Child & Adolescent Psychology

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Bryan

Academic Institution

Byran is experiencing difficulties with social interactions (especially with his peers), what appears to be a restricted range of interests, what appears to be insistence on sameness or ritualized patterns of behavior, and agitation when there is a change in routine or when pressed to interact with others in a manner that extends beyond his interests. Bryan is only six years old and we are given very little information regarding his developmental history other than he was a quiet child and that according to his mother he was loving and happy until the last year. We can therefore tie in the onset of his difficulties with his entrance into formal schooling where he is then exposed to social situations, interactions with others, and demands that he may not have been exposed to previously. It is very possible that the types of behaviors that are currently being reported were not overtly evident before Byran's entrance into school (White, Kreiser, & Lerner, 2014).

Nonetheless, the brief history we have is most consistent with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013); however, in order to make a firm diagnostic decision we would need more developmental history. Even though it is still premature to formally assign a diagnosis to this individual given the sketchy information that is available we should be suspicious of the presence of an autism spectrum disorder as opposed to an anxiety disorder or other disorder. Based on what we are given we can for the moment rule out obsessive-compulsive disorder because his behaviors appear to be grounded in the need for restricted interests and sameness and do not appear to be associated with obsessive worry or anxiety.

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Even so, more information is needed in order to formalize the diagnosis and to develop a full treatment plan. A full developmental and medical history would be in order to rule out potential other etiologies such as medication use, possible attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, etc.; however, given the brief description of the case the current situation appears to satisfy the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder. Further developmental information, psychological testing, etc. would help better ascertain the formal diagnosis and the severity level of his difficulties (APA, 2013). It would be important to have a brief neuropsychological evaluation of the child in order to determine his intellectual potential, attentional abilities, level of abstraction, etc. compared to his peer group (Saulnier & Ventola, 2012; White et al., 2014). This information is important in helping to determine the level of severity of his disorder and to plan interventions as identifying a formal level of severity of his autism spectrum disorder would figure heavily in the treatment plan for this young person (APA, 2013; White et al., 2014). Thus, before a formal treatment plan could be devised it would be extremely important to gather more information regarding the severity of Bryan's difficulties, understanding his potential strengths, and developing a formal diagnosis that can….....

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