This video was definitely a very interesting one to view this week. Never having experienced a child with schizophrenia I never really understood how it was that people could consider schizophrenia and autism to be similar. After watching this video of Jani and Rebecca it has become very clear to me why at a very young age it can be difficult to tell the difference. When the child is a baby, the lack of sleep and the staring off at things, not making eye contact are symptoms which can also be found in autism. And as the child gets older, things such as the stereotyped movements such as hand flapping are also similar to that of a child with autism. Upon closer examination of these symptoms however, I think that it is very clear that these symptoms present very differently in topography and function than they would for a child with autism.
Another thing which I found very interesting was how distinctly different childhood schizophrenia and paranoid schizophrenia actually are. Paranoid schizophrenia in children presents very much the same way that it would in an adult. The childhood schizophrenia I believe would be a bit harder to diagnose and that is why it took so long for Jani's diagnosis. Her hallucinations seem very much like imaginary friends at first which all children usually go through as a part of development. Overall this video was definitely interesting to watch and certainly provided some insight.
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