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Search terms: Autism Spectrum Disorder, definitions
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of five closely-related neurobiological disorders, including Autistic Disorder, Asperger's Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Rett's Disorder. ASD is among the most disabling and mystifying of all childhood developmental disorders because these individuals have an atypical pattern of development that affects multiple areas of functioning (Hut & Metz, 2008; World Health Organization, 2006).
The definitions and boundaries of ASD have evolved over decades, leaving a confusing array of terminology for clinicians. Autistic Disorder is generally referred to as autism and, less frequently, as childhood autism, or infantile autism. Rett's Disorder sometimes appears as Rett Disorder or syndrome. Asperger's Disorder is also referred to as a syndrome or referred to as high functioning autism. PDD-NOS may simply be labeled as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The umbrella term, ASD, is sometimes labeled Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Freitag, 2007; Strock, 2007).
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the historical evolution of the definitions for ASD and present the most current classifications, along with a brief overview of some of the key behavioral and developmental problems related to each disorder. The role of pediatric nurses in a variety of settings in surveillance and early assessment are identified.
Definitions
Two Austrian psychiatrists described two subtypes of ASD in the 1940s. Kanner in 1943 reported an unusual condition characterized by social aloofness, impaired social interactions, disturbances in language development, and rigidity and problems with change, which he labeled "classic autism or Kannerian autism." In the ensuing years, many terms were used to stand for this disorder, such as infantile autism, pervasive developmental disorder-residual type, childhood schizophrenia, and autism psychoses among others (Filipek et al., 1999). The first official clinical definition for autism in the United States was published in 1980 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Asperger in 1944 described a syndrome from four children in his care who had serious difficulty in social interactions. He labeled the syndrome "autistic psychopathy" and defined it as marked social isolation.
The most recent edition of the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) includes five related disorders on the autism spectrum under the Pervasive Developmental Disorder...