The medical definition of autism, as listed by Heward (2006), is that it is a neurobehavioral syndrome that consists of impairments of social interaction, communication, and restricted repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autism was first used to describe children in 1943 by psychiatrist Leo Kanner at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. According to Kanner’s case reports, 11 children displayed behaviors that were completely different from any other behavior that had been reported. These children all shared difficulty relating to others, seemed isolated from the outside world, showed resistance to being held by parents, speech deficits, specific food preferences, desire for repetition and sameness, lack of imagination,
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The DSM-5 on autism spectrum disorder consists of general guidelines, such as whether the example behavior listed is uncommon or if it presents across multiple contexts. A clinician should also consider behaviors that a child had in the past, but does not have at the moment. Carpenter (2013) provided a lengthy list of criterion that are found within the DSM-5, that a child with autism usually has, and the child that is in the process of being diagnosed must have a required amount of the symptoms being presented in order to get the diagnosis. For example, DSM-5 criteria A states that a child must display 3 of the 3 symptoms that are listed. This child must have symptom A1, deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, A2, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors, and A3, deficits in developing and maintaining relationships that are appropriate to developmental level (Carpenter, …show more content…
According to McLennan, Huculak, & Sheehan (2008), occupational therapy (OT) is one of the most common services that children with autism receive (as cited in Welch & Polatajko, 2016). The goal of occupational therapy is to help individuals gain independence and develop interpersonal skills that are in needed in one’s everyday life. The price of private OT can end up affecting families, since it can be quite expensive. Public OT can be covered by IDEA, but if a family wants private OT it can cost as much as $200 per hour (“Cost of occupational therapy”, 2011). However, there are benefits to using OT which can positively affect families. An occupational therapist can help improve a child’s self-help needs, by focusing on their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development (“Cost of occupational therapy”, 2011). While it can be costly to parents seeking private OT, and for those who do not have insurance that covers the price, the goal of their child ultimately being able to live independently might outweigh the
The DSM-5 on autism spectrum disorder consists of general guidelines, such as whether the example behavior listed is uncommon or if it presents across multiple contexts. A clinician should also consider behaviors that a child had in the past, but does not have at the moment. Carpenter (2013) provided a lengthy list of criterion that are found within the DSM-5, that a child with autism usually has, and the child that is in the process of being diagnosed must have a required amount of the symptoms being presented in order to get the diagnosis. For example, DSM-5 criteria A states that a child must display 3 of the 3 symptoms that are listed. This child must have symptom A1, deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, A2, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors, and A3, deficits in developing and maintaining relationships that are appropriate to developmental level (Carpenter, …show more content…
According to McLennan, Huculak, & Sheehan (2008), occupational therapy (OT) is one of the most common services that children with autism receive (as cited in Welch & Polatajko, 2016). The goal of occupational therapy is to help individuals gain independence and develop interpersonal skills that are in needed in one’s everyday life. The price of private OT can end up affecting families, since it can be quite expensive. Public OT can be covered by IDEA, but if a family wants private OT it can cost as much as $200 per hour (“Cost of occupational therapy”, 2011). However, there are benefits to using OT which can positively affect families. An occupational therapist can help improve a child’s self-help needs, by focusing on their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development (“Cost of occupational therapy”, 2011). While it can be costly to parents seeking private OT, and for those who do not have insurance that covers the price, the goal of their child ultimately being able to live independently might outweigh the