Autism: Always Unique Totally Intelligent Sometimes Mysterious What is ASD? How do you diagnose ASD?

1. S’eclairer Psychiatry
www.seclairer.com
Tel: 724-468-3999
AUTISM: Always Unique Totally Intelligent Sometimes Mysterious
What is ASD?
ASD is a new term used in the
DSM-V to encompass what was
previously 4 different
disorders:
1. Autistic disorder
2. Asperger’s disorder
3. Childhood disintegrative
disorder
4. Pervasive development
disorder not otherwise
specified (PDD-NOS)
ASD is a type of neuro-
developmental disorder, which
are characterized by a delay in
the development of basic skills
and achievement of milestones.
How do you
diagnose ASD?
Diagnostic criteria for ASD
according to the DSM-V:
 Persistent deficits in
social communication
and social interaction
 Restricted, repetitive
patterns of behavior,
interests, or activities
 Symptoms must be
present in the early
developmental period
 Symptoms cause
clinically significant
impairment in
functioning
 Disturbances are not
better explained by
intellectual disability
Specifiers are being used to
differentiate where a patient
lies on the ASD “spectrum”:
 With or without assoc.
intellectual impairment
 With or without assoc.
language impairment
 Assoc. with a medical or
genetic condition or
environmental factor
 Assoc. with another
neurodevelopmental,
mental, or behavioral
disorder
 With catatonia
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Prevalence: 1% of the
world pop. has been
diagnosed with ASD
1:88 children
5x more common in
male children

2. What else can
present like ASD?
 Rett Syndrome
 Selective mutism
 Language disorders and
social communication
disorder
 Intellectual disability
 Stereotypic movement
disorder
 Attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD)
 Schizophrenia
How is ASD
treated?
 Autism cannot be cured
 Goal of treatment: help a
child reach his or her full
potential and function
 Behavioral therapy and
management – with
positive reinforcement
 Speech therapy
 Occupational therapy
 Physical therapy
 Medications – sometimes
used to treat assoc.
depression, anxiety, etc.
How do patients
with ASD present?
Examples of social deficits:
 Deficits in social-
emotional reciprocity,
non-verbal
communication, and
understanding
relationships
Examples of repetitive
patterns of behavior:
 Repetitive motor
movements, echolalia,
insistence on
sameness, rituals,
fixated interests,
hypo-reactivity or
hyper-reactivity to
stimuli
Pathophysiology
behind ASD?
Neural anomalies:
 Abnormal frontal lobe,
temporal lobe,
cerebellum
 Abnormal neuron
connectivity
 Reduced GABAB
receptors
Metabolic anomalies:
 Elevated blood
serotonin
 Reduced serum
biotinidase
 Reduced plasma
complement (C4B)
What causes autism?
The cause of autism is unknown… Genetic? Environmental?
Related to other medical conditions?
Studies have NOT linked autism to any childhood vaccinations.