Autism

Biography

Biography: Megan Lawson

Abstract

With increases in knowledge and changes in perspective, what we know as Autism has been redefined again and again. It is currently understood as a spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders that presents in early childhood, predominantly affecting social and emotional functioning along with repetitive or stereotyped behaviors. Although the ideas that Autism is a heterogeneous disorder that manifest on a spectrum of severity have been accepted, it is too often conceptualized as a single illness, this results in suboptimal evaluations and overly general treatment recommendations. However, there is considerable research to guide us in performing comprehensive evaluations and selecting targeted treatments for children with ASD. The goal of the present study is to create a manual that combines the best of the available research to guide the practitioner in the evaluation and treatment selection for children with ASD. The goals of the manual are threefold: 1) To clarify what a comprehensive ASD evaluation looks like; 2) to link assessment results to severity level on the ASD spectrum as laid out by DSM-5, and 3) to provide treatment options best suited for different placements upon the spectrum.