Admitting Diagnosis: Autism Spectrum DisorderSam is a 16-year-old young man with ASD and significant cognitive delays. Sam attends a public school special day class that offers frequent instruction in varied settings to foster independence in the community. (more details on the attached pics)Question:1. Describe Autism Spectrum Disorder with a minimum of 300 words that includes: definition, epidemiology, signs and symptoms, treatment and management. Birth and DevelopmentSam was born six weeks premature following his mother's hospitalization for pre-term labor.His birth history was significant for low birth weight (2 lbs., 10 oz.), respiratory distress,intraventricular hemorrhage, and a neonatal hospital stay of six weeks. He began receivingintervention services at 12 months of age to address speech, language, social-emotional, andcognitive delays. To date, evaluations yield developmental age equivalents up to the 24-monthlevel. Since birth, Sam's history is unremarkable for significant medical concerns and he is ingood health. He has passed hearing screenings and wears corrective glasses.Communication Profile at BaselineAt 14 years, Sam spontaneously shared his intentions through nonverbal means, whichincluded facial expressions (e.g., looking toward staff to request a snack), physical gestures(e.g., pulling his teacher's hands to his head to request a head massage), and moreconventional gestures (e.g., pointing to request and a head shake to reject). He also usedunconventional nonverbal signals that included biting his hand to share positive and negativeemotions and pinching to protest. Sam occasionally used a few verbal word approximations(e.g., "no," "yes," "more" and "balloon"), the sign for "help," and picture symbols on a voiceoutput device. However, he typically used these symbols passively; most often in response toa direct verbal prompt from his social partner (e.g., "Do you want more?").InterventionSam's Individualized Education Program objectives shifted from those for passive responses(e.g., responding to questions such as "Where did you go?") to initiating communication usingAAC (e.g., requesting help or other actions, expressing emotions, and making choices ofcoping strategies). Throughout the day, Sam accessed an emotion necklace of laminatedcards. On the front of each card was a graphic symbol representing an emotional state (e.g.,happy, angry, and sad). On the back were symbols representing words Sam could use torequest actions from others (e.g., "high five" for happy). This support fostered symbolic requests for communicative functions that Sam already exhibited spontaneously usingnonverbal means at baseline (e.g., expressing emotion by biting his hand and looking towardstaff).During language art centers, Sam engaged in activities designed to elicit more sophisticatedrequests for preferred actions. Rather than identifying pictures, he could choose a preferredsensory activity, such as a head massage, a back rub, or tickling. Color-coded symbols pairedwith sentence templates allowed Sam to create his own sentences for functions alreadyexhibited spontaneously using nonverbal means at baseline (e.g., requesting comfort bypulling his teacher's hands toward his head).OutcomesSam's first quarterly review occurred around his 15th birthday. Observations and videosrevealed a higher rate of spontaneous bids for communication and the emergence of symbolsto express emotion (e.g., "happy" and "mad"), request coping strategies (e.g., "head squeezes"and "high fives"), and form simple sentence structures (e.g., "Jim squeeze head" and "Karenrub back"). By six months post-intervention, Sam began to take turns, requesting interactionusing subject + verb sentences and then responding to interaction. His teacher might requestthat "Sam rub back" and Sam would oblige. At 12 months post-intervention, Sam continues toexpand his symbolic language skills and recently began to generalize his sentences to includenames of his peers.

Question

Admitting Diagnosis: Autism Spectrum DisorderSam is a 16-year-old young man with ASD and significant cognitive delays. Sam attends a public school special day class that offers frequent instruction in varied settings to foster independence in the community. (more details on the attached pics)Question:1. Describe Autism Spectrum Disorder with a minimum of 300 words that includes: definition, epidemiology, signs and symptoms, treatment and management. Birth and DevelopmentSam was born six weeks premature following his mother's hospitalization for pre-term labor.His birth history was significant for low birth weight (2 lbs., 10 oz.), respiratory distress,intraventricular hemorrhage, and a neonatal hospital stay of six weeks. He began receivingintervention services at 12 months of age to address speech, language, social-emotional, andcognitive delays. To date, evaluations yield developmental age equivalents up to the 24-monthlevel. Since birth, Sam's history is unremarkable for significant medical concerns and he is ingood health. He has passed hearing screenings and wears corrective glasses.Communication Profile at BaselineAt 14 years, Sam spontaneously shared his intentions through nonverbal means, whichincluded facial expressions (e.g., looking toward staff to request a snack), physical gestures(e.g., pulling his teacher's hands to his head to request a head massage), and moreconventional gestures (e.g., pointing to request and a head shake to reject). He also usedunconventional nonverbal signals that included biting his hand to share positive and negativeemotions and pinching to protest. Sam occasionally used a few verbal word approximations(e.g., &#34;no,&#34; &#34;yes,&#34; &#34;more&#34; and &#34;balloon&#34;), the sign for &#34;help,&#34; and picture symbols on a voiceoutput device. However, he typically used these symbols passively; most often in response toa direct verbal prompt from his social partner (e.g., &#34;Do you want more?&#34;).InterventionSam's Individualized Education Program objectives shifted from those for passive responses(e.g., responding to questions such as &#34;Where did you go?&#34;) to initiating communication usingAAC (e.g., requesting help or other actions, expressing emotions, and making choices ofcoping strategies). Throughout the day, Sam accessed an emotion necklace of laminatedcards. On the front of each card was a graphic symbol representing an emotional state (e.g.,happy, angry, and sad). On the back were symbols representing words Sam could use torequest actions from others (e.g., &#34;high five&#34; for happy). This support fostered symbolic requests for communicative functions that Sam already exhibited spontaneously usingnonverbal means at baseline (e.g., expressing emotion by biting his hand and looking towardstaff).During language art centers, Sam engaged in activities designed to elicit more sophisticatedrequests for preferred actions. Rather than identifying pictures, he could choose a preferredsensory activity, such as a head massage, a back rub, or tickling. Color-coded symbols pairedwith sentence templates allowed Sam to create his own sentences for functions alreadyexhibited spontaneously using nonverbal means at baseline (e.g., requesting comfort bypulling his teacher's hands toward his head).OutcomesSam's first quarterly review occurred around his 15th birthday. Observations and videosrevealed a higher rate of spontaneous bids for communication and the emergence of symbolsto express emotion (e.g., &#34;happy&#34; and &#34;mad&#34;), request coping strategies (e.g., &#34;head squeezes&#34;and &#34;high fives&#34;), and form simple sentence structures (e.g., &#34;Jim squeeze head&#34; and &#34;Karenrub back&#34;). By six months post-intervention, Sam began to take turns, requesting interactionusing subject + verb sentences and then responding to interaction. His teacher might requestthat &#34;Sam rub back&#34; and Sam would oblige. At 12 months post-intervention, Sam continues toexpand his symbolic language skills and recently began to generalize his sentences to includenames of his peers.

Accepted Answer

Autism spectrum disorder is a development disability resulted by differences in the brain. It is a…