Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Autism Spectrum Disorder
ICD-10-CM: F84.0
1. Criteria
DSM Criteria
Criterion A
- Persistent deficits in social-emotional reciprocity are present.
- Persistent deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction are present.
- Persistent deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships are present.
DSM Criteria
Criterion B
- At least 2 restricted or repetitive behavior features are present, such as stereotyped movements or speech, insistence on sameness or inflexible routines, highly restricted interests, or hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input.
DSM Criteria
Criterion C
- Symptoms are present in the early developmental period.
DSM Criteria
Criterion D
- Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment.
DSM Criteria
Criterion E
- The disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability alone, although the two may co-occur.
2. Context
- Autism spectrum disorder is best understood as a developmental pattern involving persistent social-communication differences alongside restricted or repetitive behaviors, interests, routines, or sensory styles. The presentation can look very different from one person to another, which is why context and support needs matter so much.
- Two-domain model: The evaluation usually comes back to two broad areas: social communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior.
- Developmental onset: The pattern starts early, even if it becomes more visible only when social or adaptive demands increase.
- Severity framing: Support needs vary widely, so adaptive functioning and day-to-day context matter more than any one single trait.
- Clinical focus: Structured observational assessment used in comprehensive autism evaluations.
3. Validated scales
ADOS-2
Structured observational assessment used in comprehensive autism evaluations.
SRS-2
Measures social responsiveness and autistic traits across settings.
Vineland-3
Tracks adaptive functioning and support needs.
4. FDA approved treatments
FDA-indicated medications for irritability associated with autism
Medication does not treat the core social-communication syndrome directly; current diagnosis-specific FDA labeling primarily targets associated irritability.
Common off-label medications
Interventional psychiatry modalities
- No established interventional psychiatry modality targets the core ASD syndrome.
- Neuromodulation approaches remain investigational.
- ECT is generally reserved for specific severe comorbid syndromes such as catatonia or aggression.
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5. Top management articles
- Management review for Autism Spectrum Disorder PubMed search
- Autism Spectrum Disorder treatment guideline PubMed search
- Autism Spectrum Disorder pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy review PubMed search