Autism spectrum disorder, also known as ASD, refers to a wide variety of developmental disorders. It includes a wide range, or spectrum, of skills, symptoms, and levels of disability. Since it is a spectrum, people who have ASD can vary from being high functioning or severely impaired. As well as explaining the overall symptoms of ASD, this paper will also explore a specific type of ASD called, Asperger’s syndrome known as being on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. However, there are many common characteristics across the autism spectrum. One of these is a lack of social skills, that is, having a hard time communicating and interacting with others. Another commonality is having limited interests, only learning or wanting to learn
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It is a part of the spectrum worth talking about considering it is on the high-functioning end. It is entirely possible for those affected by it to live, somewhat, normal and independent lives as opposed to others on the spectrum. Most people on the autism spectrum have most of the same issues and problems socially, but there are some differences in those specifically with Asperger’s Syndrome. Unlike some on other places of the spectrum, there are no significant delays or difficulties in language or cognitive development, which is the main contributor to Asperger’s being considered a high-functioning form of autism. Some believe that another characteristic of those with Asperger’s is that they have an incredible ability to focus, however, it has been proven to not be true. A study revealed that out of a group of children with Asperger’s about 74% of them met the criterion for having ADHD (Coolidge, F. L., Marle, P. D., Rhoades, C. S., Monaghan, P., & Segal, D. L., 2013). One of the most common and well-known characteristics in those with Asperger’s is the lack of ability to pick up nonverbal cues from others and the inability to comprehend other people’s emotions. An experiment examining patterns of emotion experience, emotion labeling, and emotion regulation in a group of individuals with Asperger’s concluded that they …show more content…
The most common therapy is mainly focused on children to help improve their lives in the future. This therapy is called early intensive intervention therapy. Its ultimate goal is to improve learning, communication, and social skills in young children with ASD. There are multiple programs under this umbrella of therapy, but most of them contain similar strategies. There are many structured therapeutic activities involved. All require highly trained therapists and teachers to be closely involved with not only the child but the family as well. They also practice peer interaction with those who are and are not on the autism spectrum in order to practice learned social skills. It is also essential that there is a multidisciplinary team, which also means the parents need to be closely and intensely involved with the therapy and their children to reinforce behaviors learned through the therapy sessions. There was one experiment done where children went through treatment to try and improve their sensory skills. It was found that 42% of children experienced clinically significant improvements in the severity of all autism symptoms (Woo, C. C., Donnelly, J. H., Steinberg-Epstein, R., & Leon, M., 2015). The fact that the therapy improved, not only their sensory skills, but also many other symptoms linked to autism clearly shows that the focus in therapy should be on sensory
It is a part of the spectrum worth talking about considering it is on the high-functioning end. It is entirely possible for those affected by it to live, somewhat, normal and independent lives as opposed to others on the spectrum. Most people on the autism spectrum have most of the same issues and problems socially, but there are some differences in those specifically with Asperger’s Syndrome. Unlike some on other places of the spectrum, there are no significant delays or difficulties in language or cognitive development, which is the main contributor to Asperger’s being considered a high-functioning form of autism. Some believe that another characteristic of those with Asperger’s is that they have an incredible ability to focus, however, it has been proven to not be true. A study revealed that out of a group of children with Asperger’s about 74% of them met the criterion for having ADHD (Coolidge, F. L., Marle, P. D., Rhoades, C. S., Monaghan, P., & Segal, D. L., 2013). One of the most common and well-known characteristics in those with Asperger’s is the lack of ability to pick up nonverbal cues from others and the inability to comprehend other people’s emotions. An experiment examining patterns of emotion experience, emotion labeling, and emotion regulation in a group of individuals with Asperger’s concluded that they …show more content…
The most common therapy is mainly focused on children to help improve their lives in the future. This therapy is called early intensive intervention therapy. Its ultimate goal is to improve learning, communication, and social skills in young children with ASD. There are multiple programs under this umbrella of therapy, but most of them contain similar strategies. There are many structured therapeutic activities involved. All require highly trained therapists and teachers to be closely involved with not only the child but the family as well. They also practice peer interaction with those who are and are not on the autism spectrum in order to practice learned social skills. It is also essential that there is a multidisciplinary team, which also means the parents need to be closely and intensely involved with the therapy and their children to reinforce behaviors learned through the therapy sessions. There was one experiment done where children went through treatment to try and improve their sensory skills. It was found that 42% of children experienced clinically significant improvements in the severity of all autism symptoms (Woo, C. C., Donnelly, J. H., Steinberg-Epstein, R., & Leon, M., 2015). The fact that the therapy improved, not only their sensory skills, but also many other symptoms linked to autism clearly shows that the focus in therapy should be on sensory