Autism Spectrum Disorder

Front 1

Distinguishing features

Back 1

3/3 persistent deficits in social communication/interaction and 2+/4 restricted, repetitive behavior, interests, or activities present in early developmental period

Severity of social and behavior clusters (level of support)

With/out accompanying intellectual impairment

With/out accompanying language accompaniment

Associated with a known medical or genetic condition or environmental disorder

Associated with another neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder

With catatonia

Front 2

Prevalence

Back 2

1% lifetime

3-4 times more prevalent in women than men

Underdiagnosed in African Americans

15% associated with genetic mutation

Front 3

Course and onset

Back 3

Onset: very early at 1-2 years old

Delayed language often 1st along with odd sociality improvement likely, though only minority functioning independent with high impairment

Front 4

Diagnostic Criteria

Back 4

A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by all of the following, currently or by history:

1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions

2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication

3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers

B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least 2 of the following, currently or by history

1. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases)

2. Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day)

3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus ( strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or preservative interests)

4. Hyper or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement)

C. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)

D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in areas of functioning

E. Disturbances are not better explained by intellectual developmental disorder or global developmental delay. IDD and ASD frequently co-occur

Specifiers

Requiring very substantial support

Requiring substantial support

Requiring support

With or without accompanying intellectual impairment

With or without accompanying language impairment

Associated with a known genetic or other medical condition or environmental factor

Associated with a neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral problem

With catatonia