Autistic Spectrum Disorder
What is autism?
Autism is a developmental disorder which affects the way that a child interacts with others and understands the world. Some children may have accompanying learning difficulties and others have cognitive abilities within the normal range. Autism is referred to as a spectrum, because those with autism all present very differently. It is a lifelong condition, but those affected do respond to many of the techniques available to support their communication and daily life.
What is Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome is a form of autism in which children have intelligence within the average range and usually less difficulties with speech and language development. These children are often diagnosed later as their difficulties become more obvious when the social demands increase with age.
Communication
Children with autism often present initially with delayed talking. They may have difficulties understanding language and forming words and sentences to communicate. Many children with autism also have difficulties with using and understanding non-verbal communication such as gesture, intonation, use of volume, or eye contact. Difficulties understanding and using communication can make the world a rather bewildering place.
Social interaction
The key difficulty for a child with autism is in interacting with other children and adults (although adults tend to be more adaptive). Many autistic children are interested in other children, but don’t know how to initiate or maintain play or conversations. Their approaches to others may be awkward or inappropriate e.g. pushing. They may be more comfortable playing on their own rather than with others.
Children with autism have difficulty understanding and interpreting how others think. This means they find other people rather unpredictable as they cannot always anticipate what they are going to do next. They don’t automatically pick up social rules from those around them as their peers do and will often need to be taught the appropriate action eg lining up at school or remaining seated at circle time.
Children with autism have difficulty understanding and interpreting how others think. This means they find other people rather unpredictable as they cannot always anticipate what they are going to do next. They don’t automatically pick up social rules from those around them as their peers do and will often need to be taught the appropriate action eg lining up at school or remaining seated at circle time.
Flexibility
Some children with autism will have a strong adherence to routines, repetitive behaviours and patterns of play, or rather fixated interests. These behaviours serve the purpose for the child of making the world a more predictable and comfortable place.
Sensory issues
Many children with autism have difficulty with regulation of sensory information. This means that they may present with unusual sensory behaviours. They may be oversensitive or undersensitive to sensations and either seek out or withdraw from these.
The sensory behaviours may serve the purpose of calming a child and indicate an attempt to self regulate.
- touch - for example pulling hair/ dislike having hair washed /leaning or pushing others
- movement - for example spinning around or running frequently
- sound - for example putting hands over the ears for certain noises
- taste - for example extremely strong dislikes/ preferences for certain food types.
The sensory behaviours may serve the purpose of calming a child and indicate an attempt to self regulate.
How can I find out if my child has a diagnosis of ASD?
Autism is a complex condition and diagnosis needs to be carried out by professionals who are experienced and skilled in this field. A child needs to be observed in a range of settings including ideally with other children. Information on the child should be gathered from the parents often in the form of a structured interview and from teachers and other professionals who work with the child. Once this information has been collected, a decision as to whether the child has a diagnosis can be made and discussed with parents. Most local authorities have a social communication team for the purpose of diagnosis. However, as waiting lists can be long, some parents prefer to seek a private diagnosis.
For more information on autism please refer to our resources section.
For more information on autism please refer to our resources section.
