Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

These patients lack ‘Theory of mind’, which means they aren’t able to imagine the perspective of other people i.e. empathy. Its 2 main features are:

• Difficulties in interaction and social communication

• Restricted interests and ritualistic behaviour (e.g. unimaginative, rigidity, resistance to change)

A common presentation here is that patients have unusual sensory sensitivities. Most have learning difficulty and other neurodevelopmental difficulties (50%) alongside it.

Clinical features