The Process of Diagnosing an Autism Spectrum Disorder Part 1: A Psychiatric Evaluation
Video Summary
Laura, the mother of Gregory, a 26 month old boy recently diagnosed with autism, sought a second opinion and a thorough evaluation at the Seaver Autism Center of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. This four part video documentary follows Laura and Gregory through the diagnostic process and its results. In Part 1, the Psychiatric Evaluation, Dr. Alexander Kolevzon, the clinical director of the Seaver Center, interacts with Gregory, looking for the signs of autism, and asks Laura about his development and behavior. At the end, he talks about Gregory's strengths and weaknesses and expresses admiration for his mother's dedication.
"When you have children, there's an idealized sense of what those children are going to be...when hearing your child has autism, its a loss...Laura has channelled that energy into doing everything that she can for this kid. Its obvious...how skilled she's become at learning how to prompt him..how to engage him...she was terrific. "
— Alexander Kolevzon, MD
Keywords
- Autism-General Information
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Prenatal history
- Early Intervention (EI)
- Early Signs
- pediatrician's role
- risk alerts
- screening
- speech delays
- surveillance of children 0-3
- Family Life
- search for diagnosis
- parenting
- raising children with autism
- Milestones
- social milestones
- walking
- Non-Verbal Communicative Skills
- Clapping
- Nonverbal Behaviors Used in Social Interaction
- lack of eye contact
- lack of social smiling
- Nonverbal Communicative Skills
- lack of pointing
- Physical Development
- physical development
- Play
- lack of interest in toys
- inappropriate play with toys
- Restricted
- Repetitive Motor Behaviors
- hand flapping
- sensory stimulation
- Social Interaction
- lack of engagement
- Social Interaction
- lack of shared enjoyment
- Therapies
- Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
- Parent Involvement
- Toys
- cars
- Verbal Communicative Skills
- lack of expressive language
- receptive language
- lack of response to name
- inappropriate greeting