ASD literature review

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A literature review of Autism Abstract: As our understanding of autism increases, so definitions, diagnostic criteria and ideas on which approaches may be most useful, change. This, in turn, affects the research that is done.  Recently, the term autistic spectrum disorder has been used to include other conditions and pervasive developmental disorders which have the same triad of impairments. It is likely that as interventions and support systems become more appropriate, the better the outcome for people with an asd will be. The literature for this paper came from a variety of sources including books, journal and websites. Introduction: What is Autism? “Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder. Its symptoms include differences and disabilities in many areas including social communication skills, fine and gross motor skills, and sometimes intellectual skills.” (Volkmar,Wiesner 2009)                                In 1943 Dr. Leo Kanner published a report on eleven of his patients at a Baltimore clinic. Entitled “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact.” (Kanner, 1943), this seminal paper became the base for all study on what came to be known as autism. It is a disorder characterized by deficits in three major areas of behaviour, social communicative and the display of repetitive or restricted behaviours. The paper lists the essential features as “the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communications and a markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The social problems include less eye contact, less attention to social-stimuli and difficulty in learning and using the social skills needed to function in society. The communication problem is due to a significant delay in language development seen in classic cases of autism. This varies on a case by case basis and if speech does develop it is often joined by echoalia, a simple
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repeating of what's just been said by someone else. Lastly and perhaps most often identified with autism, are the repetitive or ritualistic behaviours that manifest. Behaviours such as wanting the same foods and clothes everyday, organizing things into lists and insisting on sameness, resisting any change in routine or schedule. All of these symptoms are the hallmarks of classic autism.                                                         In the early part of the last century autistic children were often misdiagnosed as being schizophrenic (Grinker, 2007). Four times as many males have the condition than females. While autism was once thought to be very rare 4 in 10,000, ...

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