Disorders that are diagnosed in childhood and often continue throughout the lifespan

 Disorder characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills that is often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior  Spectrum because the severity of the deficits can vary widely from individual to individual  Social relatedness is at the core of the disorder  Do not make eye contact  Insight into the thoughts and points of view of others is particularly lacking  Failure to develop a normal theory of mind  Language skills can vary greatly  None, delayed, normal  However, regardless of skills, most still have a hard time maintaining conversation  Object to changes in the environment  Show a high level of repetitive, routine behavior  Rocking, hand-flapping, head-banging, twirling  One possible source of this is increased or decreased sensitivity to stimuli Ritualistic behavior may serve to control or override these sensations

 Have been rapidly increasing over the last two decades  1 in 110 children  Rates in California have jumped 273% between  Why?  An unknown environmental trigger?  Increased awareness among parents and health care providers?  Relaxed applications of the diagnostic criteria?  Increased availability of services for children with the disorder?  Males are more likely to be diagnosed

 Parental age seems to be a risk factor  Older parents are more likely to give birth to a child with autism  Family and twin studies provide strong evidence that it is influenced by genetics  Large number of genes are involved  Environmental factors interacting with genetics during prenatal development  Vaccinations play NO PART in the development of autism  In the first half of 2008, measles cases doubled compared to the rates observed in 2000 and 2007

 Criteria for the disorder are difficult to distinguish from the behaviors of many typical young children  Many will be treated with medicine  Involves inattention and hyperactivity  Inattention: Inability to maintain sustained attention or on- task behavior for an age-appropriate length of time  Hyperactivity: high level of motor activity and find engaging in structured activities (ie waiting in line) very challenging As adults, those diagnosed with ADHD as children have more traffic accidents  Many of these behaviors are seen in children who do not have psychological disorders  Fewer than 40% of physicians reported using the DSM criteria to evaluate cases of ADHD  More than half of the children in a very large sample who were receiving medication for ADHD did not meet even relaxed diagnostic criteria for the disorder  7.74% of children between the ages of 4-17 had been diagnosed with ADHD

 Genetics – may be as high as 76% heritability  Frontal lobe may be underactive  Matures much more slowly in children with ADHD  Parts of the brain that have dopamine activity  Drugs like Ritalin or Adderall boost the activity of dopamine