Autism United is the organization started by a group of parents from Windsor Elementary, dedicated to further educating peers, parents, and professionals in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Feel free to post anything regarding Autism! Each of the disorders on the autism spectrum is a neurological disorder that affects a child's ability to communicate, understand language, play, and relate to o
thers. They share some or all of the following characteristics, which can vary from mild to severe:
•Communication problems
(for example, with the use or comprehension of language)
•Difficulty relating to people, things and events
•Playing with toys and objects in unusual ways
•Difficulty adjusting to changes in routine or to familiar surroundings
•Repetitive body movements. Children with autism or one of the other disorders on the autism spectrum can differ considerably with respect to their abilities, intelligence, and behavior. Others use language where phrases or conversations are repeated. Children with the most advanced language skills tend to talk about a limited range of topics and to have a hard time understanding abstract concepts. Repetitive play and limited social skills are also evident. Other common symptoms of a disorder on the autism spectrum can include unusual and sometimes uncontrolled reactions to sensory information—for instance, to loud noises, bright lights, and certain textures of food or fabrics. There are five disorders classified under the umbrella category officially known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders, or PDD. As shown below, these are:
•autism
•Asperger syndrome
•Rett syndrome
•childhood disintegrative disorder and
•Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). Although there are subtle differences and degrees of severity between these five conditions, the treatment and educational needs of a child with any of these disorders will be very similar. For that reason, the term “autism spectrum disorders”—or ASDs, as they are sometimes called— is used quite often now and is actually expected to become the official term to be used in the future (see the section below called "A Look at ASD Diagnoses in the Future"). The five conditions are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) of the American Psychiatric Society (2000). This is also the manual used to diagnose autism and its associated disorders, as well as a wide variety of other disabilities. At the moment, according to the 2000 edition of the DSM-IV, a diagnosis of autistic disorder (or “classic” autism) is made when a child displays 6 or more of 12 symptoms across three major areas:
•social interaction
(such as the inability to establish or maintain relationships with peers appropriate to the level of the child’s development)
•communication
(such as the absence of language or delays in its development)
•behavior
(such as repetitive preoccupation with one or more areas of interest in a way that is abnormal in its intensity or focus). When children display similar behaviors but do not meet the specific criteria for autistic disorder, they may be diagnosed as having one of the other disorders on the spectrum—Aspergers, Rett’s, childhood disintegrative disorder, or PDDNOS. PDDNOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) is the least specific diagnosis and typically means that a child has displayed the least specific of autistic-like symptoms or behaviors and has not met the criteria for any of the other disorders. Terminology used with autism spectrum disorders can be a bit confusing, especially the use of PDD and PDDNOS to refer to two different things that are similar and intertwined. Still, it’s important to remember that, regardless of the specific diagnosis, treatments will be similar.
