Autism

• autism - development disorder, part of the autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).
• the autism triad of impairment is 1. difficulty with social communication and interaction, 2. unusual thought and behaviour patterns, 3. difficulty with social imagination.
• social impairments that may occur in people with autism are in social communcation, social imagination and social interactions.
• the genetic explanation of autism is that there is a genetic predisposition to autism. with the male MZ concordance rate 100% and female concordance rate 85%.
• the biological explanation of autism is baron-Cohen's exaggerated male brain theory.
• an example of the exaggerated male brain theory of autism is corpus callosum is smaller in males so in autistic brain it would be very small.
• An example of the exaggerated male brain theory of autism is females develop social skills before males so in the autistic brain will develop social skills after non-autistic brain.
• symptoms of autism are hyposensitivity, perceptual overload, motor coordination, imitation and echolalia.
• echolalia is meaningless repetition of words or phrases.
• hyposensitivity is sensitivity to sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing
• motor coordination- difficulties performing physical tasks
• people with autism lack theory of mind
• theory of mind is the ability read other's intentions and to understand other people's feelings.
• treatments of autism are applied behaviour analysis, cognitive behavioural treatment and biomedical intervention.
• applied behaviour analysis is a therapy based on the science of learning and behaviour. ABA applies our understanding of how behaviour to real situations, to increase helpful behaviours and decrease negative behaviours.
• biomedical intervention views autism as a biological issue by treating inbalances of biochemicals and nutrients.
• 1 in 150 people worldwide have autism.
• Four times as many males affected than females by autism.
• Problems with social interactions are lack of understanding and awareness of people's emotions and feelings and reading facial expressions.
• people with autism have impaired language and communication have delayed language development, inability to start conservations or take part in conservation property. They have a difficulty expressing themselves.
• people with autism have unusual paths of thought and physical behaviour with repetitive physical movements (tapping or twisting) and have a routine behaviour set.
• Cognitive behavioural therapy is a type of therapy that aims to change the way a person thinks and behaves. It is used for people with autism to teach children to alter their beliefs or behaviours to avoid negative emotions.
• Sally-Anne task aim was to investigate whether autistic children could understand false-belief.
• Sally Anne-task procedure The child who is being tested sits at a table on which two dolls (Anne and Sally) are positioned facing lidded containers (a box and a basket). The experimenter enacts a scenario with the dolls.

  In this task, Sally first places a marble into her basket and then leaves the scene. Anne then enters, takes the marble out of the basket, and places it into a closed box. The experimenter then asks the participant where Sally will look for the marble.
• Sally Anne-Task Results were If the child passes, he or she will point to the basket, understanding that, although this is no longer reality (as the marble is now in the basket), Sally possesses a false belief that the marble is in the basket because she did not watch Anne move it (Baron-Cohen et al., 1985).
• Support given to people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is support groups in the community, support in school, college or workplace to make things easier and support for family and carers.