Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition. As those around it know, it’s characterized by challenges with communication and social skills, restrictive and repetitive behaviors, along with sensory processing issues. Rates of those affected are rising rapidly, too, with 1 in 36 children receiving an autism diagnosis, according to the CDC.
Additionally, common challenges include emotional regulation issues, poor quality of sleep, gut disruptions, and developmental delays. When coupled with the core challenges of autism, these can compound daily life difficulties, affecting one’s quality of life dramatically.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into what Autism Spectrum Disorder is, who diagnoses autism, and some of the common oversights of traditional medical approaches. Known genetic and environmental risk factors cannot fully explain the dramatic increase.
What is an Autism Diagnosis?
Autism Spectrum Disorder encompasses a broad range of symptoms and challenges with social communication, interactions, speech and language, behavior, and sensory processing. The wide variability is why autism is considered a spectrum disorder.
To receive an autism evaluation, a person must exhibit core symptoms, such as:
- Social difficulties like making eye contact, reading facial cues, and relating to people
- Communication challenges include delayed or limited speech and odd tones
- Rigid routines, highly focused interests, repetitive motions, and speech
- Sensory sensitivity like hyper or hypo reactivity to textures, sounds, smells, and more
While pediatricians can refer children with potential symptoms for autism evaluations, conducting the full diagnostic workup involves specialized training and a standardized process. Evaluating core symptom areas, ruling out other causes, and testing speech, IQ, learning, language, and social skills are required.
Understanding the early signs of autism can facilitate proper and timely treatment and consistent support services. This also helps parents access assistance with schooling, therapy, and transitioning to adulthood with much greater ease.
Who Diagnoses Autism Spectrum Disorder?
So, who diagnosis autism? Several professionals are qualified to diagnose ASD through a comprehensive autism evaluation process despite differing levels of expertise, such as:
- Developmental Pediatricians: These medical doctors have advanced expertise in childhood development, behavior, and neurological disorders. Their extensive training equips them to diagnose ASD accurately.
- Child Psychologists and Neuropsychologists: These PhDs specialize in pediatric cognitive function, emotional health, and developmental conditions. They utilize structured tests and observations to assess for ASD.
- Child Psychiatrists: Child psychiatrists are medical doctors who assess and treat psychiatric conditions arising in childhood, such as ASD. They distinguish symptoms best and indicate diagnoses.
- Pediatric Neurologists: As medical doctors focused on brain development, pediatric neurologists interpret nervous system maturation patterns to identify development disorders like autism spectrum disorder.
- Multidisciplinary Input: Collaboration across specialties often allows more complete insights into the numerous factors contributing to a child’s challenges. Combined input from developmental pediatricians, child psychologists, occupational therapists, and others can enable earlier, more accurate ASD diagnosis and treatment planning
According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), a child must meet criteria in two categories to receive an official ASD diagnosis:
- Ongoing social and communication challenges: This includes difficulty with back-and-forth conversations, relating to others’ perspectives, picking up on social cues, and making eye contact.
- Restrictive, repetitive behaviors or interests: Symptoms involve inflexible routines, highly focused interests, repetitive speech or movements, and over or under-reactivity to sensory input.
Why an Early Autism Diagnosis Matters
Autism is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder, meaning it stems from very early changes in the foundational wiring and connectivity of the brain. While genetics and environmental factors play roles, research confirms there are heightened windows of vulnerability.
During these sensitive periods, the rapidly growing brain and nervous system are more susceptible to disruptions that can alter development. Undetected dysfunction in these stages can hinder a child’s learning, communication, behaviors, and reactions throughout life.
This makes early identification, ideally in the first 1-3 years, incredibly important. Earlier diagnosis enables earlier intervention during prime neuroplasticity. This is because the malleable young brain forms pathways and connections faster, allowing beneficial therapies to leverage maximal response and development.
According to the CDC, by age 2, a child can be reliably diagnosed with autism. Diagnosis after this point often requires overcoming years of engrained developmental, social, and behavioral roadblocks. Though improvement is still possible, the effort needed significantly increases.
Catching ASD early equips children with the best opportunity to reach social, emotional, communication, cognitive, and self-sufficiency milestones critical to engagement with life and others. Simply put, earlier diagnosis directly translates to better outcomes and quality of life long-term by supporting independence.
The PX Docs Perspective on Diagnosing Autism
The traditional medical model for assessing autism tends to focus narrowly on brain abnormalities, offering little support or insight in the way of addressing the root issues.
The predominant plan of conventional approaches involves alleviating disruptive behaviors with psychiatric medications and behavioral therapies. Unfortunately, this fragmented approach means few families ever receive lasting answers or support for their child’s health care in the long term.
At PX Docs, we recognize that autism requires a wider lens than mainstream medicine embraces. We balance medical insights with a holistic understanding of conditions precipitating ASD-like symptoms, opening avenues for greater treatment success.
To explain our perspective, we use “The Perfect Storm” analogy. This depicts how various internal and external factors converge, disrupting neurological development. PX Docs has identified key issues that compromise nervous system health and function, setting the stage for autism:
- Fertility Issues: Increased parental age and assisted fertility treatments correlate with higher autism rates. Struggles to conceive and maintain pregnancy signal sub-optimal nervous system regulation capability being passed down.
- Birth Trauma: Interventions like C-sections, induction, and forceps involve physical tension and nerve trauma affecting brain connectivity.
- Infant Medication Overuse: Multiple rounds of antibiotics and antacids like Zantac given to infants may impair immunity, gut microbiome balance, and nervous system communication.
- Nutrient Deficiencies: Inadequate nutrition with key vitamins, minerals, and prenatal vitamins alters nervous system formation.
- Environmental Toxicity: Pesticide residues, heavy metal exposures, and pollution during fetal and infancy disrupt foundational neurological development.
- Subluxation: Birth trauma creates neurospinal misalignments, contributing to dysfunctional sensory communication between the brain and body.
- Medical Interventions Overuse: Overall, modern interventions in childbirth, infancy, and pediatric care short-circuit normal nervous development.
These nervous system disruptions perpetuate a self-reinforcing cycle of sensory, immune, gut, and behavioral symptoms compounding each other. The emerging outcomes labeled as “autism” define a systemic disorder of regulation based on complex environmental exposures interacting with genetic predispositions—not an inborn, hopeless condition as the medical status quo still believes based on outdated genetic models.
Crucially, this neuro-focused PX framework appropriately regards autism as a disorder of systemic and central nervous system dysregulation – not as just isolated genetic and brain abnormalities as the medical establishment insists.
Appreciating how the delicately developing nervous system uniquely responds and adapts to environmental conditions explains how sensory issues, speech delays, learning challenges, chronic illness patterns, and more commonly manifest in children diagnosed with ASD.
Seeking an Accurate Diagnosis and Improved Quality of Life
Though securing an autism diagnosis can involve navigating waitlists and appointments, a methodical approach helps. Asking good questions about their scope of assessment, tools, beliefs around the condition’s origin, and care options, aids in vetting the best fits for your child’s needs.
At PX Docs, we’re dedicated to helping families with children with autism. If you suspect your child may need an autism evaluation, contact one of our qualified PX Docs today using our PX Docs Directory. Whether a formal diagnosis exists or not, our pediatric chiropractors can help identify the root of the issues and use a Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care approach to help manage symptoms and improve quality of life.
