Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Autism Basics
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are developmental disabilities which lead to affected people having
social, communication, and behavioural challenges people with ASDs handle information in their brain different to other people ("Facts About ASDs," 2013)
- ASDs are spectrum disorders, meaning that they effect different people in different ways and to different
degrees of severity
Diagnosing ASDs can be difficult since there is no medical test, like a blood test, to diagnose the disorders. Doctors look at the childs behaviour and development to make a diagnosis. ASDs can sometimes be detected at 18 months or younger. By age 2, a diagnosis by an experienced professional can be considered very reliable (Lord, 2006). However, many children do not receive a final diagnosis until much older. This delay means that children with an ASD might not get the help they need.
When taken during pregnancy, the prescription drugs valproic acid and thalidomide have been linked with a higher risk of ASDs. We know that the once common belief that poor parenting practices cause ASDs is not true. There is some evidence that the critical period for developing ASDs occurs before birth. However, concerns about vaccines and infections have led researchers to consider risk factors before and after birth. A small percentage of children who are born prematurely or with low birthweight are at greater risk for Good resource for finding articles: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/articles.html having ASDs.
Statistics
Global statistics: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/asd_preva lence_table_2013.pdf (U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013) ASDs occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, but are almost five times more common among boys than among girls. The CDC estimates that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder in the United States (Baio, 2012). More people than ever before are being diagnosed with an ASD. It is unclear exactly how much of this increase is due to a broader definition of ASDs and better efforts in diagnosis. However, a true increase in the number of people with an ASD cannot be ruled out. It is believed the increase in ASD diagnosis is likely due to a combination of these factors: Studies have shown that among identical twins, if one child has an ASD, then the other will be affected about 36-95% of the time. In non-identical twins, if one child has an ASD, then the other is affected about 031% of the time (Rosenberg et al., 2009). Parents who have a child with an ASD have a 2%18% chance of having a second child who is also affected (Sumi, Taniai, Miyachi, & Tanemura, 2006). ASDs tend to occur more often in people who have certain genetic or chromosomal conditions. About 10% of children with autism are also identified as having Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, and other genetic and chromosomal disorders (DiGuiseppi et al., 2010). Individuals with an ASD had average medical expenditures that exceeded those without an ASD by $4,110 $6,200 per year. On average, medical expenditures for individuals with an ASD were 4.16.2 times greater than for those without an ASD. Differences in median expenditures ranged from $2,240 to $3,360 per year with median expenditures 8.49.5 times greater (Amendah, Grosse, Peacock, & Mandell, 2011). In 2005, the average annual medical costs for Medicaid-enrolled children with an ASD were $10,709 per child, which was about six times higher than costs for children without an ASD ($1,812).
In addition to medical costs, intensive behavioural interventions for children with ASDs cost $40,000 to $60,000 per child per year.
Amendah, D., Grosse, S. D., Peacock, G., & Mandell, D. S. (2011). Autism Spectrum Disorders: Oxford University Press. Baio, J. (2012). Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 61(3), 1-19. DiGuiseppi, C., Hepburn, S., Davis, J. M., Fidler, D. J., Hartway, S., Lee, N. R., . . . Robinson, C. (2010). Screening for autism spectrum disorders in children with Down syndrome. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. Facts About ASDs. (2013, 20/12/13). from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html Lord, C. R., Susan; DiLavore, Pamela S.; Shulman, Cory; Thurm, Audrey; Pickles, Andrew. (2006). Autism From 2 to 9 Years of Age. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(6), 694-701. Rosenberg, R. E., Law, J. K., Yenokyan, G., McGready, J., Kaufmann, W. E., & Law, P. A. (2009). Characterisitics and concordance of autism spectrum disorders among 277 twin pairs. Archive of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, 163(10), 907-914. Sumi, S., Taniai, H., Miyachi, T., & Tanemura, M. (2006). Sibling risk of pervasive developmental disorder estimated by means of an epidemiologic survey in Nagoya, Japan. Journal of Human Genetics, 51, 518-522.