t meet all of the criteria for autistic disorder, but do show some signs of social and communication problems (Center for Disease Control). The number of children diagnosed with ASD is growing, and currently 1 in 88 children fall somewhere on the spectrum (Mari-Bauset et al., 2013). Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism, and while the exact cause of these disorders is unknown, both genetic and

Females with ASD are significantly more vulnerable than their male counterparts to “delayed or missed diagnosis”, leaving them untreated and at significant risk for adverse psychosocial and medical outcomes (Lai, 2015). Second, understanding the etiology of the gender discrepancies in presentation of ASD will deepen our understanding of the disease from a nosological perspective and possibly lead to new and novel hypotheses about the conceptualization and treatment avenues of ASD. Specific Aims: To examine existing literature for genotypic and phenotypic differences between males and females diagnosed with ASD. While prior meta-analyses have examined the differences between males and females with ASD in the “core triad of impairments”, none have examined genetic variations as well as symptomatology (Van Wjingaarden-Cremers et al. 2014). As our nosological framework is limited in our understanding of gender’s effect on autism, examining both phenotypic and genotypic data such as neuroimaging (brain MRIs), and genetic analyses, could further our understanding. On examination of brain MRI, genetic mutation burden, and symptomatic impairments validated using various outcome measures such as the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence - Second Edition, Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition and the Child Behavior Checklist, females with

The history of autism dates back to about one hundred years ago, the word autism was by Eugene bleuler in 1908 to describe a group of people similar to schizophrenia. Later in the 1940s the united states began to use it to describe a group of children with emotional and social problems. Autism and schizophrenia were regarded in the same context, till 1960 when medical professionals began to separate their understanding of autistic children. For a very long time autism and psychosis continued to be confused and till this day many parents find a hard time understanding the real meaning of autism and till this day researchers still haven’t found the cause of autism. Autism is a complexed

The differences between males and females with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) is a topic that has recently become more prevalent. In order to better diagnose, treat, and educate females with ASDs it is vital to understand the differences between the sexes. The dissimilarities between females and males with ASDs range from subtle variances to more obvious. According to Fornbonne (1999,2001), “boys are diagnosed with autism at a 4:1 ratio compared to girls.” Therefore, it is easy to understand why there is much more known about the diagnoses, treatment, and education that a male with autism receives and benefits from. Females with ASDs tend to fly under the radar since they exhibit different symptoms than males. They tend to be underdiagnosed and take longer to receive a diagnoses due to their lack of outward communication and behavior deficits. Parents and professionals have begun to question the 4:1 ratio for boys to girls with autism and wonder if the research studies that include more boys than girls and only take the symptoms of boys with ASDs into consideration may be hindering the ability to identify and treat girls with ASDs earlier. This research paper will explore what is currently known about females with autism, the differences between males and females with autism, the treatment and interventions that girls with autism benefit from,

When working at my internship, there were only 10 girls out of 55 students there with ASD. “ASD is four times more common in males than in females” (Chahrour, 2016). It has been hard to show and understand why it is more common in males than females but there have been quite a few studies based upon this (Chahrour, 2016). “Approximately 80% of the children diagnosed are boys” with ASD (Schaafsma, 2016). One theory that has been considered was how “females tend to display more compensatory behavioral changes, which could lead to underdiagnoses” (Chahrour, 2016). There has also been a “three-hit” theory that has been investigated when talking about how males are more predominating to have ASD (Schaafsma, 2016). This three-hit factor includes genetics, environmental factors, and sex (Schaafsma, 2016). This has been considered to help explain why there is the male predominance and why there are not as many females diagnosed with ASD (Schaafsma,

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental and neurological condition that affects individuals in the areas of social communication and social interaction, and it is also characterized by the presence of repetitive behaviors and language difficulties. Other characteristics include delays in reasoning and self help skills (Smith, 2011) p. 1037). Individuals with ASD vary widely in level of intelligence and may also exhibit other co-existing conditions such as intellectual disability, depression, and phobias (Nozomi, 2009). The disorder begins in early childhood, but is usually not diagnosed prior to the age of two to five years old or when a child enters school. In 2013, the Center for Disease Control reported that there was a major

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a hereditary neurodevelopmental disorder. Like many other psychological disorders, it is commonly misunderstood in popular culture. Many allude to it casually, often equating it with crippling social awkwardness and disability when it is in fact a spectrum disorder with many degrees of severity. It is somewhat of an enigma within the scientific community as well; there are many things we do not know about ASD and there is ongoing research to learn more about the disorder. The purpose of this paper is to explain what is currently known about ASD: general facts, symptoms, prognosis, treatment, and demographics.

