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Differences Between Schizophrenia And Autism Aspergers Syndrome

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Autism and Aspergers Syndrome have an early childhood onset while schizophrenia comes on much later. Patients with Schizophrenia have small brains while persons with Autism/ Aspergers Syndrome often have larger brains .

Of course the difference between schizophrenia and Autism/Aspergers Syndrome is that in schizophrenia if you can get an accurate history there is loss of these phenomena while in Autism/Aspergers Syndrome they are consistently there often from onset of the clinical features. Persons with Autism/Aspergers Syndrome are very rigid on inpatient units. They therefore did not fit in with the routines of inpatient units in the same way that persons with schizophrenia can.

In my clinical experience clear or first rank symptoms of Schizophrenia do differentiate Schizophrenia from Autism.

The Art Of Cripping Up

When making films and TV shows about disability, Hollywood often excludes disabled people from the production. Many times disabled characterssuch as Dr. Sean Murphy in The Good Doctor and Augie in Wonderare played by able-bodied, neurotypical actors. Many disabled people call this tactic cripping up.

The art of cripping upwhere non-disabled actors play disabled rolesis still prevalent, taking work and opportunities from an already grossly marginalized and underrepresented group, said disability rights activist Samantha Renke.

Rebecca Faith Quinn, an autistic actor, writer, producer and TikTok autism acceptance activist, called out the double standard of neurotypical people pretending to be disabled on camera:

It just irritates me because its just like, if you watch movie, knowing that this is a neurotypical person who is not disabled playing a disabled person, I dont understand why it doesnt make you, make a person uncomfortable. Because in any other stance, if you pretend to be a disabled person, for money, people will just like theyll rip you apart. Theyll be like, thats so offensive, thats so horrendous. But the second you put a camera in front of them, its okay.

What Is Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. There is often nothing about how people with ASD look that sets them apart from other people, but people with ASD may communicate, interact, behave, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives others need less.

A diagnosis of ASD now includes several conditions that used to be diagnosed separately: autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified , and Asperger syndrome. These conditions are now all called autism spectrum disorder.

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Enhancing Pharmacologic Efficacy In Multiple Sclerosis

A drug which is widely utilized to lengthen the time between relapses in MS is glatiramer acetate , a random amino acid polymer similar in composition to MBP . It is believed that glatiramer produces its benefit by complexing with the anti-MBP antibodies and reducing T-cell attack, thereby raising the level of the free MBP available for the regeneration and organization of functional myelin. The primary benefit of this drug in relapsing MS, for example, is to extend the time between attacks in the long term, the disease typically eludes improvement under this regimen, however.

The observation that the symptoms of MS exacerbate with a patient’s age, and that the serum IGF level in all humans normally falls with age, further supports the contention that demyelination in this disease is related to the total quantity of free IGF available . The variation in the rate of decrease of IGF activity is believed due in part to polymorphism of the IGF gene on chromosome 12, mRNA heterogeneity, and concentrations of the growth factor’s six binding proteins . Hypomyelination caused by growth hormone deficiency can be reversed by IGF-1 in transgenic mice . Thus, the potential for spontaneous remyelination of denuded axons in MS patient’s decreases with age , unless additional IGF can be supplied parenterally.

How Can Speech Therapy Assist My Child With Autism

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Speech therapy can assist your child in improving his or her verbal, nonverbal, and social communication. Communication abilities and speech-related challenges can vary from person to person. Common objectives may include improving spoken language , learning nonverbal skills such as signs or gestures, learning appropriate social skills , or learning to communicate using an alternative method . The speech-language pathologist will likely use a variety of treatment techniques to address your child’s deficits. Treatment techniques may include: Pivotal Response Treatment , Floortime, Picture Exchange Communication System , or Language Acquisition through Motor Planning . For more information on speech therapy services and treatment approaches, please see our speech therapy tab here.

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Speech And Language Therapy

People with ASD may need help with communication skills. Some are very vocal while others may not speak at all.

Knowing many words does not mean that someone with ASD can communicate in a way that is easily understood. And knowing only a few words may mean that someone with ASD communicates in their own way.

Some people with ASD are well spoken when talking about their favourite topic. However, they may be unable to communicate effectively in other areas.

A speech-language therapist can help people understand and use words to:

  • ask for help
  • look at books and tell stories
  • start, stop or take turns in a conversation

A speech-language therapist can also help people understand and use gestures to communicate. They may:

  • work directly with the person using a personalized program
  • teach the family, caregivers or teachers helpful skills

How Is Aspergers Syndrome Different From Autism

Aspergers syndrome is no longer a standalone diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition .

