Main description:

This unique resource is designed to be a practical, user-friendly guide for pediatricians, primary care providers, and all healthcare providers who work with children with autism spectrum disorder. Diagnosing and Caring for the Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder offers state-of-the art instruction to clinicians on how to recognize, diagnose and assist children with autism spectrum disorders, from early in life to transition to adulthood. This book will also delve into how to support pediatric patients by working with families, and discuss how to best interact with and support these families. The book opens with a comprehensive introduction of ASD and obstacles to diagnosis and common myths. Section Two is devoted to the early recognition of atypical development and reviews the steps in diagnosing autism, including the evaluation, the diagnostic visit, the developmental exam, and the discussion of findings with parents. Section Three covers treatment and interventions for the autism spectrum and includes a discussion on alternative therapies and how to direct parents toward evidence-based or plausible treatments. Section Four and Five addresses special topics that are relevant to the PCP's or pediatrician's long-term relationship with families, including chapters on anxiety, parents, challenging behaviors and common scenarios that occur across childhood for those who have ASD. Later chapters delve more deeply into providing informed, sensitive care for patients with intersecting identities, and discusses how gender identity and cultural perspective and attitudes can impact the pediatric patient with ASD. Engaging, and written in a conversational style, Diagnosing and Caring for the Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder will be an ideal resource for the pediatrician, primary care provider, and all healthcare providers working with children with ASD, providing concrete, step-by-step methods that readers can incorporate into their own practice.

Contents:

INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF AUTISM SPECRUM DISODERS.

SECTION I: DIAGNOSING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

1. Overview of the Diagnostic System: DSM-IV and DSM-V

2. Obstacles to Diagnosing Autism

3. Steps to Diagnosing Autism:

a. Early Identification

b. Autism Screening

4. The Diagnostic Visit;

a. The first minute

b. The developmental history

c. Recognizing signs of the Broader Autism Phenotype in parents

d. Assessing current development levels

i. Critical milestones

ii. Using Draw-a-Person

5. The Developmental Exam

a. The value of observation

b. The value of foreshadowing

c. Interacting with the child: from watching to touching

d. Looking for signs of genetic or neurologic conditions

6. Discussing Your Findings with Parents

7. Late diagnosis: The Older Child

8. The Diagnostic Borderlands of the Autism Spectrum and Co-occurring Conditions

SECTION II: TREATMENT AND INTERVENTIONS

9. Evidence-based Treatments

10. Plausible and Implausible Treatments

11. "CAM" Therapies and the Placebo Effect

SECTION III: SPECIAL TOPICS

12. Respect for the sensory and anxiety issues of children with ASD

13. Working with Parents: Teaching Effective Parenting Skills

14. Challenging Behaviors:

a. The ABC's of Challenging Behaviors

b. Having Appropriate Expectations

c. Standardized testing and preventing the need for psychotropic medication

15. Supporting Parents: A How-To Guide for the PCP

a. Early issues: sleep, diet, toilet training

b. School-aged issues: anxiety and inattention, friendship

c. Adolescence: Social drive, bullying, parent support, driving, dating

d. Transitions to Adult Life

SECTION IV: Conclusions

REFERENCES