Considerations of Individuality in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Autism

Considerations of Individuality in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Autism

There is no standard ‘type’ or ‘typical’ person with autism. Parents may hear more than one label applied to the same child: autistic-like, learning disabled with autistic tendencies, high functioning or low functioning autism. These labels don’t describe differences between children as much as they indicate differences between professionals’ training, vocabulary and exposure to autism (1)

In my first web paper I considered Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and questioned whether its’ symptoms and underlying neurobiology should be considered a disorder, or rather simply a difference among humans’ nervous systems. In a further exploration of the idea of individuality within a diagnostically defined disorder, I have researched autism. By definition, autistic individuals present symptoms with varying degrees of severity. It is therefore considered a spectrum disorder, meaning that its’ “symptoms and characteristics can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations, from mild to severe (1).” A diagnosis of autism can result from any combination of its defined behaviors. In addition to this, there is a host of related disorders, in which some but not all symptoms of autism are present. These include Asperger Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS) (4)(2). Because of its characteristic breadth, autism is a good example of the implications of being seen as an individual within a group possessing a defined disorder. Current professional opinion stresses the importance of accurately assessing differences in neurological deficits, even if they present similar autistic sympt...

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...ninds.nih.gov/HEALTHINFO/DISORDER/AUTISM/autism.htm

3)paper by Dena Bodian from Neurobiology and Behavior 1998

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Bodian.htm%20l

4)Overview of Autism by Stephen Edelson, Ph. D., at the Center for the Study of Autism

http://www.brainnet.org/autism.htm

5)Autism? What is it?

http://users.planetc.com/new.html

6)Stereotypic (Self-stimulatory) Behavior by Stpehen M. Edelson

http://www.autsim.org/stim.html

7)The Cerebellum and Autism by Stephen M. Edelson

http://www.autism.org/cerebel.html

8)Genetics and Autism by Stephen M. Edelson

http://www.autism.org/genetics.html

9)Autism and the Limbic System by Stephen M. Edelson

http://www.autism.org/limbic.html

Other Resources:

10)”The Child with Special Needs"by Stanley I. Greenspan and Serena Wieder. Massachusetts: Perseus Books, 1998.