Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term that refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in social communication and a restricted range of interests and behaviors. The core social communication impairments, identified through the application of developmental principles to understanding psychopathological presentation, include disruptions in social attention, joint attention, face and emotion perception, and imitation that result in reduced social-emotional reciprocity and use of nonverbal behaviors as well as impaired peer relationships. Core characteristics also include disruptions in play, atypical language use and repetitive and restricted interests and behaviors. The clinical presentation of ASD is highly heterogeneous reflecting the now understood conception that ASD is likely a collection of complex developmental disabilities. This clinical variability reflects different etiological contributions, individual differences in the age of onset and treatment response, and developmental symptom profiles of social-emotional development that have been observed among individuals with ASD. Etiological research has highlighted the contribution of genetic and environmental risk factors while brain studies have illuminated several neural systems structured and functioning atypically in ASD. Despite the variability in clinical presentation, behaviorally based treatments have emerged as an effective treatment for many children with ASD.
