Autism

• Developmental milestones


  • Walking and crawling, communication and problem solving - all progress as brain develops
• Neurodevelopmental disorder


  If one doesn't develop at the predicted time
• Autism


  Multistage prenatal disorder affecting developing brain before and after birth
• Socialising and communication


  Particularly results in isolation
• Appropriate school behaviour may not accommodate to the diverse needs of ASD
• Pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) now referred to as ASD


  • Autism
  • Asperger syndrome
  • Childhood disintegrative disorder
• Autism


  Removed from social interaction and communication
• Asperger syndrome


  Children with some autistic characteristics like difficulties with social interaction and non-verbal communication but don't usually have delays in language and cognitive development
• Childhood disintegrative disorder


  Late onset of developmental delays, children develop normally but then start to lose social and communication skills 2-10yrs
• Impairments in ASD


  • Social communication and interaction
  • Restricted and repetitive behaviour, interests and activities
• Social reciprocity


  How child responds to social interactions e.g. wanting to be alone
• Joint attention


  Wanting to share an interest in something else e.g. baby not sharing interest or amusement with an object with their parent
• Nonverbal communication


  Can't speak or interpreting non-verbal cues from someone else e.g. child doesn't put arms out when wanting to be picked up or not being able to tell if a parent is upset
• Social relationships


  Trouble developing or maintaining relationships
• Restricted and repetitive behaviour, interests and activities


  • Flapping hands, lining up toys, echolalia
  • Taking same route to school
  • Takes specific interest in things in detail
• Primary behavioural characteristics of ASD: Social


  • Averted or indirect eye contact
  • Minimal facial expression and use of gestures - hard to interpret social cues
  • Difficulty with shared interest
  • Self focused communication
• Primary behavioural characteristics of ASD: Communication


  • Apraxia of speech - difficulty planning and coordinating movements required for speech causing challenges in articulation and pronunciation
  • Echolalia
  • Monotone and rhythm speech affecting expression of emotion
  • Difficulty understanding metaphors or idioms
• Primary behavioural characteristics of ASD: Restrictive Repetitive patterns


  • Hand flapping rocking, spinning, self-soothing or sensory stimulation
  • Repeated motor behaviours or focus on specific movements or objects/ fascination
  • Intense focus or specific interests or objects, hard to divert attention to other things
  • Routines or rituals, distress happens when they're disrupted
• Routines


  Keep ASD feeling safe and creates a sense of security which can manifest into adulthood
• Hyperresponsiveness


  Overreacting to sensory stimuli, more sensitive to sounds, lights, textures e.g. discomfort with certain textures or even physical contact, loud sounds are distressing
• Hyporesponsiveness


  Underreacting, reduced sensitivity
• Picky eating


  Doesn't like certain food textures tastes or smells (limited food preferences) - can lead to malnutrition if diet is too restrictive, even colours on packaging can affect this
• Hypotonia


  Reduced muscle tone affecting posture, motor coordination and overall muscle strength
• Fine motor deficits


  Can't coordinate small muscles like writing buttoning shirts or using utensil
• Gross motor deficits


  Larger muscle groups and coordination like running, jumping and catching
• Visual processing


  • Focus on high contrast - light and dark, bold patterns
  • Centre field of view - focusing on central area when processing visual information
  • Not drawn to faces, animals not because they don't recognise them whereas neurotypical tend to be drawn to these
• Prevalence rates aren't consistent across the globe, suggesting the diagnostic criteria for ASD is not universal or ability to recognise autism is different in societies varies
• Complicated to model in a rat because they don't do a lot of this anyway
• Autism


  Complex developmental disorder involving atypical brain organisation starting early in development
• Autistic individuals will experience a period of unusual rapid brain growth in infancy and early childhood. This accelerated brain growth is linked to atypical pattern of connectivity between brain regions
• A number of studies report that alterations in brain circuitry involved with social interaction and attention can be detected well before autistic symptoms appear
• Under stimulated brains of ASD

  Can result in a heightened need for proprioceptive input, poor proprioception or difficulty perceiving body position and movement can lead to challenges understanding personal space and social cues
• Those who can mask


  May exhibit more rigid body language when overstimulated, highlighting the intricate connecting between sensory processing and proprioception and social behaviours in ASD
• If brain cannot cope with excessive sensory inputs


  They can freeze or fight and flight response
• Rocking or closing eyes

  To try regain control over sensory input
• Strongly influenced by genetics but environmental factors also play a role. Prenatal and perinatal period disruptions can affect neural development like epigenetic effects, inflammation (more inflammatory proteins cytokines and microglia are super active, could affect brain development), oxidative stress (excess ROS) or damage caused by oxygen deficiency (insufficient blood supply). Particularly in social and communication areas
• OCD


  Repetitive patterns of behaviour seen in both
• OCD


  Hand washing because it 'feels right' and give into compulsions or intrusive thoughts to stop catastrophic thoughts
• Autism


  Routines make them feel safe and grounded, opposite to OCD because OCD don't want to act their intrusive thoughts/ compulsions but have to because of catastrophising thoughts like the world is going to end if I don't blink twice
• There is always a reason for ASD behaviour, sometimes its their only form of communication if they cant speak e.g. having a meltdown. There is always a reason for their outburst of behaviour