Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis

Words: 1078
Pages: 5

Introduction: In our society there are many developmental disorders that prevent us from functioning at a conventional level. A developmental disorder is a disease that prevents a person from learning the everyday tasks that make us what we as a society perceive to be normal. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can the one of the most severe developmental disorders. I have chosen to base this assignment on autism as I did my 2nd year work placement at Setanta Special School, Stillorgan – a school for students aged 12-18 on the Autism Spectrum. Autism includes a wide range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences (Freedman, 2009). There is a wide variation in challenges and strengths possessed by each individual with autism. This refers to the term known as “spectrum”. Autism is frequently misunderstood as many people often wrongly judge the way autistic people can act. …show more content…
ASD occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, but are almost five times more common among boys than among girls. What causes this disparity has largely remained unknown. Scientists now have uncovered genetic evidence to explain why the biological scales aren’t balanced. My researchers and scientists believe that there is something that protects the developing female brain from neurodevelopmental disorders including autism. The “Female Protective Model” proposes that more extreme genetic mutations are required for a female to develop autism than for a male. With matching genetic mutations, a male could show symptoms of ASD while a female could show none. However, as the female mutation threshold is higher, when girls are diagnosed with ASD, they tend to fall on the more severe end of the spectrum. Females with Autism are also often detected and diagnosed later than