B. Autism

Marked deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills. Social impairments are apparent even with support. Limited social interaction initiation and abnormal responses to others.

Requires substantial support to function. Shows inflexibility of behavior, struggles with change, and has restricted/repetitive behaviors that impact various areas of life.

Deficits in social communication that cause noticeable issues without support. Difficulty initiating social interactions, and unusual/unsuccessful responses to others.

Requires support. Shows noticeable social communication difficulties, struggles with social interactions starting and unusual reactions to social interaction.

Examples: difficulty switching between activities, struggles organizing or planning, impacting independence, unusual nonverbal communication, limited initiation of social interactions.

Examples: difficulty with back-and-forth conversations, odd attempts to make friends, trouble responding to social cues.

Recording ASD involves specifying support levels for social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors, intellectual impairment status, language impairment (and level if present), and associated conditions or factors.

This specifier notes whether ASD is 'with accompanying intellectual impairment' or 'without accompanying intellectual impairment'.

Records the presence and level of language impairment, such as no intelligible speech or phrase speech.

Specifies if ASD is linked to a known genetic, medical, environmental, neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral condition. This does NOT mean the condition caused the ASD.

Describes the level of social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors but does not determine services eligibility.

If catatonia is present, it is recorded separately from the core diagnosis of ASD.

Specify how much support is needed for social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors in the individual.

A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent impairments in social communication and interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

A core symptom of ASD, characterized by difficulty with reciprocal social interaction and communication.

A core symptom of ASD involving restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

Conditions that occur alongside another medical or mental health diagnosis, such as in this case, ASD.

A possible comorbidity where catatonic symptoms(posturing, negativism, mutism, stupor) combine with ASDs stereotypy and self injury behaviors

Difficulties in everyday functioning caused by ASD, varying depending on individual and environmental factors.

ASD varies by severity, affecting the level of difficulty experienced in social communication and repetitive behaviors.

Difficulty with social interaction, including nonverbal communication, joint attention, and relationship development. This includes a lack of eye contact, gestures, and understanding social rules and appropriate behavior.

Problems with using facial expressions, body language, gestures, and tone of voice during social interaction. This can include atypical use or complete absence of these cues.

A struggle to share attention or interest with others, including pointing, showing, bringing objects. This makes sharing interactions and perspectives difficult.

Lack of interest in social interaction, manifested as avoidance, passivity, or inappropriate behaviors; Difficulty fitting into social situations.

Difficulty understanding and engaging in age-appropriate pretend play and shared social activities.

Challenges in understanding appropriate social behaviors in different situations and how communication styles vary (irony, sarcasm).

Difficulties in initiating, maintaining, and understanding social relationships, which are evaluated based on age, gender, and culture.

The perceived exhaustion, concentration problems, and/or negative self-esteem that challenges the ability for productive and appropriate social interactions

A friendship where one person invests more effort and emotional investment than the other.

Consistent, patterned behaviors, interests, or activities that may vary in intensity.

Repetitive, often motor, behaviors like hand flapping, spinning objects or repetitive speech.

Repetition of heard words, either immediately or delayed.

Difficulty adjusting to alterations in routines or expectations.

Repetitive verbal or nonverbal actions that follow a fixed structure.

Unusual and intense concentration on specific topics or objects.

Unusual responses to sensory input, such as sounds, textures, or lights.

Specific dietary limitations related to the taste, smell, texture and appearance of food.

Repetitive behaviors that serve to reduce anxiety or promote calmness in some with ASD.

Outcome of ASD is usually determined by presence or absence of intellectual disability or language impairment (especially by age 5). Additional mental health problems, like epilepsy, also affect outcome.

Factors like advanced parental age, premature birth or in-utero exposure to harmful substances (like valproic acid) increase risk for ASD.

ASD has a strong genetic component, with heritability estimates ranging from 37% to over 90%, typically around 80%.

About 15% of ASD cases may be linked to known genetic mutations, such as de novo copy number variants.

Cultural norms for social interaction, communication, and relationships differ. ASD individuals experience significant impairment within their own cultural context.

While symptoms are evident in development, supports or compensation in adulthood, can mask the impairments in some cases.

Symptoms of ASD are significant enough to impair social, occupational, or other daily functioning, even when supports exist.

Many genes, rather than a single one, contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorder in most cases.

Inclusion of diverse communities (especially people of color) is still limited in genetic research for ASD.