This most recent edition was published in 2013. Since then, anyone who would have received a diagnosis of Aspergers according to diagnostic criteria in previous editions of the manual would simply get a diagnosis of ASD instead.

The signs associated with Aspergers now fall under ASD, a spectrum of persistent communication and behavior patterns. But many people who received an Aspergers diagnosis before this change may still prefer the original term.

They may need very little day-to-day support, and they may not get a diagnosis until later in life.

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Benefits For People Who Are Working

Working Tax Credit is a benefit for people who are working and have a low income. You must be working a certain number of hours per week to qualify. The number of hours needed to qualify depends on your circumstances.

To claim Tax Credits, call the Tax Credits Helpline on 0345 300 3900.

People who are working can claim Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support if their income and savings are low enough. Please see below for more details.

Working Tax Credit and Housing Benefit are gradually being abolished and replaced by Universal Credit, please see information below.

Negative Symptoms In Schizophrenia And Aspergers Syndrome

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Lewis et al. states that negative symptoms can precede the onset of illness . These symptoms include affective flattening, alogia, avolition, anhedonia, and poor attention. Poor attention is common in schizophrenia and Autism/Aspergers syndrome. The greatest overlap occurs between negative symptoms in schizophrenia and Autism/Aspergers syndrome.

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Genetic Sex Differences May Influence Common Diseases

Weisss team followed up this research with a second paper published online December 14, 2016 in Genetics and scheduled for print in February, 2017 exploring the role of sex differences on the genetics of nine other diseases, some that strike men more frequently , some that are more common in women , and others that occur with similar frequency in men and women .

The study looked for data that could distinguish a number of explanations for sex differences in these diseases: whether disease risk was correlated with distinct genetic variants in women and men, or whether the two sexes might instead have different sensitivities to the same genetic risk factors whether sex differences in disease risk could be explained by different levels of the sex hormones testosterone or estrogen or as side effects of the development of other secondary sex characteristics or whether sex differences were linked to differences in the sex chromosomes the fact that women have two X chromosomes while men have one X and one Y.

Lead authors on the PLoS Genetics paper were Ileena Mitra and Kathryn Tsang of UCSF. Lead authors on the Genetics paper were Michela Traglia, PhD and Dina Bseiso of UCSF and Alexander Gusev, PhD, of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and the Harvard School of Public Health. For a full listing of author and funding information, see the published manuscripts online. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Getting A Foot In The Door: Disclosing For Interviews

Absent an explanation, communication difficulties in an interview may almost certainly derail the candidacy.

While autism may carry stigma, disclosing it may work in an applicant’s favor if it provides a more favorable explanation for certain problems. For example, a job seeker with unexplained gaps in his work history and communication problems might be evaluated more positively if an interviewer knows he has autism, according to law professor Hensel.2 “Absent an explanation, communication difficulties in an interview may almost certainly derail the candidacy,” she wrote.

A small study found that college students with autism had subtle communication differences during mock job interviews. They took longer to begin answering questions and spoke for more variable lengths of times than other students, according to researchers at City University of New York. They recommended that college students with ASD receive help managing first impressions, a social skill useful in job interviews.7

Other studies also found that first impressions can be a problem in autism. Researchers at University of Texas found that observers formed more negative first impressions of people with autism than other people when they viewed or heard videos, photos, or sound recordings of them in a social situation.8 A second study found that first impressions improved when observers were told the person had autism, especially if the observers were familiar with autism.9

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Who Loses A Diagnosis

Families often want to know how children achieve optimal outcome. Was there something different about them?

Research suggests that people who lost their autism diagnosis often:

  • Were diagnosed younger, such as before 31 months of age,13, 14
  • Had better cognitive abilities,10 and milder symptoms, particularly in the social arena, as young children,4, 14, 15
  • Had a larger reduction in repetitive behaviors between ages 2 and 3,10
  • Underwent earlier, and more intensive autism intervention,10 especially therapies based on Applied Behavior Analysis.5, 11

ABA-based therapies have a history of effectiveness, but Dr. Fein is quick to point out that they are not a magic pill. Families should not assume that their children would have lost their diagnosis if only they had received ABA therapy, she said. “It is sad when a parent of 15- or 20-year old says, ‘If only I had done ABA when he was 2, he’d be in a different place.’ This is not necessarily the case at all.” More seems to be involved in outcome than just ABA, she said. Some children may have forms of autism that are more likely to subside with treatment or maturation.

Some communities and families do not have access to ABA, so she has co-authored a book to help parents use ABA principles at home with their children, The Activity Kit for Babies and Toddlers at Risk.

