Question

Tells what the most important or interesting thing you learned about Autism from this article was, in your own words?

Gives your own ideas, based on the article, of what future research needs to be done, and/or how the information presented in the article helps illuminate?

Mental health treatment for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Fostering the mental health needs of people with ASD.

By Jonathan A. Weiss, PhD, Jason K. Baker, PhD, and Eric M Butter, PhD

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Though present in an early developmental period, impairments may not manifest until later in life, often when demands exceed one’s capacities. The notion of the spectrum relates to ASD symptom severity, with its expression ranging from mild to severe, and to some extent with intra-individual variability over time and across contexts. The spectrum also applies characteristic of intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, which vary tremendously. The most recent estimates of intellectual ability suggest that approximately 24 percent of youth with ASD have an intellectual disability, 23 percent have low levels of cognitive functioning but not in the intellectual disability range and the rest have at least average intellectual ability (CDC, 2014).

There are many ways that psychologists can support people with ASD, ranging from fundamental research into the neuropsychobiology of the phenomenon, to the provision of psychological care, to informing systems of practice and policies that can help the entire population. We describe three critical ways that psychologists are needed: Promoting mental health and addressing mental health problems, supporting the needs of parents as they provide care, and improving the training needs of future psychologists is of pressing concern to support the health and well-being of people with ASD.

Autism seldom walks alone. Emotional and behavioral problems, though not diagnostic, are major issues for people with ASD, occurring more frequently than in peers across the life course (Leyfer et al., 2006; Simonoff et al., 2008; Totsika et al., 2011a; Totsika et al., 2011b). For instance, when using parent report questionnaires, 59 percent of 5-year-olds with ASD are reported to have difficulty with hyperactivity, 46 percent with conduct, and 38 percent with emotions (Totsika et al. al 2011a). Higher rates are found with hyperactivity when children have both an intellectual disability and ASD (88 percent). Like in typically developing youth, rates rise as children age. Approximately 70 percent of youth with ASD, when sampled between 5 and 17 years of age, have emotional problems, and 65 percent have conduct problems (Totsika et al., 2011b). Rates are equally high when considering the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, with 70 percent of youth with ASD meeting criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder, and 40 percent for two or more, when using an adaptive structured interview that distinguishes ASD symptoms from other symptoms (Leyfer et al., 2006; Simonoff et al., 2008). The prevalence of aggressive behavior among individuals with autism is associated with co-occurring intellectual disability (Farmer et al., 2015).

Mental health disorders are important indicators of poor overall health (Linehan, Noonan Walsh, van Schrojenstein Lantman-de Valk & Kerr, 2004), and have serious implications for the quality of life and well-being of people with ASD, their families and the larger service system of care. There is tremendous expertise in the research, assessment and treatment of emotional and behavioral problems by psychologists, and the profession is ideally suited to support people with ASD, many of whom could benefit from the same kinds of psychological care provided to people without ASD. For example, existing cognitive-behavioral interventions effective in reducing anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression in children with neurotypical development have recently been adapted and extended to children with ASD (Ehrenreich-May et al., 2014; Russell, et al., 2013; Santomauro, Sheffield, & Sofronoff, 2016).

Families, and usually parents, bear persistent responsibilities for their children and adult children with autism. Recognizing that people with ASD function within broader systems of care, and largely depend on family support as children and as adults, there is a serious need to support family caregivers across the life course. There are numerous studies highlighting the psychological impact that caregiving can have on families of individuals with ASD, particularly when the children have emotional or behavioral difficulties (Tint & Weiss, 2016). Many families report experiencing crises at some point (Weiss & Lunsky, 2011) and high levels of stress (Ekas & Whitman, 2010; Smith et al., 2010). In addition to considering the health of caregivers themselves, emerging evidence suggests that parent well-being feeds back in meaningful ways upon children with ASD, with reciprocal influences identified between relevant aspects of parenting and child functioning over time (Smith, Greenberg & Mailick, 2014). For example, while negative parent attitudes may worsen behavior problems in the children with ASD (Baker, Smith, Greenberg, Seltzer & Taylor, 2011), positive aspects such as parental warmth and better parent-child relationships appear to promote resilience (Woodman, Smith, Greenberg & Mailick, 2015). Even more systemic factors such as family-level adaptability may improve mental health in parents and ameliorate behavioral challenges in adolescents with ASD (Baker, Seltzer & Greenberg, 2011). Thus, it is increasingly recognized that the best way to support a person with ASD is to also support their family. Efficacious treatments, often pioneered by psychologists, exist to improve the well-being of parents of children (Neece, 2014) and of adults with ASD (Lake, Perry & Lunsky, 2014), as well as to address the larger family climate (e.g., Smith et al., 2014).

