According to the WHO, “Autism is characterized by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication. Other characteristics are atypical patterns of activities and behaviors, such as difficulty with transition from one activity to another, a focus on details, and unusual reactions to sensations.
In plain terms, it is a developmental disability that affects how people communicate and interact. In a study by the National Autistic Society, autism – also referred to as autism spectrum disorder – constitutes a diverse group of conditions related to the development of the brain, and it is characterized by some peculiarities that are often diagnosed much later.
A child living with autism is prone to acting differently from a regular child because of their uniqueness. They require some level of special attention, and people also need to learn how to relate to a child living with autism.
Understanding autism helps individuals, families, schools, and society to know how to deal with children living with autism. It is also important to note that having autism – which is solely a neurodevelopmental behavior is not a disease and should not be treated as such. Nevertheless, it has a huge impact on a child’s life; hence, they will depend on lifelong support from their families or caregivers.
FEATURES OF A CHILD LIVING WITH AUTISM
Without a diagnosis, it is easy to spot or know a child living with autism by mere observation. This is why every member of society needs to be kind and deeply care for anyone they see, as some disabilities are not physically based.
Majorly in – social communication differences, repetitive behaviors, and sensory sensitivities
SOCIAL AND COMMUNICATION DIFFERENCES
Eye Contact: Avoids or rarely makes eye contact.
Name Response: Does not respond when their name is called by 9 to 12 months.
Gestures: Uses fewer hand waves, pointing, or facial expressions.
Speech Delay: Speaks late, does not babble as an infant, or loses past words.
Echolalia: Repeats words or phrases right after hearing them or much later.
Social Play: Prefers to play alone or lacks pretend play skills.
Repetitive Behaviors and Routines Body Movements: Flaps hands, rocks the body, or spins in circles.
Object Play: Lines up toys or spins item wheels instead of standard play.
Strict Routines: Gets very upset by small changes in daily schedules.
Intense Focus: Fixates deeply on specific objects, parts of toys, or narrow topics.
Sensory Sensitivities (Over-sensitive): Reacts strongly to loud sounds, bright lights, or clothing tags.
Under-sensitive: Seems indifferent to cold, heat, or pain.
Food Preferences: Refuses foods based strictly on unique textures or smells.
Communication and Social Interaction
Other noticeable features can also include:
Pica, overeating, and eating only certain foods are examples of eating disorders.
Current or previous sleeping or toileting problems.
Self-injurious behaviors such as head-hitting, self-biting, face slapping, and severe scratching
Difficulty interpreting social languages, such as sarcasm and jokes.
Moreover, in a study carried out by the Indiana Resource Center, autistic children also exhibit these sensitivities, namely; tactile input sensitivities, vestibular input sensitivities, taste/smell sensitivities, proprioceptive input sensitivities, auditory input sensitivities, and visual input sensitivities.
For autistic people, tactile input sensitivity means they dislike being touched, hugged, or getting their hands and feet messy.
Vestibular input sensitivity determines whether this sensitivity is over or undersensitive to balance and movement sensations. It can include trouble staying seated, constantly leaning on hands and arms, or easily losing balance.
For those with this sensitivity, certain foods, aromas, or colognes are repugnant.
Autism is an Information Processing Difference
In autism, this processing is somewhat impaired by poorly developed neuro-pathways between the brain centers.
Consequently, these weak connections (wiring) among the different brain centers interfere with simultaneous communication among them. These weak neuro-connections are due to both underdeveloped, long-range connections between the brain centers, and in some cases, an over-abundance of poorly developed short-range wiring within individual brain centers.
Autistic processing differences are partly due to poorly developed neuro-connections.
The weak wiring (long-range connections) between the brain centers interferes with the rapid integration of the different centers. There is also evidence suggesting that the short-range connections within some brain centers are too dense, often overwhelming the centers with too much information to process.
In both instances, the transmission of communication between the brain centers is weak and poorly integrated. As we will see later, this lack of well-integrated processing is responsible for many of the social, communicative, and emotional challenges experienced in autism. For now, let’s focus on two primary challenges this processing difference presents:
- Difficulty rapidly processing multiple pieces of information simultaneously. Simply speaking, the brain centers have difficulty simultaneously communicating with each other. Since most of our dynamic world requires us to integrate and process multiple brain centers simultaneously, the autistic brain is at a disadvantage.
- Delayed Processing. This inability to rapidly integrate multiple pieces of information simultaneously requires more time to sort out and process the abundance of information sequentially, rather than simultaneously. Instead of the brain processing this information simultaneously, it must consciously process the information sequentially, serially piecing the information together. Depending on the impairment of wiring and/or the amount of information bombarding the nervous system, this delay can take anywhere between 10 seconds and hours. I have had some autistics tell me that sometimes it takes days for some information to get integrated and processed.
