Real or not? Dr. Marguerite Dalton March 2012

ASD / Asperger’s syndrome Spectrum of disorders ? Disorder for life?

Historical Kanner 1943 – “early infantile autism” Hans Asperger- Austrian Psychiatrist “autistic psychopathy” – now termed Asperger’s syndrome- similarities – argument still continues as to whether they are separate entities

Differences

Motor development Autistic ( Kanner) – good fine motor but poor gross motor Asperger – poor gross and fine motor – diagnostic?

Speech Autistic – delayed or non-verbal Asperger’s - may appear normal initially – “talk like little adults”

Age of presentation Autistic – early childhood / infancy Asperger’s – early/late childhood

Severity of impairment Autistic - more severe Asperger’s - less severe

Intelligence Initial descriptions suggest Autistic lower but not necessarily accepted now.

Similarities

Restricted or fixed interests Repetitive or stereotype behaviour Repetitive speech or echolalia Hypo or hyper sensitivity to sensory input Problems with social – emotional reciprocity Problems with non-verbal communication Problems developing and maintaining relationships appropriate to normal developmental level

DSM IV – Autism and Aspergers separate categories V - under same category as general consensus is that they are ends of the same spectrum, similar symptomatology, varying in severity.

Does it matter? Labelling - what is in a name? Funding Coding Research

Associations Learning difficulties Epilepsy Sleep disturbance Gut problems Fragile X Prematurity Trisomy 21 Tuberous Sclerosis

Life long diagnosis? Personality or condition?

Genetics Will this be the answer?