Symptoms and Treatment of Autism Joanne Rooney BUS670: Abnormal Psychology CapeCod University Professor: February 21, 2014

Running Head: Autism

Autism is considered to be a spectrum disorder ranging widely in severity and is classified as a pervasive development disorder. In the Two Faces of Autism video

there were two young boys ages 11 and named James and Lawrence. Both boys were

autistic, showing signs of a lack of ability to communicate effectively.

The DSM

Checklist touches briefly on the triad of impairments discussed in the Abnormal Psychology Video of Two Faces of Autism. The triad of impairments accordin g to the

video entail (1) the lack of capacity for social engagement or the ability to recognize that

other people are human, (2) Problem with language with some being as severe as not

having the ability to use language at all (3) Lack of imagination. In the video the first

young man introduced with his father was James who was eleven years old. James

appeared to not care or recognize that a video was being recorded about his condition.

There was a lack of responsiveness and interest or the lack of ability to share attention

with his father during the recording of the video. James displayed a lack of social and

emotional reciprocity especially when his father was rubbing his right arm. James

displayed a total lack of development of the spoken language and showed repetitive
2

Running Head: Autism

motor mannerisms. Also James seemed satisfied just sitting in his bed without doing

anything. Lawrence on the other hand also displayed an underdeveloped vocabulary of

the spoken language. However Lawrence showed more aptitude for interaction with

objects such as the TV or game he was watching. He displayed recognition of it no

longer being available and knew enough to signal some type of communication with his

mother to attempt and fix it for him. When Lawrence realized that his mother could no

longer fix the TV, he moved on to the next thing. Both autistic boys showed marked

impairment in their ability to use multiple nonverbal cues or behaviors to communicate

or connect with their parents. The average or non-autistic child would be more engaged

with their parents, making eye contact and communicating how they feel. Most eleven-

year-old boys would be into video games or watching sports on television or on the

phone. They would rarely want their parents hovering over them like the parents in the

video but like non-autistic eleven year olds they would want their privacy. There would

be a lot more social and emotional reciprocity between the child and parent of a non-

autistic child.
3

Running Head: Autism

In light of the treatment for pervasive development disorders, there are none currently

available the totally reverse the condition. However there are methods used to help the

autistic children such as James and Lawrence learn basic communication or life skills to

help them in living with their conditions. The treatments consist of behavioral therapy

which have been utilized for more than 30 years to teach new appropriate behaviors such as speech, life skills etc. Communication training is an alternative form of

communication taught to autistic individuals who are unable to develop speech as a

means of communication. Communication training uses other forms of communication

such as sign language and simultaneous communication. Parent training basically

involves the parents in the behavioral therapy treatment so that what is done is therapy

the parents are able to mimic some semblance of it at home in communicating with their child and enforcing learned principles (Comer, 2011). And finally, community

integration is simply integrating this learning process for an individual who suffers from a

pervasive developmental disorder so that the transition into the community will be

Running Head: Autism

successful in allowing them to implement learned principles and apply them

successfully outside of controlled environments and surroundings successfully.

Running Head: Autism

References
Comer, R. J. (2011). Pervasive Developmental Disorders. In R. J. Comer, Abnormal Psychology (pp. 44854). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.