Jornal Internacional de Saúde Mental de Emergência e Resiliência Humana

Abstrato

Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Emergency Department: Looking Beyond Behavior

Richard E Frye

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that is behaviorally defined by its well-recognized impairments in verbal and non-verbal communication and social interactions in addition to distinctive restrictive and repetitive behaviors (APA, 1994). Over the past decades the incidence of this disorder has dramatically increased. Although the reason or reasons for this increase is still up for debate, the fact remains that ASD is now estimated to affect 1 in 68 children in the United States (Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year Principal, Centers for Disease, & Prevention, 2014)