ABAT Autism Core Knowledge 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to the DSM-5, autism spectrum disorder is characterized by persistent deficits in which two core domains?
- Social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors (Correct answer)
- Language development and gross motor skills
- Cognitive abilities and adaptive behavior
- Sensory processing and emotional regulation
Correct answer: Social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors
DSM-5 consolidates previous ASD subtypes into two core symptom domains: social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive behaviors.
Question 2: Which type of play deficit is most commonly observed in young children with ASD compared to typically developing peers?
- Parallel play
- Symbolic/pretend play (Correct answer)
- Solitary object play
- Gross motor play
Correct answer: Symbolic/pretend play
Children with ASD often show marked deficits in symbolic or pretend play, which requires the ability to mentally represent objects and social scenarios.
Question 3: What change did DSM-5 make regarding Asperger's syndrome?
- It elevated Asperger's to a primary stand-alone diagnosis
- It merged Asperger's into the autism spectrum disorder diagnosis (Correct answer)
- It reclassified Asperger's as a social communication disorder
- It renamed it to high-functioning autism disorder
Correct answer: It merged Asperger's into the autism spectrum disorder diagnosis
DSM-5 eliminated Asperger's syndrome as a separate diagnosis and subsumed it under the unified autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.
Question 4: Echolalia in the context of ASD is best described as:
- Refusing to make eye contact during conversations
- Repetition of words or phrases heard from others (Correct answer)
- Difficulty understanding facial expressions
- Insistence on sameness in daily routines
Correct answer: Repetition of words or phrases heard from others
Echolalia is the repetition of speech heard from others; it can be immediate or delayed and may serve communicative or non-communicative functions.
Question 5: DSM-5 Level 3 autism spectrum disorder is distinguished by:
- Mild difficulties that require no formal support
- Moderate difficulties that require some support
- Severe deficits requiring very substantial support (Correct answer)
- Social anxiety without significant communication deficits
Correct answer: Severe deficits requiring very substantial support
Level 3 ("requiring very substantial support") describes individuals with severe impairments in social communication and highly restricted, repetitive behaviors that markedly interfere with functioning.
Question 6: Joint attention, frequently impaired in ASD, refers to:
- The ability to follow rules in group learning environments
- Coordinating attention with another person toward a shared object or event (Correct answer)
- Attending to multiple stimuli simultaneously during instruction
- Sustaining focus on a single task for extended periods
Correct answer: Coordinating attention with another person toward a shared object or event
Joint attention involves using eye gaze, pointing, or other cues to share attention with another person about a third referent, and its impairment is an early social marker of ASD.
Question 7: Which pattern of sensory processing is most accurately associated with individuals with ASD?
- Exclusively hyposensitive responses to all sensory input
- Exclusively hypersensitive responses to all sensory input
- Both hyper- and hyposensitivity, sometimes within the same individual (Correct answer)
- No sensory differences relative to neurotypical individuals
Correct answer: Both hyper- and hyposensitivity, sometimes within the same individual
Individuals with ASD can show hyperreactivity to some stimuli and hyporeactivity to others, and a single person may display both patterns across different sensory modalities.
ABAT Autism Core Knowledge 2
According to the DSM-5, autism spectrum disorder is characterized by persistent deficits in which two core domains?