Autism Clinic Observation

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. There is more classification of Autism that is based on the severity of symptom. Childhood disintegrative disorder, also known as Heller 's syndrome is a rare condition characterized by a late onset of developmental delays in language, social function, and motor skills. Asperger Syndrome is a developmental disorder related to autism and characterized by higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills and restrictive, repetitive patterns of interest and activities. Atypical Autism is the term used when the person has symptoms but don’t have all the symptoms to diagnose Autism. Atypical autism usually differs from autism in terms either of age of onset or of failure to fulfill all three sets of autism diagnostic criteria.

Autism is categorized by deficits in maintaining social relationships and difficulty communicating. The number of children being diagnosed with autism is steadily increasing. Therefore the need incorporate effective interventions that focus on the development of the individual child has become an imperative component for their success. The key for children with Autism to achieve academic and social success depends upon the collaborative effort that is shared among all parties involved: family, teachers, peers; mental health professionals and the community.

In Chapter four it talks about how people that have autism are concrete thinkers. Before reading this chapter I was unaware of much of our social language is figurative. This is something that a child with autism would struggle with. The author makes a good point when saying “you wouldn’t dream of issuing instructions to you child in a foreign language but English can seem that way” ( Notbohm 66). This put it in to words how hard it can be for a child with autism to grasp the language people use. The author identifies four things that people need to watch out for when speaking with a child with autism. The first thing was to avoid idioms and cliches, so this means instead of saying “something smells fishy” try saying “this does seem right to me”. It gives a better and clearer

Renoxx Caregivers is committed to providing personalized services and supports to children with Autism in order to promote independence and improve the quality of life for both child and their families. Since 2010, Renoxx Caregivers is a licensed provider for home and community based services under the Maryland Medical Assistance Autism Waiver.

Secondly, we have we with the District Autism Team (Lisa and I are both part of the team). In these meetings we have learned different strategies and resources that we can use when working with students with Autism. We learned the important components of a BIP (what it should look like and include). We have

1. The square and compass facility setting provided a neutral and calm environment to incorporate excellent patient care. Starting in the waiting room, a playful set up was encompassed to direct to the pediatric patient population. Back in the treatment area, the walls obtained neutral tones with calming artwork throughout the environment. The noise was appropriate for the setting and smell was clean with an absence of any foul odors. Lighting throughout the facility was appropriate and not too overwhelming for the patients. The temperature was warm and comfortable for all individuals in the facility. Privacy and personal items for the patients were maintained in their individual rooms with a door for separation. This form of privacy contributed to the excellent patient care provided by the healthcare professionals. Overall, the square and compass primary care facility obtained an effective environment to ensure the well-being of the patients.

In the article Early Intervention in Autism, autism is being broken down to different details such as the background of autism being found in 1943 by, Leo Kenner by observing and doing research. There are many different intervention program for autistic children and each program has a different desire to have an effect on the child with autism. Different programs have different meaning and outcomes to improve the child’s autistic life style.

According to Mihaela Grasu, “autism is a complex developmental disorder with a neurobiological character, characterized by problems of communication and relating to others as well as interests, activities and behaviors that are restricted, repetitive and stereotypical” (2015, p. 87). The target population pertained to pre-school children to adolescents with ASD symptoms that residing in Jonesboro or the surrounding cities. The participants and parents at this event are advocates for the children and adolescents who have the disability. The event was conducted by several organizations advocating in support of those with this disability. There was a direct and noticeable impact on the community members who helped provide a healthy activity for the children in the community. This event represented a powerful message and demonstrated the dedication and passion that participants and volunteers alike hold for this unique and special population.

The first theme identified by the research literature is the importance and breadth of support for the young people on the Autism spectrum; and of that provided for their families.

Autism Spectrum Disorders are developmental disabilities with lifelong effects for the person. They are characterized by the repetitive behaviors exhibited by the client with social and communication deficits as well. Clients with ASDs have unusual abilities to learn, they struggle with paying attention and may react inappropriately with extreme tantrums to different sensations. ASDs include and are not limited to autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, atypical autism and Asperger disorder. Research of autism has been tracked by the Centers of Disease Control for prevalence since 1996, however tracking of developmental disabilities began in the 1980s.

A lot of people don’t realize the challenges of living with a child who has been diagnose with Autism can be. It is a twenty-four-hour seven day a week job no vacation, no sick time and no pay. From the time the child is diagnosed it is a constant worry especially if the parents don’t know much about the condition. It starts with continuous Doctor visits, social services, and therapy sessions, just to figure out how serious the condition may be and what level of the disability the child has and this is only this beginning. Next, to find the tools the child needs to overcome the disability, like learning development and cognitive process, social skills, comprehension capabilities, and many more depending on the severity of autism.

Proper and applicable assessment measures are the foundation to evidence-based assessments. For psychologists, it is critical to choose the best assessment tools that can provide the most reliable and valid measures to give accurate suggestions about the most relevant intervention procedures. Application of psychometrically valid tools and significant data assembly is decisive for optimal intervention at the early stages of the diagnosis of the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

My second clinical practice experience took place in the paediatric ward of VGH. The much

One the biggest psychological disorders in our society is childhood autism. Childhood autism is defined as “A pervasive developmental disorder defined by the presence of abnormal and/or impaired development that is manifest before the age of 3 years, and by the characteristic type of abnormal functioning in all three areas of social interaction, communication, and restricted, repetitive behaviour.” (MHresource.org). Furthermore, boys are three to four more times likely to develop childhood autism than girls (MHresources.org). Statistics also show that the prevalence of childhood autism in births is one in fifty-nine and has grown 119.4 percent from 2000 to 2010 (CDC). Now, researchers are looking into what causes childhood autism. They are

While observing my 3-year-old son at the park, I started to notice he wasn’t playing like the other children. Children were playing and having conversations among themselves. During my observation my son was withdrawn refusing to socially interact with other children and seemed as if he was in his own little world. At that moment, I soon began to recollect in my mind other strange behavior’s and actions he has been displaying. Fast forward to our visit to the pediatrician and that’s when I heard it. The words that changed my life from that exact moment on. Your son has “Autism”. “Autism” what is that? I did what any mother would do grabbed my phone and turned to internet for answers. As I began my journey to educated myself, my goal is to raise awareness in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and be an advocate for my child and other individuals with Autism. Raising awareness in Autism increases understanding of the condition and change the perspective of the negative stigma of individuals that lack empathy, provide essential information for families and helping medical researchers crack the code to the discovery of causes and advance treatments. Just like building a puzzle, each piece has its own unique shape and design, alone the pieces have no meaning but when you start connecting the pieces together that is when you discover the whole