A is for Autism
I am not a psychologist or
behavioural specialist or a Psychiatrist. So, I am not going to talk
about the triad of impairments or assessment scales etc etc.
What
I can tell you is that Autism is a sensory disability in which
everything the person sees, hears, feels, tastes and smells is
distorted.
They may see every strand of hair on your head
individually with more detail than a Dandruff commercial, hence the need
to push your hair off your face.
They may taste food in individual components that make the slightest change to the recipe seem like an entirely different food.
Touch can be too light to feel or too intense to bear, or both!
And
sound most unfortunately can be very distorted, either because they
might hear everything as white noise and cannot tune in to what’s
important, ie. your voice, or because they only hear the higher sounds
or the lower sounds that are in their environment.
There are a myriad of variations on these “Unders and Overs” and no two children are alike. (Believe me I have a sample of two!)
So,
imagine if you like, that having autism is a bit like being in a very
busy foreign capital city where you don’t speak the language and
everyone is too busy to give you directions.
You
can’t read the street signs and you cannot understand what people are
saying to you, or even pick up on any kind of pattern in the words they
are using, as everyone talks too fast. The traffic is loud, it is really
hot and you want a drink; but you don’t know how to ask for it and
nobody can understand you.
Eventually you are going to
recognise which shops are likely to have drinks for sale, but you will
probably going to feel more comfortable going into a place where you can
get it yourself.
That's how someone with Autism can feel.
That
is why they do not learn to imitate speech and ask for things, but
instead lead you to what they want or build complex towers of chairs and
climb up to get the things they need, rather than just ask for them.
That
is why they often learn to read and count and do puzzles, and use
computers; because those things have a recognisable and consistent
order; before they learn to call you Mammy. .
When
a child with autism looks at you out of the crib, they are being
bombarded by such a range of sights, sounds and sensations that they may
not notice your reactions the first time they say something that could
be a word.
A typically developing child will react to your praise as they chance on that sound, and do it again. Mama! Dada! MORE!
The autistic child might be distracted by the
light through the curtains, or that "pins and needles" sensation they
get every time you touch them or any one of a number of sensory over and
under loads that can delay learning to imitate and communicate.
It
doesn't mean that they are any less intelligent. It just means they
need a lot more support. Break down the steps to teaching to suit their
needs. Use their interests to motivate and engage and pretty soon they
can start to catch up, to overcome the developmental delay.
And then their potential is unlimited.
(Copyright) Lisa Domican 2012