Families are an effective agent of change for many of the impacts that autism can have on children’s development and adjustment. Strong work exists on ways to work with families to support the development of their affected children. While many of these comprehensive interventions such as early intensive behavioral intervention (Howlin, Magiati & Charman, 2009) and more developmental-based programs (Hardan et al., 2015; Kasari, Gulsrud, Paparella, Hellemann & Berry, 2015; Schreibman et al., 2015) have been developed specifically for parents of children with ASD, there have been several recent successes in adapting established parent-training interventions to address comorbid behavioral difficulties in this population. Programs designed to prevent and/or treat conduct problems in children with otherwise typical development, such as the Incredible Years (Dababnah & Parish, 2016) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT; Masse, McNeil, Wagner & Quetsch, 2016) have demonstrated success with families of children with ASD. Parent training specifically designed for children with autism spectrum conditions and disruptive behaviors has been developed, tested and is available for dissemination (Bearss, et al., 2015; visit the RUBI Autism Network

website).

Unfortunately, people with ASD, like people with other developmental disabilities, often struggle to access appropriate care as a result of systemic barriers and a lack of capacity (e.g., Ouellette-Kuntz, Garcin, Lewis, Minnes, Martin & Holden, 2005). This inequity may be related to a lack of sufficiently trained mental health professionals (e.g., Burge, Ouellette-Kuntz, McCreary, Bradley & Leichner, 2008). Even in situations where psychology programs value training in diversity and disability, the availability to provide training in ASD is limited. In a national Canadian survey of accredited clinical and counseling psychology graduate training programs, Weiss and colleagues (2010) reported that most graduate students were willing to obtain training in developmental disabilities broadly speaking, including ASD, but also felt that the level of their training in this subject was inadequate. This need for more training was most pronounced in trainees who aimed to work primarily with adults, though was also present in child and adolescent-focused students.

There is a tremendous need for psychologists to be able to provide timely assessments of ASD and mental health problems, and provide evidence-based interventions to address mental health disorders when they arise, across the lifespan. More broadly, the research and practice of psychology can be instrumental in informing decision makers to shape policies in ways that will support individuals with developmental disabilities in our country, and consequently in improving their well-being and mental health. ?

Answer 1

Autism Disease Syndrome effects children as well as adults, A child effecting with this disease shows the symptoms in the early childhood, which develops with age, it is a pervasive neuron disorder a child suffering from this disorder find difficulty in communication and walking a support is always required, their learning ability is slower than a normal child, Although the disease is present from early childhood the impairment does not manifest until the later years, The child suffering from ASD do repetitive act the ability to learn is also slow, The intellectual ability of the child also differ from child to child from mild to severe. Taking care of ASD child is a stress full duty on parents and caretakers, the Emotional and behavioral disorder is associated with these children, in turn, this gives rise to a family stress mounting several folds a psychologist plays an important role by promoting mental health and addressing mental problems, supporting the needs of the parents and giving them proper guidance, Parents wellbeing feeds back in meaningful ways if the parent is stress free on financial and health wise they can take proper care of a child . Positive parental attitude plays an important role, Family level adaptability plays an important role to improve mental health at adolescent. People with ASD and development disability often suffer to get appropriate care, Even in situations where psychology programs value training in diversity and disability, the availability to provide training in ASD is limited. As the disease severity differs from person to person. An early intervention treatment is a necessary A stress-free family support and. caregivers should be provided monetary it help in certain cases where it requires, A psychologist can provide by timely assessment of mental health problem and provide a problem-based solution.

An ASD patient needs love affection and treatment from birth until he lives Society and family's help and care plays an important role. The government should come forward to help these patients and take care of those who are taking care of them.