What is the role of a psychologist for autism?
A psychologist can aid in the diagnosis of autism as well as help manage the challenges that these individuals face as a result. A psychologist, therefore, can help the autistic individual manage their anxiety or depression, manage feeding and sleeping problems, improve their social skills, improve their relationships, learn essential life skills for employment, and also decrease self-injury and aggression as well as improve compliance in those with severe cognitive impairments.
What is the job role of a clinical psychologist?
A clinical psychologist is trained to identify as well as diagnose various emotional, psychological, and behavioural problems in individuals, and can make a treatment plan for them.
What signs and symptoms do clinical psychologists observe to diagnose autism?
Not responding to their name, not making eye contact starting from infancy’, finding difficulty playing or interacting with peers; having difficulty – breaking from routine, talking about feelings, understanding body language, gestures, or voice tone; being obsessively interested in a certain topic, showing unusual responses to sensory input or unusual movements (flapping arms, rocking, etc), not engaging in pointing or typical babbling in infancy – are signs and symptoms that clinical psychologists would enquire about before diagnosing autism.
What tools do psychologists use for diagnosing autism?
For making an accurate diagnosis of autism, a psychologist can draw information from a number of resources which includes patient interviews, tests to measure language and cognitive abilities, medical tests for ruling out other possible conditions, observing the patient’s behaviours, as well as interviewing parents, teachers, as well as other adults who could give information regarding the patient’s behavioural, emotional, and social development.
