Diagnosis and definitions for Autism Spectrum Disorder

It is known there is no specific diagnostic test forUsually, before the age of 3, in autism, clearly appear
Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the best way to get asevere and sustained impairments in the social and
diagnosis is to make a multi-disciplinary evaluation.communication areas. The child is observed as being
A psychologist or psychiatrist experienced with Autismdifferent than other children, he is anxious, responds
Spectrum Disorders can make a diagnose for adults,unusually to many different stimuli, has poor attention
and in what concerns children, they must be tested byand motivation, and speech can be delayed or largely
a number of professionals, which will provide theabsent. The child can also have a range of ritualistic
needed information to make decisions about programbehaviours, like hand flapping, finger gazing or toe
and treatment approaches.walking. It was seen that the child or adult with autism
It was seen that the age of diagnosis ranges,can be also intellectually disabled.
depending on the circumstances from approximatelyWe can mention a loosely used term to describe a
18 months through to adulthood.child or adult who meets the criteria for a diagnosis of
Autism Spectrum Disorder deals with several labels,Autism, but is not as severely affected as the more
for example at an end of the spectrum there can beclassically autistic person-High Functioning Autism.
diagnoses like "Asperger Syndrome", "High FunctioningAsperger Syndrome deals with severe and sustained
Autism" and "PDD-NOS", and at the other end, we cansocial impairments, but the impairments in the language
find labels like "Autism", "Classic Autism" and "Kannerand communication area aren't so severe. The speech
Autism". Several labels place people at different pointsdevelops within the normal age range, but effectively
of the spectrum.communication is impaired.
We can say that the term Autism Spectrum DisorderIt was seen that the impairments become more
is used because there is a great variation from personevident as the child reaches pre-school and school
to person, which depends on the severity andage, being more subtle in the very young child.
combination of each area of impairment. It is knownThere can also be given a diagnosis for children who
that together with Autism Spectrum Disorder maypresent with some of the characteristics of either
exist also other conditions or disorders, like speech andAutism or Asperger Syndrome, but not severe enough
language disorders, anxiety and depression, intellectualfor a diagnosis of either of these conditions and this is
disability, epilepsy, attention disorders, TourettePervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise
Syndrome and Down Syndrome.Specified.