Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about autistic spectrum disorder. And if you want to follow along with written notes on this

topic, you can follow along in the CAM section of the Zero to Finals website or in the Zero to Finals

pediatrics book. So let's get straight into it.

Autistic spectrum disorder refers to the full range of people affected by a deficit in social

interaction, communication and flexible behavior. The classification of autistic spectrum disorder was defined in the diagnostic and statistical

manual of mental disorders fifth edition, or DSM-5, which was introduced in 2013.

This took previous diagnoses such as Asperger syndrome and autistic disorder and group them into

one spectrum disorder, suggesting that the same disorder was responsible for the features

of the condition and those that are affected fall somewhere along a spectrum.

The autistic spectrum has a significant range.

On one end, patients have normal intelligence and ability to function in everyday life,

but display some difficulties with reading emotions and responding to others.

This was previously known as Asperger Syndrome.

On the other end of the spectrum, patients can be severely affected and unable to function in normal environments.

Let's talk about the features.

As we've already suggested, features vary greatly between individuals along the autistic spectrum.

The features can be categorized as deficits in social interaction, communication and behavior.

Features are usually observable before the age of three years.

Firstly, the features of social interaction include a lack of eye contact, delay in smiling, avoiding physical contact with others,

being unable to read non-verbal cues, difficulty with establishing relationships,

and not displaying a desire to share attention, for example, not playing with others.

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