Autism spectrum

The autism spectrum or autistic spectrum a range of condition classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder in the fifth revision of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5). Autism spectrum is characterized by social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviors and interests, and in some cases, cognitive delays.

History

1911 to 1933

In this time period, we see the first mentions and beginning development of what we now know as autism spectrum disorder, while it was still considered a symptom instead of a disorder. The first mentions of autism can be found under the classification of schizophrenia symptoms by German psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. He believed that "autistic thinking" was simply the infantile desire to be in your own world.

1933 to 1993

In the 1930s and 1940s, Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner described two similar conditions, later termed infantile autism and Asperger syndrome. Hans Aspergers did his experiments in Nazi Germany to find who would be fit to work, which supports our current belief that autism is a spectrum, while Leo Kanner speculated that the condition he had described might be distinct from schizophrenia, while still adhering to the preconceived belief that autism is a condition of being childish, considering it a developmental disability. In the following decades, research into what would become known as autism accelerated. Formally, however, autistic children continued to be diagnosed under various terms related to schizophrenia in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD), but by the early 1970s, it had become more widely recognized that autism and schizophrenia were in fact distinct mental disorders, and in 1980, this was formalized for the first time with new diagnostic categories in the DSM-III. Asperger syndrome was introduced to the DSM as a formal diagnosis in 1994. Around the same time, people started looking into treatments.

1993 to Now

After the creation of the DSM-5, all conditions previously classified as a pervasive developmental disorder were merged into one: autism spectrum.

Symptoms

Autism is characterized by repetitive and restrictive behaviors, and social communication deficits.

Repetitive and restrictive behaviors

These refer to stereotypical movements such as hand flapping, fidgeting, or echolalia (repeating words), restrictive and intense interests such as a fixation on specific objects, works of fiction or topics, resistance to change, and either hyper- or hypo- sensory sensitivity.

Social communication deficits

Issues understanding non-verbal cues, starting a conversation and continuing a relationship.

Resources

• Asperger syndrome
• Dealing with outbursts
• Educational needs of people on the autistic spectrum
• Mirror Neurons and Autism
• Online resources
• A few impertinent questions (Memoirs of a mother of an autistic boy).
• ASD Resources Evaluation Project based on Country (this is an experimental resource to examine what help can be given in Australia for autistic adults, autistic children, their parents and to evaluate these resources)
• https://autisticadvocacy.org/

References

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