Facial Processing Impairment Analysis

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

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 May 2010, it was reported statistically that somewhere between 3.9% and 5.8% of men, and 0.5% and 1.9% of women suffer from ASPD in the US general population (Black, Gunter, Loveless, Allen, & Sieleni, 2010). The numbers are evident in multiple studies that men suffer from this disorder more so

There is little research to examine experiences and needs of individuals with ASD, or proper and effective support systems such as educational and family support needed for young adults making this transition. Most information that is provided on this topic is based on professional’s experience and knowledge. It is essential more research is provided to develop programs to help individuals transition from secondary education to higher

ASD is rather an umbrella terminology, used to describe varying behaviours, which affect the way some groups of people process and act in response to their surrounding stimuli (FP; 2012). As a ‘spectrum’ of disorders, this includes autism, Asperger’s syndrome

Studies has shown that as an individual diagnosed with ASD grows they have an significantly increased risk of developing medical and psychiatric disorders which is contributed from the biological make-up of the individual (perkins et al, 2012) including dyslipidaemia gastrointestinal problem epilepsy hearing and visual impairments asthma hypertension heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. and autoimmune conditions throughout a varied age group (Croen et al, 2014).

Not everything that I’ve discovered about ASD is for all children. Because each child is his or her own person, every child is different and every child is special in his or her own way. There’s a saying, “If you see one child with ASD, then you’ve seen only one child with ASD. Meaning, every ASD child is different from that of any other child with ASD even with different situations. So everything explained here are just the basics should help you assess your approach.

This essay will talk about face recognition and several reasons why it has been studied separately. The ability to recognise faces is of huge significance of people’s daily life and differs in important ways from other forms of object recognition (Bruce and Young, 1986). Than this essay will talk about the processes involved in face recognition which comes from the diversity of research about familiar and unfamiliar faces-it includes behavioural studies, studies on brain-damaged patients, and neuroimaging studies. Finally, it will discuss how face recognition differs from the recognition of other object by involving more holistic or configuration processing and different areas of the brain (Eysenck & Keane, 2005).

One of the issues in the search for an ASD biomarker is the heterogeneity of the condition. ASD contains a broad spectrum with individuals diagnosed located anywhere from low to high functioning. Additionally, the position that individual is placed on the spectrum is not static and an individual may move within the spectrum throughout their life. Furthermore, ASD is often described by the negative attributes of the condition such as social impairments and stereotypically behaviors instead of some of the more positive attributes such as incessant interests, attention to detail, unusual memory, and ability to identify patterns. The research into ASD has brought to light a debate regarding whether it is a difference or a disability. Research

In order for an individual to be diagnosed with Autism, the individual must have qualifications stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (Kim, Fombonne, Koh, Kim, Cheon, & Leventhal, 2014). These qualifications that are included in the DSM-IV are symptoms of qualitative impairment in social interaction and communication, restricted repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behaviors, interests, activities, and delays in functioning (Kim, Y. S., Fombonne, tell. 2014). Researchers have found that structural differences, such as size and composition, can have a significant impact on how the autistic brain processes information. Therefore, there is a variation between what researchers describe as a "normal person" and one who is diagnosed with Autism. Structural differences cause children who have autism, would have impaired social interaction and difficulty with communication, both verbal and nonverbal. During the early stages of Autism,

Over the course of the entire study, of the 300 participants, 10 participants including their parents are expected to drop out. In compiling a profile of the participants and parents, I expect to observe a random distribution of gender, SES, IQ, race, and severity of ASD symptoms in the treatment and control groups. I hypothesize to see a positive statistically significant correlation found between the severity of ASD symptoms as also confirmed in the Mannion and Leader (2013) article.

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,

While there are many difficulties imposed by ASD, it does not appear that ASD has the power to take away one’s ability to learn. During the aforementioned 2003 study of symptom severity in autism, a group of adolescents (age 10-21, mean age = 15.61) was compared to a cohort of adults (age 22 and older, mean age = 31.57), it was observed that symptoms seem to improve overtime. The study attempted to compare childhood symptoms to current symptoms. The results indicated that there was differential improvement; there was a pattern of symptoms suggesting and improved use of language, ability to communicate nonverbally, and reduced stereotyped, repetitive, or idiosyncratic speech over time

This issue is sometimes referred to as the “broader” ASD phenotype (Regehr and Feldman, 237-238).

Constant variables. One constant variable that was mentioned by the authors was that both participants are preschool-aged students diagnosed ASD. Their age did not change throughout the course of the study; however, the severity of the participant’s ASD was not identified in this article. The