mental health needs
Consultant Learning Disability Psychiatrists Dr Brian Fitzgerald and Dr Linda O’Rourke discuss the development of a College eModule on the basics of autism and best practice for supporting autistic patients. The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland is developing an eModule for doctors to provide information on Autism, to help doctors recognise and understand what Autism […]
Dr Noha Ibrahim examines the challenges facing autistic students at 3rd level, and looks further at the opportunities to address the experiences and outcomes for this population in higher education. In recent years, universities have become more aware of the number of neurodiverse students, including autistic students, attending higher education[1, 2]. We know neurodiverse undergraduates […]
As part of our series marking World Autism Month 2023, Dr Linda O’Rourke explores the origin of the terminology around autism throughout medical literature, tracing a path to the more inclusive and person-centred language we use today. Although the word autism as we understand it today dates from only 1943, when we look down through […]
For World Autism Month 2023, the College Autism Special Interest Group have put together a number of articles that may of interest to our colleagues. These articles will be published across the month of April. Below are some FAQs on the work of the Autism Special interest Group (SIG) and the ways in which psychiatry […]
April is the time of year that people around the world are encouraged to start a conversation about autism. This is a time to celebrate autistic people and address some of the specific challenges they face. Read more about why April 2023 is Autism Awareness Month and what the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland is […]
Dr Linda O’Rourke writes about sensory processing for World Autism Month, including what it looks like when it works well, what it’s like for people who experience sensory processing difficulties and what psychiatrists can do to help patients who have difficulties processing sensory information. Sensory processing is the process by which our bodies receive, […]
Dr Hazel Fernandez writes about how behaviours of concern in children with Autism may be understood in the context of five domains. These behaviours can overlap and vary on the spectrum of autism. DOMAINS Social Communication Difficulties Restrictive Repetitive Behaviours & Interests (RRBIs) Sensory Issues Learning Difficulties Co-Occuring Mental Health Issues Social Communication […]
Dr Eimer Philbin Bowman writes about the prevalence of diagnoses of Autism in women, how autism can look different across gender lines and her own experience of diagnosing in light of these differences. The concept of autism has been revolutionised by research over the past five decades: in 1979 the prevalence rate for autism was […]
Following the blog post on comorbidities in adult autism, we’re looking at the presence of one or more conditions that occur in the presence of autism for children and adolescents. Like with adults, these comorbidities are common. Read the article on comorbidities in adult autism here. What is the problem? Co-occurring conditions in autistic young […]
A quarter of the general population have problems with their mental health at some point in their life. IN autistic people, this number is much higher with nearly 80% of adults with autism experiencing mental health issues during their lives. Autism may co-occur with a number of physical and mental health difficulties. The prevalence is […]