AutisticSpectrumDisorder

April 2014

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Triad

RIGIDITY OF THOUGHT & BEHAVIOUR

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION

Autism Spectrum

TriadOf

impairments

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FACTSMore likely in boys than girls

4:1 Classic Autism; 9:1 Higher Functioning Forms & More common than you may think (as high as 1:64 in some research )

A developmental disorder involving the brainPeople with ASD experience the world differently

May be accompanied by differing degrees of learning difficulties

A lifelong disability

Genetically linked; Lifelong; No Single cause

Can be accompanied by bowel disorders

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MYTHSSimply another term for learning

difficultiesOnce speech begins, other difficulties

disappearAlways occurs with an area of genius

abilityResults from bad behaviour and

naughtinessDue to bad parenting

A middle class disorder 4

Can you tell the difference between a child who might be on the autism spectrum and a child who might be off task or behaving

inappropriately for other reasons?

If you did not know that a child was on the autism spectrum, you might assume that they were

being deliberately challenging or difficult. You are likely to base your actions on this understanding and may respond in ways which are unhelpful or

make the situation worse.

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WHAT ?

WHY ?AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Triad: Social Interaction Social Communication Social Imagination/flexibility of thought

Anxious Obsessions: trains/computers

Upset by change Playground arguments

Enjoys repetitive activities Shouts out

Struggles with Friendships Has tantrums

Sensory Sensitivities

sound touch taste

smell vision pain

Making Sense of the World Mindblindness

Focus on detail Desire for sameness 6

The main signs that a person may have autism are:•lack of speech, or delayed or deviant speech, although some have fluent speech and language from an early age•social avoidance or unusual social behaviour•unusual play, in particular unusual social play•resistance to change in familiar routines•difficulties in relating to peers and adults•unusual communication and conversations•strong focus on particular activities or interests.

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As we know children on the autistic spectrum have problems in understanding others, communicating effectively and in adapting to change.

As a result, school can be a very challenging environment for them …

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People may experience:

• difficulty communicating effectively with others• problems listening and attending to things which

hold little interest for them• pressure to be sociable when they want time alone,

and no space to get away• difficulties understanding and gauging their own

emotions and those of others• a lack of friends; teasing and bullying• difficulty understanding and accepting the opinions

of others• the impact of sensory issues• difficulties understanding abstract language and

concepts• difficulties with personal organisation

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Anxiety

• Given the challenges, it is not surprising that people on the autism spectrum often feel extremely anxious. This anxiety does not put them in a good state to learn. They may not show their anxiety through facial expression, verbal communication or body language.

• It can be a great shock for parents of children on the autism spectrum to learn that their children are different and may not follow a typical path. Each family has a different perspective and a varied response to diagnosis.

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Difference not deficit

• Although autism is often described as a list of impairments or difficulties, it is quite possible for a person on the autism spectrum to be very successful at school and in adult life. Many adults on the autism spectrum do not view autism as a deficient way of being, but as a different way of being.

• Google ‘Temple Grandin’ – to find out a very personal perspective…

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Emergence: Labeled Autistic, a book which stunned the world because, until its publication, most professionals and parents assumed that an autism diagnosis was virtually a death sentence to achievement or productivity in life. 12

Social and emotional understanding

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People on the autism spectrum may have difficulties in the areas

of:• altering what they say depending on who they are

talking to• using appropriate body language• engaging with topics that don’t interest them• making small talk with strangers or acquaintances• realising, by the person’s facial expressions or body

language, that someone is bored or annoyed with them

• knowing how to leave a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable (instead they may take flight, i.e. run away, or fight).

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People on the autism spectrum have difficulty understanding the social cues of others and adapting their behaviour

to different situations.

How do you feel when you are in a social situation where you don’t

understand the rules or can’t join in the conversation?

Think of a time when you were in an unfamiliar situation. What clues helped

you to find out how to behave? 15

School is a social environment. A child has many social encounters during the school day. You can help a child on the autism spectrum a great deal if you understand how and why the child’s responses and social behaviour are different from those of other children.

Reflect on the following:Consider your behaviour when you are anxious.What strategies do you use to cope with your anxiety and lower the intensity of the emotion? What might happen if you were not able to identify and control your emotion? 16

Bullying

•The behaviours and emotional reactions of pupils on the autism spectrum may cause other pupils to tease or bully them.

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Benefits of support

• People on the autism spectrum do not easily understand the skills involved in finding a friend and maintaining the friendship. Teaching these skills and understandings is difficult because they depend on social judgements that change with different situations.

• People on the autism spectrum may believe that anyone can be their friend. Such people are open to exploitation by others, who may pretend to befriend them for their own purposes.

• We look at strategies to help people with an ASD to increase their social understanding. Strategies are also needed to help peers to understand people with an ASD and be supportive.

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Communication & Language

Why do we communicate?• requesting items, for example food or activities• protesting or rejecting something• giving information about needs or wants (e.g. ‘toilet’, ‘pain’,

‘help’)• stating what they see and feel• sharing information with others for pleasure• approving (saying ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’).

People on the autism spectrum may communicate only for the first two reasons, and need to be taught when and why to communicate for other reasons.

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Expressive skills:

•About 25 per cent of people on the autism spectrum do not learn to speak.•Some people may use approximations or single words.•People may have very limited communication, and are often difficult to understand if they do not use language in the typical way.•Even those people with good speech and wide vocabularies may have problems in communication and often interpret spoken language literally. 20

Receptive skills:

• A person on the autism spectrum may also experience difficulties in understanding other people’s language and communication.

• Problems in understanding others can include non-verbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, signs, eye contact and body language. People may fail to understand even basic emotional responses in others.

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Using timetables with people with ASD reduces anxiety –they know what will

happen next

Children with ASD often struggle to know what is expected or what choices there are. They can benefit from visual cues/timetables.

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Lunchtime Reminder• Get lunch box,• Sit quietly to eat lunch,• Rubbish in the bin,• Lunchbox back to

cloakroom, • Toilet, • Wash hands, • Coat on,

• Outside to play. 23

Body SpaceSometimes I stand too close to people.

I am almost touching them.

This bothers people.

I can stand near people.

I leave a little space between us.

I will try not to stand too close to people. 24

You don’t have to be an artist!!

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Flexibility of thought and behaviour

Pupils on the autism spectrum find it very difficult to think through a problem and generate strategies.

Think of a new situation as if it was a 100-piece jigsaw.

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Some special interests or activities that children engage in may be viewed as inappropriate by others. What holds interest and fascination for children on the autism spectrum (e.g. serial numbers on lamp-posts; bus routes; movement or feel of objects) may seem bizarre or appear to lack purpose. Sometimes staff and parents worry that a child’s actions or interests are not age-appropriate, and that these single the child out for teasing

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Sensory perception & responses

Pupils on the autism spectrum may perceive, interpret and respond to sounds, sights, taste, touch and

smell in different ways to others…

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If you are working with a child on the autism spectrum, it is important to

complete a sensory profile.

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When completing a profile some things to consider.

The child may :• be more sensitive than other children

(hypersensitive) • be less sensitive than other children

(hyposensitive) • experience sensory overload as they are

unable to screen out irrelevant information • have delayed perception • have fragmented perception (where they

see detail before they see the whole). 30

How can you make adjustments to reduce the

sensory challenges for pupils on the autism spectrum?

This is the work that we in school have to undertake to support children to reach their potential.

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