Transcription:
Autism on the Rise – How Can We Help?

Melanie Cole (Host):  Well, this is Melanie Cole today sitting in for Bill. One in every 68 children are now diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. The number of children with autism is now expected to continue to grow. My guest is Crystal Collette. She’s the coordinator of Autism Services for Centra Rivermont Schools across Virginia. Welcome to the show, Crystal. Tell us a little bit about the spectrum disorders and autism, what it is, and how it’s diagnosed. 

Crystal Collette (Guest):  Sure. Well, autism is a complex developmental disability. It typically appears within the first three years of life. If it’s able to be diagnosed that early, that’s great. Sometimes it’s not caught till later. But autism affects the normal functioning of the brain, which therefore impacts development. Autism is diagnosed using a tool called the DSM-5. In order for someone to be diagnosed with autism, they have to demonstrate difficulties in various areas, such as verbal communication, nonverbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. 

Melanie:  Now, we mentioned in the intro, Crystal, that the rates are going up, and more children will be diagnosed with autism. Why do you think this is? 

Crystal:  Well, it’s for a couple of reasons. Doctors are getting better at diagnosing. We’re a lot more aware than we used to be about autism. And no one really knows, I guess, why autism is increasing. Some people think it’s for a variety of factors. But regardless of why it’s increasing, the main thing is that we’re treating it effectively, and that’s what we’re trying to do here at Centra through our various programs for kids with autism. 

Melanie:  How important is early diagnosis and early intervention in helping these children mainstream? 

Crystal:  It is extremely important. The studies have shown that the sooner the child is diagnosed, the better the outcome is. We here at Centra have a diagnostic center that is able to provide tools to get that diagnosis. And early intervention really is critical because the sooner we can treat, the better the child has a chance of being in a less restrictive environment later on in life.
 

Melanie:  Crystal, before we talk about treatments and managing and parents, what does it mean to be on the spectrum? 

Crystal:  That’s a great question. I guess I’ll start by saying just because you know one person with autism doesn’t mean you know every single person with autism. Autism is a spectrum disorder, so that means that it encompasses a wide range of things. You might have someone on the autism spectrum that demonstrates more classic autism symptoms, meaning that that person may not be able to communicate using verbal language. They may demonstrate behaviors that are considered aggressive, things like that. Then you have the other end of the spectrum, which are people labeled with what used to be called Asperger’s. People on that end of the spectrum are typically very, very, very smart. They just have a lot of social weaknesses and areas where they need to improve on. It really encompasses such a wide range of ability levels and functioning levels, and it’s often called the autism umbrella because it encompasses so much. 

Melanie:  What red flags now should parents be looking for that would signal that their children should come and see you and get diagnosed? What things should they look for as their children start to go through those developmental milestones? 

Crystal:  Things like if your child isn’t speaking. That’s typically one of the first things that parents, we see a lot of, I guess. So, not speaking, not reaching other developmental milestones, physical development milestones like walking or crawling. Sometimes that puts up a red flag. Another big one is when children don’t play with toys the way that they’re meant to be played with. For example, if I were to give a box of cars to a three-year-old, that three-year-old might drive the cars, build roads, crash the cars together. A red flag might be the child simply lining up the cars maybe based on color or size or type and not really functionally playing with the toys. 

Melanie:  When they notice these red flags and they take the children in, if they get diagnosed as being on the spectrum, how do they deal with the diagnosis? What is the next step in treatment to achieve the best outcome? 

Crystal:  Well, in getting the diagnosis, it is really critical because that opens up services. My main advice is to not look at the diagnosis, to look at the behaviors. As a behavior analyst, that’s what I’d do. And the parent would want to get applied behavior analysis service because that type of services are the ones that are the most evidence-based and proven to help with children with autism to acquire skills and decrease maladaptive behaviors and things like that. That’s definitely the key is getting some type of applied behavior analysis services.  

Melanie:  Where does school intervention come in, Crystal? Our parents, do they work with the schools to get their children into whether it’s special education or mainstream with an aide or not? Tell us about what the outcome for school-aged children is. 

Crystal:  Well, if the child’s academics are impacted, the child will likely have an IEP, an Individualized Education Plan, and that also opens up a multitude of sources that the child can receive during the school day. If the child is not impacted academically, the child may have a 504 plan. Regardless, getting some type of plan in place is critical because that’s a legal document. And really, what the child would need in school would just depend on their needs. There are some children with autism that are able to function during the school day in a public school setting with just some slight adaptations during their day and not really any one-to-one support. Some children need one-to-one support during the day in a public school setting. Then others aren’t able to function in a public school setting and come to schools like we have that are private day schools that provide one-to-one attention and really individualized, specialized instruction using applied behavior analysis. 

Melanie:  In just the last few minutes, Crystal, if you would, give your best advice to parents listening who might have a newly diagnosed child on the spectrum, what you would tell them right away as their first bit of hopeful information and why they should come to Centra Health for their care. 

Crystal:  Definitely. Well, the key is to get your child some type of help, whether that be in-home services or a clinic or whatever. Get some type of services going for your child. And secondly, take care of yourself. There are a lot of parent support groups out there, and those are extremely helpful for parents, whether it’s just learning about resources that they don’t know exist or just going to vent or hear other people’s stories and know that you’re not alone. I think that is really, really critical to take care of yourself because it is a hard time. No one expects that for their child, and it’s a difficult time when you get that diagnosis. So that really is key. As far as our services go, we do have the diagnostic center, which provides diagnostic testing, and we also do therapy there. We have in-home programs, which the therapist will actually come to the house and provide applied behavior analysis services to the house and training for the parents. Then we have our school programs, which we coordinate with the local school districts and provide academic and behavioral intervention throughout the day. 

Melanie:  Thank you so much. It’s really great information. You are listening to Centra Healthy Radio. For more information, you can go to centrahealth.com. That’s centrahealth.com. This is Melanie Cole sitting in for Bill Klaproth. Thanks so much for listening.