Thursday, March 15, 2012

Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia

We have talked at nearly every class about autism and childhood schizophrenia. We began by talking about how historically, autism was considered a form of schizophrenia, most recently about co-morbidity and differential diagnosis of schizophrenia and autism. One question that came up was whether schizophrenia could be present in young children, since it is normally diagnosed in late adolescence  or young adulthood. The video you will be viewing this week looks at some very young  schizophrenics, and even makes a distinction between childhood and paranoid schizophrenia diagnosed in childhood. Interestingly, some of the behaviors you will see, and some of the behaviors Jani's parent's described from her infancy, are often seen and described in autistic children. After viewing the video below, please describe which behaviors and symptoms might suggest either schizophrenia or  autism, and which would lead you in the direction of schizophrenia.  do you think Jani's diagnosis could have been made earlier than seven years old?  How would  you have approached the differential diagnosis in the years between infancy and the making of this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9v4FsKXmj8&list=FLhENi61rzs4zEChadFq9n3g&index=1&feature=plpp_video

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