Autism is a spectrum disorder varying in symptoms, severity
and impact from person to person. Repetitive behaviours
are common across the spectrum, which includes Asperger
Syndrome. This is a form of autism in which speech development
and IQ are average or above, but there can be significant
social communication difficulties.
There are many issues around supporting children with
ASD. The main is being the variations to the continuum
itself – the degree or severity of Autism. To this
we can add age, learning ability associated disabilities,
education and early experiences, the personality of the
child and the home environment. Consequently there is
no "typical" autistic person, despite sharing
a set of criteria
To have a diagnosis of Autism three aspects must be in
place. This is known as the Triad of Impairment:
1. Difficulties and delays in social development.
2. Impairment of language and communication, including
verbal and non-verbal
3. Rigidity of thought and inflexibility linked with
ritualistic and obsessive behaviours
The affects of this triad can be seen in several ways:
Non-verbal and verbal communication - Children
and young people with an ASD have difficulty in understanding
the communication and language of others and also in
developing effective communication themselves. Many
are delayed in learning to speak and some do not develop
speech. Many children with speech have difficulties
in using this to communicate effectively. It is likely
that they will need to be taught the purpose of communication,
a means to communicate (using pictures, photos, gestures,
spoken or written words) and how to communicate.
Social understanding and social behaviour
- A key characteristic of those with an ASD
is their difficulty in understanding the social behaviour
of others and in behaving in socially appropriate ways.
Other children develop this understanding without being
explicitly taught and do so fairly easily. Children
with ASDs are very literal thinkers and interpreters
of language, failing to understand its social context.
For the child with an ASD, other people's opinions may
have little or no influence on their behaviour and the
child may say and do exactly as they want. Children
with an ASD often find it hard to play and communicate
effectively with other children who may be confused
by their behaviour and may avoid or tease them. Adults
who do not know the child or know about autism, may
misunderstand the child's behaviour and view it as naughty,
difficult or lazy, when, in fact, the child did not
understand the situation or task or did not read the
adult's intentions or mood correctly.
Thinking and behaving flexibly according to
the situation - Children with an ASD often
do not play with toys in a conventional way, but instead
spin or flap objects or watch moving parts of toys or
machinery for long periods and with intense concentration.
Their play tends to be isolated or alongside others
rather than with others. Some children develop a special
interest in a topic or activity which may be followed
to extreme lengths. Any new skills tend to be tied to
the situation which means that children with an ASD
will need specific help to generalise skills. They will
also have difficulty adapting to new situations and
often prefer routine to change.
Sensory perception and responses -
From accounts of adults with an ASD, it is evident that
some children are "over-sensitive" or 'under-sensitive'
to certain sounds, sights and textures. This has implications
for the child's home and school environment and may
explain their response to changing clothes or food and
their response to noise. In addition, the child may
not make appropriate eye contact, looking too briefly
or staring at others. In the past, there has been a
focus on teaching the child to look when communicating
but it may be that some children are unable to talk
and look at the person at the same time.
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Garratt
Park Advisory Service
