Lecture 21

Autism: epidemiology, course, etiology, and maintenance

It has increased, about 3% in the last 25 years

How has autism prevalence changed over time?

stable, difficulties

Diagnoses made around 2-3 years old are generally _____ and they experience lifelong _______

regress

Some children lose early developmental milestones and ______, which may be an indicator of ASD

• geometric

• expansion

2 things people look at to determine whether very young children have ASD:

• Toddlers with autism focus on _______ rather than social images

• The rate of cortical surface ______ between 6 and 12 months predicts diagnosis of autism at 24 months

1. Language

2. IQ

What are the 2 strongest predictors of adult outcomes in children with ASD?

A distinct ability for some children with ASD that is above average compared to the population and above the child’s abilities in other domains

What are splinter skills?

• attention

• mind

• play

• behaviours

Children with intellectual disability are different than those with autism because they have:

• No specific deficit in joint _______

• No specific deficit in theory of _______

• No specific deficit in pretend ______

• Social ______ appropriate for their mental age

not

A greater number of vaccines received by children in their first years of life is _______ associated with autism

Exposure to environmental toxins increase the risks of developing ASD

What is the toxin hypothesis regarding the caused of autism?

70%-90% → very high

What is the heritability range for ASD?

complex

ASD is likely to be a _______ genetic disorder

causal

• areas

• mirror, facial

There are differences in brain structure and functioning in children with autism but it’s not clear if _______:

• Differences in the structure of many brain _______

• Differences in function → decreased activation of ______ neurons and altered activation of _____ recognition area

don’t

Vitamins, changes in diet, and secretin are all biomedical treatments that _______ work very well

symptoms, core

Psychotropic medications are used primarily to treat other psychiatric _______ that may be present (ex: anxiety, ADHD, aggression, agitation symptoms…) rather than ______ features of autism

• social

• functioning

• all

Oxytocin as a treatment for ASD:

• It’s implicated in ______ bonding and _____ behaviours

• It improved social ______ in ASD individuals

• However, it didn’t eliminate ______ impairments

• challenges

• independence

Main goals of treatment for children with ASD:

• Minimize core ______

• Maximize ______ and quality of life

• prompt, reinforce

• language

• Intensive, years

• 5

Applied Behaviour Analysis:

• Uses a structured behavioural approach to ______ a behaviour and then positively ______ the desired behaviour

• Reinforces the use of _____

Individual comprehensive ABA:

• _______ interventions consisting of 20 to 40 hours per week for 2 to 3 ______

• Start before ___ years old

communication

Developmental Social Pragmatic Models focus on promoting social _______ and interaction in children with ASD

• classroom

• Combines

• play

Teacher-Implemented, focused ABA + DSP:

• Delivered in a _______ setting

• ______ ABA + DSP techniques

• Results: associated with greater joint engagement in _______ activities with caregivers and teachers

• no, socialization, language

• intellectual, no

Meta-analyses on ABA interventions results:

• There were _____ significant effects for the outcomes of general symptoms of ASD, receptive language, adaptive behavior, daily living skills, IQ, verbal IQ, nonverbal IQ, restricted and repetitive behavior, motor and cognition BUT there were significant effects on _______, communication and expressive ______

• There were medium effects on ______ functioning and adaptive behaviour BUT ______ improvements in language abilities, symptom severity, and parental stress

• harsh

• much

• consulted

Some common complaints of ABA interventions:

• Historical use of _____ punishment

• Dosage of intervention way too _____

• People in the Autism community not being sufficiently _______