Case Report of Autism with Celebral Palsy

Abstract

The present case report entails the due psychological assessment and behavioural management of a 5-year-old boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comorbid with Unspecified Intellectual Disability and diplegic Cerebral Palsy, which demonstrates how neurodevelopmental and neurological conditions can be quite complicated to treat when the conditions overlap. The research was a single-case study design and involved the following instruments: clinical interview, behavioural observation, DSM-5-TR diagnostic checklist, subjective severity ratings, Portage Guide to Early Education (PGEE) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2). The developmental assessment showed severe delays in all aspects, functional age between 1-2 months even though the chronological age is five years. The CARS raw score of 39 depicted extreme symptoms of autism. On the basis of assessment, the individualized intervention plan based on the principles of behavioural therapy, entailing reinforcement, prompting, structured play, sensory-based games, and parent psychoeducation was introduced as a 30-session programme. Comparisons after intervention indicated small improvements in self-harm behaviour and irritability with minimal further improvement in eye contact and fine motor skills; but gross motor impairment was hardly improved as a consequence of underlying cerebral palsy and neurological defects, in terms of ventriculomegaly and arachnoid cyst. The findings highlight the need of early, multidisciplinary, and structured behavioural interventions in children with complex comorbid developmental conditions especially in low-resource environments. The current case case is one of the few cases in the region to be recorded on ASD with neurological comorbidities with holding of standardized developmental tools.