Autism Spectrum Disorder Psychology 380-B01

Autism Spectrum Disorder Psychology 380-B01 Abstract This paper will reflect research on the autism spectrum disorder, particularly the spectrum itself and how it effects children on a leveled severity scale from one to three according to the DSM-5. A discussion will then take place about the biological issues, how autism comes about, as well as the history of the disorder and how it was first diagnosed and how it effects the brain and connective tissue. Furthermore, it will be determined the best treatment options for autism and how disabled people are seen through a Biblical worldview. This disorder was chosen because it is a personal matter within my family as my cousin was diagnosed with what we thought was cerebral palsy 38 years ago, but now we believe to be autism and is on the spectrum today. This paper will hopefully be able to educate people about autism and how it effects not just the child, but the family as well.   Introduction Autism is one of many different disorders that have been learned throughout the semester. Most people like to refer to it as the autism spectrum disorder because there are a few levels of severity for people with autism and they are listed differently on the spectrum. The DSM-5 is basically a manual for mental disorders and has last been updated in 2013. It is a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association that most mental health care providers use to diagnose most mental and behavioral conditions, autism being one of them. According to this manual, autism is defined as the persistent deficit in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts as manifest by the following, currently or by history (DSM-5). 1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation. 2. Deficits in nonverbal communication behaviors used for social interaction, ranging for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures (DSM-5). These are just a couple examples of lack of what autism kids have. The next part of the spectrum is of course the severity scale which ………………………………….CONTINUED……………………………………..