Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia

This video was a very interesting video.  Childhood Schizophrenia and Autism share similar symptoms: sleeplessness, inability to be comforted, repetitive motor movements and lack of emotion.  There was obvious in early infancy that there were some things not right with Jani.  Being a first child, it would have been hard for the parents to notice that there was something wrong.  I am surprised that the doctors did not notice earlier than 7yrs old that there were some odd behaviors exhibited by Jani, especially the birth of her brother was born and she was very violent towards him.  The parents discussed many conversations with her doctors and expressing their concerns that there was something wrong.

By watching the video, she did exhibit some symptoms of Autism, but her language and hallucinations was deterring me away from an autism diagnosis.  She appeared to have a good vocabulary even though it was off topic.  It appears from videos at earlier ages and interviews with the parents that Jani could have received her diagnosis earlier than the age of 7 because many of her symptoms were seen in her early age videos.  It is a little surprising that the doctors were not looking at autism in the beginning prior to the beginning of the hallucinations and delusions because some of her symptoms were similar to those associated with autism.

 In addressing a differential diagnosis between infancy and the making of the video, I would have ruled out any medical conditions that might have been contributing to her symptoms.  After the medical conditions were ruled out then I would interview the child’s parents and other people that might have been directly in contact with the child to gain the most information as possible.  After the interviews and direct observations, I would look at diagnosis that might fit the symptomology whether it is autism or schizophrenia.   The hallucinations and delusions would make it evident that she was suffering from schizophrenia and not autism.