Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts social communication and behavior. An important thing to remember is Autism is a spectral condition, meaning each individual may present with varying symptoms and severities of autism (i.e., very mild to severe).
It is a cover-all term now used for conditions that were previously known as:
Asperger’s syndrome
Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
Autistic Disorder
Common symptoms include:
Lack of eye contact
Lack of or atypical response to name
Developmental milestone delays
Trouble initiating and maintaining a conversation
Difficulty using gestures or understanding jokes/sarcasm
Repetitive behavior that appears purposeless
Sensory seeking or sensory sensitivities
Restrictive interests of an item (i.e., pencils), character (i.e., Cartoon character), genre (i.e., Superhero’s).
A comprehensive evaluation can:
establish a diagnosis, if appropriate
assess the degree of severity
provide individual recommendations for treatment