PSYC 3505 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Twin, Basal Ganglia
11 Feb 2015
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Document Summary
Autism spectrum disorders (asd): are commonly thought of as a subset of pervasive developmental disorders that include autism, asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder (pdd). They are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in three areas: communication skills, social interactions and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour. Autism: it is a developmental disability affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, evident before the age of 3. It can also be characterized by severe cognitive deficits. Asperger syndrome: have higher intelligence and communication skills than those with autism but they display most if not all of the other characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. Prevalence: the number of cases diagnosed has increased, autism= 20 in 10 000, asperger=5 in 10 000. Canadian statistics: pdd= 15 in 10 000, higher prevalence in men than females (about 3:1 or 4:1) Autism used to be considered a rare disorder but today it is a lot more common.
