The gold standard instrument used to diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
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Also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). A group of disorders in the brain that affect a child's ability to communicate, interact, play, relate, learn and imagine. Aside from affecting the brain, these disorders can also be related to metabolic, immunological and gastrointestinal problems. Autism has a wide range of intensity, disorders, and symptoms, thus the term spectrum.The spectrum includes multiple disorders like Classic Autism, Autistic Disorder, Rett's Disorder, and Asperger Syndrome.
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)
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A book that is used by many medical professionals that aid in diagnosing and categorizing mental disorders.
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Children with ASD often have signs of echolalia, the repetition of words, phrases, or sounds of speech of others. Immediate echolalia is when a child repeats the exactly what they hear right after hearing it. Delayed echolalia can happen minutes, hours, days, weeks or even years after hearing it. Children often use echolalia for communicative or regulatory purposes.
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A child's ability to adjust his or her emotions and behavior to the demands of the surrounding. Many children with ASD have trouble with emotional regulation. They often respond inappropriately to regular demands of their surroundings. Often, children with ASD respond negatively to a change (in activity or surrounding) with tantrums or self-injuries.
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Hyperresponsiveness is when children over react to sensory input. This is usually a state of being overwhelmed by what normally would be common stimuli from the five common ordinary senses. Children with signs of hyperresponsiveness often have negative responses to their surroundings when overwhelmed. Tactile defensiveness is an example of strong negative response to touch.
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Children without ASD use joint attention to share attention with others. They often use a 3-point gaze where they will look at an object, then to a person and back to object often with gestures to draw the attention of the other person. Joint attention is a ultimately a way for children to learn how to use language and share ideas and enjoyment. Children with ASD lack joint attention and is a core deficit of ASD.
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Nonfunctional routines are specified, sequential, and apparently purposeless repeated actions or behaviors that a child engages in, such as always lining up toys in a certain order each time instead of playing with them. Children with ASD may follow routines that appear to be senseless, but may have significance to the child.
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Over reactivity to sensory input is abnormal sensitivity or hyperresponsiveness. This is the state of feeling overwhelmed by what most people would consider common or ordinary stimuli of sound, sight, taste, touch, or smell. Many children with ASD are over reactive to ordinary sensory input and may exhibit sensory defensiveness - a strong negative response to their overload, such as screaming at the sound of a telephone.
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The term perseveration refers to repeating or "getting stuck" carrying out a behavior (e.g., putting in and taking out a puzzle piece) when it is no longer appropriate.
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Pragmatics are social rules for using functional spoken language in a meaningful context or conversation. Challenges in pragmatics are a common feature of spoken language difficulties in children with ASD.
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Prosody is the rhythm and melody of spoken language expressed through rate, pitch, stress, inflection, or intonation. Children with ASD can range from having no functional language (do not use words conventionally for communication) to having very proficient vocabulary and sentence structure. Usually, those who talk have odd intonation (flat, monotonous, stiff, or "sing songy" without emphasis on the important words), and those who do not yet talk make unusual sounds.
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The concept that students with disabilities should be integrated with their non-disabled peers. (Also referred to as inclusion).
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A neurological condition characterized by strong verbal, memory, and reading skills and weaker visual-spatial, motor, and executive functioning as well as some challenges in social interactions.
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Care provided by an individual or institution to a child with a disability so that the primary caretakers, usually the parents, can have a break. Sometimes respite care is funded by state agencies.
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A quick and simple way to monitor a child's typical development. Routine screenings help determine any abnormality in growth, and should be used for all children. A screening is not a diagnosis but an indication for further assessment.
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Repetitive movements or posturing of the body such as twisting, rubbing hands, swaying or pacing the body, or odd postures. The behavior can sometimes involve objects as well. These mannerisms appear to have no particular meaning but they may have significance for the child such as providing sensory stimulation.
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Many children with ASD are over reactive to ordinary sensory input. An example would be a strong negative response to a sensation that would not ordinarily be upsetting, such as touching something sticky. Specific to touching or being touched by someone/something.
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Describes physical, mental, and social development of a child who is acquiring or achieving skills according to the expected time frame. Children who develop typically react and pay attention to voices, faces, and actions, and provide interactions as well.
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One aspect of abnormal insensitivity to sensory input, in which a child does not respond to sensory stimulation. An example might be a child who seems deaf, but actually tests for normal hearing. Other examples include high pain tolerance, clumsy, and aggressive.
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German-born theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. He is well known for his theories about light, matter, gravity, space, and time. Einstein is best known for his mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc2.
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English physicist and mathematician famous for his work on the laws of motion, optics, gravity, and calculus. The legend is that Newton discovered the force of Gravity when he observed falling apples. Newton unified Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei’s theory of falling bodies with German astronomer Johannes Kelper's laws of planetary motion and published his famous Theory of Universal Gravitation in the 1680's.
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Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contribution to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. He was also a pioneer in the discovery of radar technology, X-ray technology, remote control and the rotating magnetic field - the basis of most AC machinery.
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