Overlapping symptoms and differences Psychosis Psychosis is not a diagnosis in and of itself but rather a cluster of symptoms present in...

Similarities and differences in conceptualisation, diagnosis and research Similarities: ASD and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions that manifest themselves at different stages of life (two opposite ends of life span, i.e., childhood and old age) (Nadeem et al. 2021; Khan et al. 2016; Rhodus et al. 2020). According to the present trend, they both can be described as neurodivergent conditions. In fact, include both ASD and dementia

Overlaps in biological pathways, clinical features and behavioural expression Although Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and ASD are etiologically distinct conditions , there is growing evidence of significant overlaps in biological and neurological features, and behavioural expression of ASD and AD (and related dementias). Studies also suggest that there are common neurological pathways in both ASD and dementia, particularly involving the immune system and synaptic signaling. A gene

- Hello, where are you? - I am at home. - At home? Where? - I have one home, in England. Why? What’s happened? - Why did you leave without saying ‘goodbye’? It was great when you and your daughter came to see me. We visited friends and had fun. I was preparing your farewell party, but you left. You could have said goodbye… Thus began my conversation with my childhood friend (B.). We have be

Is it a supernatural or natural phenomenon? It depends. For example, if we see ‘telepathy’ as something ‘unscientific’ and ‘not worthy’ of the investigation, we are quick to dismiss it, and all the reports of the cases that might illustrate it are considered ‘anecdotal’ (that cannot be replicated) and unreliable. But what if we look at it as a form of non-verbal communication? We may assume that non-verbal individuals who do not develop understanding of verbal language yet,

The way we perceive the world affects the way we store and use information. The conscious mind is not the only way of receiving information. Subconsciously, we are perceiving all the time – whether we are aware of it or not, subconscious processes are there. For example, at an early stage of visual processing there is a ‘low-level map-like representation’ which most are not consciously aware of (Rensink 2000). It is only at higher levels of processing, where attention plays a

A painful truth Sensory stimuli can be experienced very differently by autistic individuals. Just because we may not feel something, it does not mean that they don’t. It’s something that is so simple to understand, yet not knowing anything about it makes you feel unable to help your own child. As he grew, I began to notice more and more my son’s very acute aversion to some things we would not think twice about. Seemingly mundane tasks such as getting his hair cut or his nails

Though echolalia can be non-communicative , in many cases it is used for communication. Parents of autistic children (with echolalia) can decode their child’s utterances. For example, for many years (up until he was in his late teens), Alyosha was echolalic and used set phrases to talk to us. Most of the time it worked because I knew his particular ways to let me know that he was hungry or wanted to watch TV, or to go for a walk. The problem is, however, that for others (neig

Autistic people have unique ways of communicating and interacting that are rooted in their unique ways of thinking and experiencing the world. While there is much variation between autistic individuals, the following guidelines are a few good things to consider when communicating with autistic people. - Distance : Many autistic people are hypertactile and may be afraid that people who get too close might touch them, or they may simply feel uncomfortable with the nearness of

Some individuals with ASD (especially those with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome) possess well-developed spoken language, with good vocabulary and perfect grammar. However, they still have difficulties with pragmatics (using language for communication) and non-verbal communication. Let us consider some other common problems experienced by ‘fluent speakers’: Receptive language Autistic people may have problems with comprehension because of processing problems. Th

The Intense World Syndrome and other ‘sensory theories’ Although already in the very first descriptions of autistic children, researchers...

Why can’t my child speak? It was estimated that about one third (Bryson 1996) to one half (Lord & Paul 1997) of autistic people never develop any functional speech: they are functionally mute. More recent research estimates of the proportion of children with ASD who have been classified as minimally verbal vary from 25% to 35%. What is it like not being able to talk? People who have never experienced this will go through life never knowing how soul crushing the condition of w

We assume that language is necessary verbal (i.e., comprising of words). That is why we say that children are verbal if they can talk (no matter that their verbal output is just a combination of echolalic phrases) and that they are non-verbal if they cannot produce verbal utterances. As the original experience of the world of autistic children is sensory-based, their original internal language (as a tool of formulation and expressing thoughts) consists of sensory-perceptual (

At about the same age all typically developing children, no matter what culture they are born into, manifest similar patterns of speech and language acquisition. In autism, however, there is no clear and rigid pattern during the first year, whereas in later years there appears a pattern typical for autistic children’s development (Saint-Georges et al. 2010). Crying as a ‘language’ Vocalization and babbling can be considered the earliest expression of language development (Che

It is not as simple as ABC When we come across a behaviour that’s difficult, there’s a popular method that’s used to help parents and carers to analyse what’s happening and do something about it. You may have heard about it – or even used it. It’s called the ABC approach the idea of which is that you find a trigger for the behaviour ( A ntecedent), define the B ehaviour and provide the ‘ C onsequence’ (for example, ignore/ time out) for this (often deemed ‘inappropriate’) beh

Thomas, a 12-year-old autistic boy has a long history of some features of anxiety and depression. For the past several months, he has been more anxious, sad, and easily overwhelmed. He seems irritable at home and school and cries often. He responds very slowly to the questions and often says "I don't know, I don't know," almost in an automatic way and he is now engaging in some repetitive hand movements which he had not done previously. He is no longer able to shower independ

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome or Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by sudden, brief, repetitive, involuntary (unwanted) movements or vocal sounds called tics. They can range from mild to severe. Severe symptoms might significantly interfere with communication, daily activities and quality of life. Tics can be classified as: Simple tics: they involve a limited number of muscles. Complex tics: they involve several muscle groups. Motor tics in TS

- ‘Mum, on my way home from school I met a very nice lady. We chatted. She sent you her best wishes.’ - ‘But who was this nice lady?’ - ‘I don’t know, but she knows us all: she asked how we all were doing…’ - ‘Why didn’t you ask her name?’ ‘Oh, mum, it’s so embarrassing…' There is a neurological condition that, though not specific to autism, appears to be quite common in (at least, some) autistic individuals. It’s called prosopagnosia, or face blindness. People with this cond

During a science lesson, the teacher shows a picture of a plant and explains what different parts of the plant do. ‘The root holds the plant in the soil and takes in water; the petals attract insects…’ Johnny, a boy with autism, seems to stare at her and listen to the explanations. However, his attention at the moment is directed to the play of light on the teacher’s earring; the colour changes each time the teacher moves her head. A few days after the lesson, Johnny goes for

“[After the assessment] I was surprised to learn that most of [the infantile reflexes] were still present and uninhibited in me at the age of almost thirty in spite of having learned to compensate for and cover them up. One which was still present was an infantile reflex that babies have to assist them in passing out of the womb! It was also found that I had different infantile reflexes present in different quarters of my body and that some were partially inhibited and some n