Event
It's Time to Embrace "Profound Autism"
Alison Singer is the co-founder and president of the Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding innovative autism research and supporting the needs of people with autism.
About This Event
In 2021, the Lancet Commission on the Future of Care and Clinical Research in Autism called for use of the term “profound autism” to describe individuals with the most severe and challenging forms of autism; those who have an IQ under 50, are nonverbal or minimally verbal, and need 24/7 supervision from an adult to maintain their safety. For the first time in 2023, the CDC reported the prevalence of profound autism separately from the broader term autism spectrum disorder (ASD), reporting that 27 percent of 8-year-olds diagnosed with ASD met the criteria for profound autism. Research shows that outcomes for those with profound autism are drastically different and far worse than the outcomes of those who are higher functioning. People with profound autism are also routinely excluded from ASD research. Only by utilizing at least two separate diagnoses can we begin to meet the highly diverse needs of everyone with autism.
Learning Objectives
- Differentiate between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and profound autism
- Analyze diagnostic challenges regarding profound autism in the DSM-5
- Describe and apply best practices for clinical care and research in people with profound autism
About the Visiting Professor Lecture Series
The Child Mind Institute Visiting Professor Lecture Series invites leaders in the field of child and adolescent mental health to talk about the latest research and treatment protocols. All events are open to the public. This year, all lectures will be hosted in-person and virtually over Zoom. In partnership with Northwell Health, continuing medical education (CME) credits for psychiatrists and continuing education (CE) credits for psychologists are available to registered course participants.
