The first day, first session of class we discussed what we currently knew about Autism Spectrum Disorders. I learned lots of new acronyms! We covered diagnosis & screening, characteristics, approaches for treatment, causes, epidemiology, classifications, prognosis and the history of Autism. Since the course was about Autism it was only fitting that a mind map format was used to brainstorm the class's collective present knowledge. The class consisted of speech language therapists, teachers, para-educators, and parents. Some worked in a k-12 setting, several worked at Chileda, a residential and day school facility in La Crosse, and there were others who worked in a clinic. The map quickly filled the white board and by the end of the week it had doubled!
Here are my notes on the list we began with:
- Diagnosis & Screening - ABLLS, ADOS-G, DSM-IV, educational criteria, observation, medical diagnosis usually from a neuropsychologist
- Characteristics - lack of eye contact, OCD, black and white thinking, sensory issues, lack of peer engagement, echolalia
- Approaches - Early interventions, speech/language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social stories, ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), ABA-VB, visual schedules, TEACCH, PECS, Birth-3, Hanen Method, alternate therapies
- Causes - current research backs up - genetic, biological causes, other theories are/have been – vaccinations, diet, poor parenting
- Epidemiology - 4-1 male to female ratio, 1 in 110 Americans, 1 in 70 boys
- Classifications - Asperger’s, PDD (pervasive developmental disorder), Kanner’s (non-verbal), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Fragile X, Rett Syndrome
- Prognosis - much better today than in past, more awareness, early intervention offers best outcomes
- History - Leo Kanner, Hans Asperger
I've embedded links to some of the information in the list. I'll be filling in and adding more information throughout this week. I will also being adding links to resources associated with information in my posts this summer.You can find them in the first section on the right side of this page.