Greimel, Schulte-Rüther, Kamp-Becker, Remschmidt., Herpertz-Dahlmann, and Konrad (2014) hypothesized that this facial processing impairment described in ASD children did not improve naturally over time as is seen with typically developing children. Similarly, if this impairment is due to a developmental mechanism where would the average high functioning autistic individual fall on a typically developing individual scale? This objective would be achieved by comparing ASD and TD children and adults. The samples included high functioning Autistic males (n=38) ages thirteen to forty-nine and typically developing males (n=37) ages four to forty-nine. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine adults as well as children. The typically developing group included younger individuals purposefully to compare young

In recent years, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased greatly (Nevison 2014). For example, in 2000 the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network estimated about 1 in 150 children had ASD. Six years later in 2006, the prevalence increased to about 1 in every 110 children and then most recently in 2012 to 1 in 68 children. According to the CDC (2008) autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability. With the growing prevalence of autism, the society has been impacted in several ways. For example, the its prevalence has allowed for increases in advocacy, data collection and overall greater acceptance and understanding for autism spectrum disorder.

When you hear about Autism you generally think of children; however, the children with Autism grow up. Most people with Autism are adults. Autism research from 1998 shows that adults are: underrepresented in autism research and studies into old age are extremely needed. Most of the Autism adults lack services or even diagnosis. People with Autism are prone to anxiety and depression. The young adults are vulnerable when leaving high school especially in low income families, previous gained skills and their behavior slowed down or plateaued. Some good news emerged from Mailick’s study: Autistic symptoms: Impaired verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction decreased over time among one-third to half of the study participants. They stayed stable in many others. Independent living skills remained stable. The adult autistic women showed a decline in vocationally occupied hours

The Autism society was founded in 1965 with the help of Bernard Rimland. He has been helping the society grow slowly. It has expanded greatly over the years. Denixa Ruiz has been working as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) for 18 years. With this job she is gaining a background of caring with others. Upon finding out her son having autism she wanted to find out more so she started work at Autism Society. Through the Autism Society she hoped she could help other people struggling with autism, like her son. She started working at Autism Society about three years ago and it has been fulfilling, but it doesn’t come without its hardships. The job is very grueling both physically and emotionally. Seeing her clients in pain was taxing and it made

While the global burden of autism is currently unknown, in the United States and in the UK, the annual societal cost of the condition exceeds several billions (Ganz, 2007; Knapp, Romeo and Beecham, 2007).

In 1943 a child psychiatrist named Leo Kanner wrote about a group of children who were apathetic to their family members and made odd and repetitive movements. A year later, Hans Asperger observed similar behavior in another group of children, also noting a lack of understanding of social conventions (Lai, 2014). These two observations would be the beginning of a disorder known as the Autism Spectrum Disorder. This developmental disorder, characterized by a range of deficits in different areas, is increasingly prevalent in society and in the media. While the exact numbers vary from country to country, according to Lai (2014), 1% of the general population is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The range of this disorder has a detrimental effect on society, specifically the educational system due to specialized care needed for children with the disorder. Prior to being known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder could be broken down into Asperger’s disorder, autism and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified; The DSM-5 combined these diagnoses. Autism Spectrum Disorder belongs to a group of disorders known as pervasive developmental disorders.

In 1943, Leo Kanner, an Australian-American psychiatrist, was the first to coin the term “infantile autism” based on observations made in a study. Kanner observed 11 children with communication problems and repetitive behaviors, such as rocking, sucking, and lack of social interactions. The cause of Autism is still unknown to researchers, although researchers believe that genes and environment formulate a big contribution to the cause.