Autism Spectrum Disorder Defined
From the beginning: For those of you who have never worked with an adolescent diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), don't worry. You're not alone! My goal is to walk you through the basics so you know how to effectively teach students with ASD.
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a developmental disorder that is diagnosed early (typically by age 3). Children with ASD are characterized by difficulties in social development, showing impairments in basic skills necessary for building a theory of mind (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020, p. 640).
The image below are common characteristics of students with ASD. Click on the image to enlarge.
Other features of ASD students include the following:
- Deficits in reciprocal interactions;
- Misunderstanding emotional cues or emotional expressions;
- Communication disorders (i.e. absence of non-verbal communication);
- Language deficits marked by literal interpretations of meaning or speech impairments;
- Preoccupation with highly idiosyncratic interests (i.e. movies, TV shows, famous people, etc.) (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020, p. 119).
Where Did It Come From?
According to Broderick and Blewitt, there is no definitive understanding of the etiology. Etiology means a cause, set, or manner of the causation of a disease or condition (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020, p. 119).
The general consensus is that ASD is neurobiological (a science that examines the nervous system and how it works) and have high family concordance rates (having to do with family genetics/genetic makeup).
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