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Understanding, Diagnosing, and Treating Catatonia in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Catatonia is a distinct cluster of mood, motor, vocal and affective disorders once thought to be solely a specifier for various psychotic and mood disorders. It is now recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association,...
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A Meeting of Worlds: Multidisciplinary Teams in Autism Treatment
As Dr. Stephen Shore said, “if you’ve met one individual with autism, you’ve met one individual with autism.” Autism is a spectrum disorder with great variability in support needs from one person to the next. Given the spectrum of the disability, services and care for children with...
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Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Its Comorbidities as a Co-Occurring Health Issue in Autistic People
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) occurs in as many as 8% of autistic individuals with even a higher percentage that may have hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) (Cederlof et al., 2016, Kindgren et al., 2021). This estimate is low since EDS is more commonly diagnosed in females (Castori, 2012), who...
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The Prevalence of Comorbidities in Autism: Consideration of Comorbidity in Intervention and Treatment Response
“If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism.” In this quotation, Dr. Stephen Shore, an autistic professor of special education, refers to the unique and varied experience the autism spectrum can be for those individuals who experience it. Autism is an...
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The Art and Science of Treating Depression in Autism
This is the second of two articles about depression in people with autism. Part 1 is Diagnosing Depression in People with Autism. Thanks to research, we know more about depression in children and adults with autism than we used to know. Scientists have studied the rates of depression, risk...
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Autism and the Gut: Co-Occurring Gastrointestinal Challenges and Psychosocial Factors
Autism is a complex spectrum of behaviors and other distinguishing characteristics across individuals, for which our understanding of continues to unfold. Alongside it’s well documented social and sensory related symptoms, autism also regularly co-occurs with a host of medical complications that...
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Why So Many Autistic Individuals Have Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have a devastating effect on the lives of those affected and are associated with the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. While they can affect anyone, there is a higher incidence of people with autism who have eating disorders compared to the general population....
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Autism Spectrum Disorder and Comorbidity: A Systematic Approach to Treatment
Comorbidity refers to the presence of one or more mental or physical conditions that coincide with a primary mental or physical condition (Al-Beltagi, 2021). Research has shown that 70% of autistic children meet the criteria for one comorbid disorder and 40% meet the criteria for two or more...
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Effective Collaboration Models for Individuals with Complex Needs
Many students with autism require a multitude of services to aid in their success and independence within the school, home, and community environments. These services may include, but are not limited to, general and/or special education instruction, speech and language services, occupational...
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Assessment and Treatment of Challenging Behavior Maintained by Social Reinforcers
About 1 in 54 school-age children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Maenner et al., 2020). The core symptoms of ASD include impairments in social interaction, difficulties communicating, and restricted and repetitive interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Although not a...
