Today I'm sharing about autism spectrum disorder or autism
You'll notice that I used the term autism spectrum disorder because it is in fact a spectrum it isn't a single disorder individuals fall on the spectrum in different ways having different kinds of skills, different kinds of abilities, different kinds of characteristics but they all share certain things in common and we'll talk about those common features and characteristics in a moment.
What are some of the characteristic features?
Predominant features of autism well individuals who fall within this autism spectrum disorder have difficulties in social interaction they have difficulties in communication and they have difficulties in the area of behavior so let's look at each of those individually
Social interaction area:
•Eye Contact
•Fascial Expression
They have difficulty reading facial expressions and their facial expressions at times are also somewhat flat and not particularly expressive.
•Body Posture
They have difficulties with body posture knowing how to move their body or moving their body in ways that endear them socially with their peers.
•Emotional signals
They have difficulty with emotional signals knowing when emotions are triggering certain kinds of responses or being aware of their own emotional status.
•Reciprocity
They have difficulty in the area of reciprocity that's the give-and-take that you experience when you're in social situation with others.
•Interest in shared enjoyment
Who have autism also seem not to have a shared interest in or enjoyment with others so their experience is a very personal introspective solo kind of enjoyment that they take in the kinds of ways that they behave socially.
•Tuned into achievements of others
They are not at all tuned in to or have difficulty tuning into the achievements of others.
•Understanding of others feelings
Theyhave difficulty understanding other people's feelings.
•Peek A Boo
Especially when you think about young children one of the hallmark early signs of autism is that they don't do that social fun interactive kind of stuff so for example playing peekaboo you know young children went off will break off and break out into laughter because it's fun and there's a smile attached to it and they giggle young children with autism tend not to do that.
•Comforted by touch
They're often not comforted by touch which can be very disconcerting certainly to young families two parents and two siblings
Communication Area:
•Delay or lack of talk
We very often see a delay or even a lack of talk young children with autism will sometimes begin to develop language and then it'll properly stop in many cases that language just never develops.
•Taking turns
They have difficulties in the communication domain with taking turns so if they say something and when they say something it's often not in a reciprocal kind of give-and-take way.
•Stereotyped
They have difficulty remain engaged in conversations. Very often what we hear and what we see in the communication domain is stereotyped kind of communication so they'll often repeat a phrase or repeat a sound or repeat a word and they may also be echo lilyc they may repeat something that someone else says they echo the actual words that someone else has said.
•Listener Perspective
Again in the communication domain individuals with autism have difficult taking the listener perspective.
•Homour
They have difficulty understanding and responding to humour innuendo is very difficult for them and again as mentioned before in the social interaction area they tend to be concrete and focus on their self needs as opposed to the needs of others around them.
Behavior Area:
•Focus parts
In terms of their behavior very often individuals on the autism spectrum focus on parts or pieces of things and not the whole they may focus on a button on a shirt or they may focus on the wheels of a truck but not necessarily how that truck works so that a button is part of a piece of clothing that has a particular function.
•Preoccupation
They often have preoccupation so they may be preoccupied with toothbrushes or they may be preoccupied with certain kinds of toys or certain kinds of objects around the house.
•Need for sameness routines
They have a very high need for sameness routines are very frustrating for them and transitions tend to be very very difficult.
•Classic Kinds
Classic kinds of autism often are evidenced in some Rocking behavior so there's a rocking back and forth of the whole body there may be some Flapping behavior which could be arms or legs or both and what I call Twiddling which is taking something and shaking it in your hand or moving it back and forth you know banging it around tapping with it.
•Hypersensities or lack of awareness
Very often individuals on the autism spectrum disorder spectrum have hypersensitivities to certain things so for example the texture of clothing or the texture of food or they may actually show a lack of awareness of those kinds of things.
•Low IQ or Gifted
A great interest is that when you think about the autism spectrum disorder those individuals could be of low IQ they could have pretty significant cognitive and intellectual challenges or they could be gifted.
There are features of ADHD that we see in many individuals on the autism spectrum and anxiety and depression are often complicating factors in this set of disorders.
•Savant-like skills
Individuals with autism some individuals with autism present with savant-like skills they're incredibly capable of remembering things lists or maps or dates or even have certain gifts in the area of music.
•Unusual Sensations
They have some unusual sensory issues so for example individuals with autism may react differently to touch they may find touch very aversive or they may have difficulties managing touch and not realize that they may be touching someone too hard or they may tap someone when they really mean to touch them harder it appears that some individuals with autism spectrum disorder may have difficulties with modulation of pain and again they have difficulties often with certain textures.
•Sleep Problems
Also seen in that autism population or difficulties with sleep and activities for daily living are almost always interrupted the ability to care for yourself the ability to dress and eat and feed and do certain kinds of activities for daily living which may include in some higher functioning individuals the ability to travel from one place to another manage money and do those kinds of activities for daily living.
Thank you
Post a Comment