Articles Summary on Autism Spectrum Disorders

Summary one

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The article states that doctors have made it a routine to check for the presence autism especially among children because of the increased awareness on the importance of early diagnosis of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Different diagnostic tools are used depending factors such as the availability and training level of the clinicians (Corsello et al. 2013). The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) are two major measures commonly used to detect the disorder and have proven valid over the years.

Corsello et al. (2013) indicate that it is possible to diagnose ASD reliably in children below the age of three years as long as the clinicians have enough experience and are in clinics that specialize in the disorder. In a clinic specializing in ASD, given a sample, the ADOS is sensitive and specific; however, it is not as precise in general clinics (Corsello et al. 2013). Additionally, clinicians with not enough training and working in non-specialized hospitals are likely to give a misdiagnosis.

The article reports that the ADOS is used widely among clinicians. The ADI-R is also widely available except it takes a long time to give results hence not dependable (Corsello et al. 2013). In as much as the ADOS is vastly accessible and highly recommended as a good tool in observation diagnosis, there is scarce information on how effective it is especially when used by undertrained clinicians who are not combining it with the ADI-R. Studies show that the ADOS is an effective measure with infants in a general clinic with clinicians with a lot of experience. This is given that initial findings of the ADOS give good predictions of future diagnosis (Corsello et al. 2013). On the other hand, mixed results have been reported with children below the age of three years on the ADI-R bringing its preciseness into question.

Differential diagnosis of types of autism in children

Summary Two

Matson & Matson (2007) state that standardized tests have been developed to check for autism with special attention to young children. Definition and better distinction of the symptoms of the disorder in line with other types of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disorder (ID) have been given emphasis as well as detecting it as early as possible in life (Matson, & Matson, 2007). There are vast opinions and quick changes in opinions regarding the best way various disorders should be labeled in relation with the basic symptoms of autism, and this explains the development of tools to try and explain the major differences in definition and diagnosis.

Differential diagnosis of autism is a subject that has been widely researched. Children with autism are not always believed to have intellectual disorder even if the two conditions seem to overlap. Moreover, it is a common argument that both autism and the Aspergers Syndrome affect the I.Q .continuum. However, new information has come up where Aspergers condition is termed as a variant of autism rather than a separate condition. PDD-NOS, autism and the Aspergers syndrome have more symptoms in common and are more common populations compared to Retts syndrome as well as Childhood Degenerative Disorder (Matson, & Matson, 2007); this explains why differential diagnosis has given less attention to the last two and more to the former.

The article also mentions that scales have been developed to help differentiate the syndromes and improve diagnosis. Factors considered in the scales include the validity and reliability of the test on in improving the turnaround time and eliminating the risks of the change in the symptom patterns during the re-test (Matson, & Matson, 2007). The scale should be able to correctly spot autism in children at very young ages and predict a symptom pattern over time.

The use of a standardized measure of autism is the basis on which differential diagnosis is made which applies to children as young as 1.5 years. The STAT and CHAT have a high sensitivity and degree of precision in infants at 18-24 months (Matson, & Matson, 2007). In method, one approach sets apart children with ASD from those without and further tells the ASD conditions apart.

References

Corsello M.Christina .et al. Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in 2-year olds:a study of community practice.The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54:2,2013,pp178-185.

Matson, J. L., Nebel-Schwalm, M., & Matson, M. L. (2007). A review of methodological issues in the differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1(1), 38-54.