Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that affects communication and behavior. It involves persistent deficits in social communication/interaction and restricted/repetitive behaviors. ASD is diagnosed based on symptoms in early childhood and their impact on functioning. Treatment may include applied behavior analysis, occupational therapy, and picture exchange communication systems. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder involving inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. It is diagnosed based on symptoms present for at least six months. Treatment often involves behavioral psychotherapy, medication, or both to improve time management, organization and decrease distractions.

1. Autism spectrum Disorder
ASD

2. • Developmental disability Significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction- that adversely affects a childs
educational performance.
• includes a wide range, “a spectrum,” of symptoms, skills, and levels
of disability

3. • Differentiates on severity of two major areas
1. “social communication / interaction behaviors.”
2. “restricted / repetitive behaviors”

4. Diagnostic criteria
A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across
multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history
1. Social/ emotional reciprocity- which refers to how children respond or
reciprocate in social interactions( so like how the behaviour of one person
influences the other person and vice versa. Preferring to be alone and not
taking role in social games)
2. Nonverbal communication- which refers to difficulties either using
nonverbal communication themselves or interpreting non verbal cues from
someone else (may be child wont put their arms out when they want to
picked up or may be they wont be able to tell that their parents are upset)

5. 3. Social relationships- trouble in developing and maintaining
relationships (may be child has a hard time making friends or they are
able to make friends but their behaviour tends to drive them away).

6. B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as
manifested by at least two of the following :
1. Repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (Some being
more well known or characterized than others like lining up toys in
ritualistic sort of way, or flapping ones hands or imitating words or
phrases).
2. Excessive adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or
nonverbal behavior (The child might be fixed on certain routines like
taking the same route every day to school, get upset when given milk in
different drinking cup ).
3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus
(The child might have restricted patterns of interests).
4. Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory
aspects of the environment (e.g., child may form strong attatchment with
objects like keys, light switches and even refrigerators and vacuum
cleaners)

7. C. Onset in early childhood ( it is evident until the child reaches 3 years
of age)
D. Symptoms limit and impair functioning
E. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability
(intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay.
Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur;
to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and
intellectual disability, social communication should be below that
expected for general developmental level.

8. Diagnosis
• each child with asd is going to have different spectrum of symptoms
and deficits.
• a meaning full diagnosis of asd relies heavily on listening to what
others are observing at home or in schools. They might be given
severity scores in each area which Can help to determine how much
support the child is going to need.

10. • severity level one would indicate that child needs some support. for
social communication they might speak full sentences and engage in
communication but normal back and forth conversation with others just
doesn’t seem to work. For repetitive and restrictive beahviors they
might have switching between activities.
• On the other side of spectrum the level 3 severity means that child
needs very substantial support and on social communication side they
might display very few words of intelligible speech rarely show
interaction with others. For repetitive behaviours they might extremely
resistant to change and their behaviours seriously interferes with their
daily life

11. Risk factors
• Gender—boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ASD than girls
• Having a sibling with ASD
• Having older parents (a mother who was 35 or older, and/or a father
who was 40 or older when the baby was born)
• Genetics—about 20% of children with ASD also have certain genetic
conditions. Those conditions include Down syndrome, fragile X
syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis among others.
• Asd is found in all socioeconomic ethnic and racial groups

12. Treatment
1. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is often used which helps to
learn positive behaviors and reduce negative ones. This approach can be
used to improve a wide range of skills, and there are different types for
different situations, including:
• Discrete trial training (DTT) uses simple lessons and positive
reinforcement.
• Pivotal response training (PRT) helps develop motivation to learn and
communicate.
• Verbal behavior intervention (VBI) focuses on language skills.

13. 2. Occupational Therapy. This kind of treatment helps your child learn
life skills like feeding and dressing himself, bathing, and understanding
how to relate to other people. The skills he learns are meant to help
him live as independently as he can.

14. • 3. PECS is a visual-based treatment,which allows a child to
communicate nonverbally. The pictures used in PECS can be
photographs drawings or symbols

16. Attention Deficit/
Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD

17. • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex mental
health disorder that can affect a child's success at school as well as
their relationships.
• People with ADHD experience symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity
and impulsiveness. Some are being diagnosed with ADHD because
they have symptoms related to not being able to pay attention. But
they might also be diagnosed with ADHD if they have symptoms
related to being overly active and impulsive. they might also have
ADHD if they have symptoms of both.

18. • According to dsm 5 which is most recent update in 2013, ADHD is
split into 3 subtypes:
Inattentive, hyperactive/ impulsive or both.

19. • Inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive have set of nine symptoms
each. For example some with inattentive subtype might make careless
mistakes, not listening, or be easily distracted. And some with the
hyperactivity and impulsive subtype might fidget or squirm around or
get up from their chair often.

20. • diagnosis is given when someone has six of the 9 symptoms for either
subtype for atleast six months. Most commonly though children have
symptoms of both subtypes and therefore have combined subtype.
Since ADHD is considered neurodevelopmental disorder the
symptoms also have started between age of 6 and 12 and the
behaviour cant be appropriate for their age.

21. Factors
• a child with a sibling who is diagnosed with adhd , or siblings are
identical twins meaning they have same DNA there chances of
developing adhd is considerably higher.
• Low birth weight and mother’s consumption of alcohol or tobacco
may lead to ADHD
• Lower amounts of Dopamine and norepinephrine contribute to
symptoms of adhd.
• Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls

22. • Treatment for ADHD can be tricky since symptoms might vary from
patient to patient.
• Although most often involves either
• behavioural psychotherapy, medication, or both.

23. • Behavioural psychotherapy is often targeted at children and focuses
on teaching the child better time management and organizational
skills. Example having structured routine they keep on follow and
providing rewards when they stick on their routines. Parent and
teacher involvement is important and both behavioural parent
training and behavioural classroom management have been turned
out to helpful for the children with adhd. For adults behavioural
psychotherapy may focus on ways of decreasing distractions and also
improving organizational skills.
• If medications are prescribed, typically the first line options are
stimulants, which will increase the number of neurotranmitters like
dopamine between neurons.