What is Autism?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition of variable severity with lifelong effects that can be recognized from early childhood, chiefly characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour, (as defined by Oxford Languages). Autism is sometimes also correctly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD.
Autism is s spectrum as the name suggests, therefore not everyone will have all symptoms and will have different severities of different symptoms. More often than not (70%) there is also a co-diagnosis with 40% of Autistic people having multiple co-diagnoses. Stimulus thresholds that may trigger a meltdown will also differ depending on the day and other things the person has had to deal with throughout the day. Autism is very complex and no two Autistic people are the same. For this reason it is important that there is a deeper level of understanding of what Autism actually is and the WHY behind behaviours that may present. It is only once a greater understanding is achieved that we will truly be able to support our Autistic family and friends.
What does Autism look like, feel like, think like & communicate like!
Autism Feels Like:
- Autism Feels Like:
- autistic people can get overwhelmed easily, often triggered by a busy environment, too much sensory input, people being mean or feeling unsure about a situation or environment.
- autistic people are often fussy with food due to different tastes, smells and textures.
- autistic people get exhausted from social events and the masking this involves or just being too busy without time to regulate.
- autistic people can be triggered by to much sensory input such as bright or flashing lights, horrible smells, loud noises or busy environments.
- autistic people can be hypo or hyper sensitive to pain (and this may actually change depending on how full their cup is on that particular day) and example of this is brushing hair - this just might be too painful.
- sometimes fabrics will irritate a person with autism, such as wool might feel too scratchy, tags might irritate the skin or the join in the toes of a sock is too much to bare.
Autism Communicates Like:
- eye contact just doesn't come naturally to many autistic people, this doesn't mean they aren't listening.
- autistic people take what you say very literally and they often don't understand sarcasm.
- some autistic people find it difficult to communicate using words.
- many autistic people don't naturally know the unwritten social rules everyone else just seems to know naturally.
- sometimes words and phases will be repeated
- some autistic people find it hard to express feelings
Autism Thinks Like:
- autistic people feel safe when they know what is coming next, therefore they love routine and being able to predict the environment or what is next, although
- being able to predict what is next does not come naturally - hence the need for routine.
- autistic people don't understand many social rules
- autistic people learn by a bottom up approach, they need to know the details to build the bigger picture.
- autistic people can get fascinated by certain things and interests and will want to know absolutely everything about that topic.
- reading other people facial expressions is often difficult.
Autism Acts Like:
- when things get too much autistic people will have an emotional outburst (often call meltdown) to let out a build up of emotions.
- sometimes autistic people will come across like they don't care (not giving much expression away) however they do care.
- autistic people will easily get anxious about many different things.
- autistic people often struggle with spatial awareness and clumsiness
- sometimes autistic people will cover their anxiety or worries by laughing, by getting upset or by other inappropriate behaviour for the context.
