Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders

By: Susan M. Catlett, Ph.D

 

Autism: diagnostic options

      Pervasive developmental disorders
              -Several diagnostic categories fall under the broader PDD category
              -Differ in terms of severity and degree of manifestation of symptoms
              -Texas Education Agency (TEA) uses "autism" label to represent all of the PDD
                diagnostic categories

        Diagnostic categories:
               -Autism, Rett's Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger 
                     Syndrome,  PDD-NOS

Autism:  What We Know

       Sub-category of PDD
       Considered a spectrum disorder
       Behaviorally defined syndrome
       No Medical tests for diagnosing
       No objective measure for determining the degree of autism
       The diagnosis of autism requires a team of professionals
       The diagnosis is retrospective; developmental history is essential to the
                 diagnosis
       One cannot predict how "autistic" the child is when he/she is 3 years old
       Individuals with autism do not "top out" or "plateau" in their learning.
                 If he/she is not learning, the teaching needs to be examined
       10-15% average to above average intelligence
       25-35% have borderline/mild MR
       Remainder fall into the moderate/profound MR range
       Early Onset vs. Regressive

Incidence of Autism

      Incidence of autism spectrum disorder estimated to be 1 in 300 births
            (higher now I believe)Compared to 1 in 5000 ten years ago
       President of Autism Society of America refers to the increasing incidence
                as a national health crisis
       Center for Disease Control refers to as an epidemic
       3-5% recurrence risk among siblings
       90% chance that if one identical twin has ASD, the other twin will also
       If a family has one child with ASD, the risk of second child having ASD
                rises from 1 in 500 to 1 in 20
       After two children with autism, the odds that the third child will also be
                diagnosed  are 1 in 3
       Sex ratio is 4:1 boys:girls
       Occurs across all racial, ethnic, social boundaries
       Symptoms generally observed in first 3 years of life

Etiological Facts on Autism

       Autism is a neurologically based disorder
       Neurological differences are evident
       Autism is not an emotional disorder or a mental illness, nor is it a result of
            poor parenting
       No specific cause of autism is known
       There is no known cure for autism
       There appears to be a genetic predisposition

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