Table of Contents
Why is autism so new?
The prevalence of autism in the United States has risen steadily since researchers first began tracking it in 2000. The rise in the rate has sparked fears of an autism ‘epidemic. ‘ But experts say the bulk of the increase stems from a growing awareness of autism and changes to the condition’s diagnostic criteria.
What is the intense world hypothesis of autism?
The Intense World Theory proposes that core elementary cognitive consequences in any child on the autistic spectrum are hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory, and hyper-emotionality.
Is autism life changing?
Like everyone else, people with autism move through significant life changes. Their quality of life depends not only on the foundation provided in childhood, but also on ongoing supports that are specific to their educational, medical, social, recreational, family and employment needs.
What is enhanced perceptual functioning?
Definition. The enhanced perceptual functioning (EPF) model of autism proposes that superior function and increased independence of auditory and visual perceptual processes are responsible for the distinct pattern of cognitive, behavioral, and neural performance observed in autism.
Why are transitions hard for people with autism?
With autism, the difficulty with making transitions is not intentional. Instead, the child struggles with making the cognitive adjustments necessary to move on. As a consequence, transitions in autism are often plagued with stress, anxiety, and frustration.
Is intelligence associated with risk of autism and autism spectrum disorders?
These studies indicate that polygenic, small-effect size alleles that increased risk of autism are also associated with increased intelligence (and strong correlates of intelligence, such as education level; Davies et al., 2016) among neurotypical individuals.
Do alleles for high and low intelligence overlap in autism?
These findings indicate that alleles for autism overlap broadly with alleles for high intelligence, which appears paradoxical given that autism is characterized, overall, by below-average IQ. This paradox can be resolved under the hypothesis that autism etiology commonly involves enhanced, but imbalanced, components of intelligence.
Do people with autism struggle with ‘theory of mind’?
It’s true that social difficulties are a hallmark of the condition, and there is plenty of research showing that people with autism struggle with ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) tasks that involve putting themselves in other people’s shoes. However, it’s important to realise that ToM involves two elements – a cognitive component and an emotional component.
How is IQ testing used to diagnose autism?
Modern IQ tests are more accurate and may make use of techniques to assess intelligence without inadvertently being thrown off by autism symptoms. The Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI), for example, allows psychologists to make an assessment of individuals who may have motor and language skill difficulties.