Autism vs Downs Syndrome

[Peanut]

I was curious if anybody knew how early intervention/early education differs (or if it does differ) for young children with autism versus Downs Syndrome. I know of various learning techniques for autistic individuals but am significantly less versed on techniques for kids with DS. Obviously the two disorders are vastly different...so would the educational approach be different as well? Is ABA useful for DS?

I was also wondering whether kids with DS are capable of roughly the same cognitive gains as autistic kids or if there is a lower ceiling (in general) for one or the other? Or maybe it just varies so much with each individual that that question is impossible to answer...

I was also curious to know...do autistic adults have normal life expectancies?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Neither of these areas are my within my specialties. However, you might find http://directory.psychlinks.ca/index.php?c=54 to be a starting point.

See also Google search:

Diagnosis of Autism in Children With Down Syndrome
While the autism and Down syndrome treatment protocols overlap and have many
similar characteristics, the autism treatments are much more intense. ...
www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/autism.html - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

Kennedy Krieger Institute: Dual Diagnoses: the Importance of ...
Dual Diagnoses: the Importance of Diagnosis and Treatment ... It is critical for
children with Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder to be identified ...
www.kennedykrieger.org/kki_misc.jsp?pid=2142&bl=1 - 16k - Cached - Similar pages

Autism FAQ - Treatment
There is no standard, universally accepted treatment of autism; in fact, ...
Used for Autism, Down's Syndrome, ADD, Muscular Dystrophy and spinal cord ...
www.autism-resources.com/autismfaq-trea.html - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

[PDF] Down Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Look At What We Know
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
effective treatment for Down syndrome and autistic spectrum, ... Ghaziuddin,
M., Tsai, L., and Ghaziuddin, N. "Autism in Down's Syndrome: Presentation ...
www.dsmig.org.uk/library/articles/ capone-autistic-spectrum-disorder.pdf - Similar pages

Autism: A Medical Primer - November 1, 2002 - American Family ...
Howlin P, Wing L, Gould J. The recognition of autism in children with Down
syndrome--implications for intervention and some speculations about pathology. ...
www.aafp.org/afp/20021101/1667.html - 58k - Dec 10, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages

Treatment Options
... mental retardation, autism, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
... Biological Treatment Options. Autism Genetics Resource Exchange AGRE ...
www.geocities.com/arnfl/treatment.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

 

[Peanut]

Thanks for those websites...they look really really good. ?I set the third site as a favorite...it had lots of useful info. It looks like most of the difference between them may be the social aspect which is what I had observed as well. ?From what I just read it also looks like early intervention is more key for austism than it is for Downs Syndrome.