Study Samples And Data Quality Control

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As these data were genotyped using different platforms, we cross-referenced SNP ids and strand information as follows. First we converted all custom, non-reference SNP ids into corresponding reference SNP ids by querying the UCSC Genome Browser . Then we examined all reference SNP ids to confirm that they are up-to-date by querying NCBI dbSNP and removed six SNPs that had multiple identifiers. Next, we checked all the allelic and chromosomal position information of each data set with the HapMap genotype data , reconfiguring the strands when alleles did not match. Mapping SNPs into the corresponding gene regions was done by querying NCBI dbSNP . The number of intersection SNPs between ASD and WTCCC4 set was 5318, and the number of intersection SNPs between ASD and WTCCC7 set was 73331.

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To Tell Or Not To Tell: Disclosing A Disability In The Workplace

Young adults entering the workforce today grew up in a time of greater openness about disability. Students with autism often attended class alongside those without disabilities. Special Education plans, called IEPs, made sure that teachers knew a student had a disability and needed certain help to succeed. For students who entered college, registering at the campus disability services office ensured they could continue to get at least some “accommodations” to their autism, such as copies of lecture notes.

So should someone who is used to disclosing his autism in school continue to do so when he enters the world of work? Some says yes: disclosure enables a worker to get an accommodation that can help him get and keep a job. But others say disclosing could lead to subtle or obvious forms of prejudice.

Michael J. Prince, a Canadian professor, summed up the dilemma for people with “invisible” disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder . “While disclosure is the route to a workplace accommodation process and can be in the best interest of the employee with a disability,” he wrote, “it is a highly risky decision to disclose, with numerous potential disadvantages along with advantages.1

What are those pros and cons? If you decide to disclose, how and when should you do it, and what accommodations can you seek?

First, it helps to understand how U.S. law affects workers with autism.

Speech And Swallowing Changes With Ms

Speech and swallowing changes can occur due to affected nerves being damaged. This may present as changes to the voice tone and quality, or coughing when eating.

These symptoms should be reported to your MS healthcare team for assistance from a speech therapist, who can advise on appropriate management.

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Are There Known Triggers For Ms

Experts suspect a number of potential triggers or risk factors for MS. For example, some believe that its due to a chronic infection . Others believe that its primarily a genetic neurological disease. These theories challenge the idea that MS is primarily an autoimmune disease although there may be more than one trigger or combination of triggers that causes a person to develop MS.

Some studies suggest that head injuries might be a risk factor for MS. If true, it raises important questions about how MS develops and how it might be prevented. On the other hand, its not an easy thing to study because researchers would never intentionally cause head injuries to see if they cause MS. Another way to study this question is to enroll people who already have MS, look back at whether they had concussions, and then compare them with similar people who dont have MS.

A study published in the September 2017 issue of Annals of Neurology did just that.

What Is The Life Expectancy For People With Ms

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Its almost impossible to predict how MS will progress in any one person. Life expectancy in those with MS is increasing, according to NMSS.

About 10 to 15 percent of people with MS have only rare attacks and minimal disability 10 years after diagnosis, according to NMSS. Its generally presumed theyre not on treatment or injectable medications. This is sometimes called benign MS.

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Psychological Aspects Of Ms

Mood issues can be very common in MS, not just around the time of diagnosis, but at various stages of life. The most common mood disturbances are depression and anxiety which can be short or long term.

The most important thing to remember is to talk to your MS healthcare team as soon as you start to notice symptoms, so that you can access appropriate help, to improve your quality of life.

Link Between Multiple Sclerosis And Autism

If you google the two conditions together you will see an interesting trend of articles and studies. Those studies are mostly about parents with MS having children with autism. This suggests a link they are currently studying, but have no distinct answers on yet.

My own conditions have been getting progressively worse over the years. I fatigue faster, lose coordination a lot, have trouble forming words and speaking, and I have increasing random tremors that are more like lightning jolts. Autism isnt particularly know for being a progressive condition. So whats the difference?

I found this information about the nerve effects of the two conditions:

MS is a degeneration of protective layers around nerve endings, eventually leading to progressive nerve damage.

Autism is a developmental disorder of the nerves themselves.

So, from those two descriptions, its entirely possible to start out with Aspergers or some other form of autism and develop MS later on. Like Autism, MS can have profusely different effects on each person. Its another broad spectrum with a hundred million combinations.

In any case, I am sitting on a possible MS diagnosis. Thats why Im researching it to learn what the possibilities are and what I can do about it. No, I cant stop it from happening, but knowledge is power. If I have to live with this condition, I want to know as much about it as possible. I see the neurologist this month.

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