Autism- Informed Support

Melanie J. Chandonnet, MS BCBA-S, LABAClinical Director

AutismAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are

both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders

are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive

behaviors.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Symptoms

Core Symptoms of Autism

Social Challenges

Communication Difficulties

Repetitive Behaviors

Associated Medical Conditions

https://youtu.be/ZfzqBCC30as

Autism:What We’ve Learned

• First described by Leo Kanner in 1943 as early infantile autism

• For next 30 years, considered to be an emotional disturbance

• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

• Research suggests that autism develops from a combination of genetic and environmental influences.

Increased risk:

• Advanced parent age (either parent)

• Pregnancy and birth complications (e.g. extreme prematurity [before 26 weeks], low birth weight, multiple pregnancies [twin, triplet, etc.])

• Pregnancies spaced less than one year apart

Statistics:

• Affects 1 in 68 children; 1/42 boys & 1/189 girls

• Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism

• Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the U.S.

• Around one third of people with autism remain nonverbal. One third have an intellectual disability

• ASD occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups

MoreInformation:

• Autism impacts normal development of the brain in areas of social interaction and communication skills.

•Estimated 75,000 individuals with ASD in MA (2013)

•500,000 teens with ASD will age into adulthood over next decade

•Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average

•Approximately 85% of adults with Autism are unemployed

Sensory Regulation

•Aversion to or craving for certain types/intensities of sensory input. Extreme sensitivity — or relative insensitivity — to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or textures. Many people outgrow these sensory issues at least to some extent as they mature.

• Integrating multiple sensations and responding appropriately.

•Knowing where one’s body is in space; avoiding bumping into people or objects.

•Motor planning (using the body to accomplish a task).

•Auditory, visual, or intellectual processing, which can contribute to difficulties keeping up in a range of social settings.

http://www.aane.org/

Regulation of Emotions and Anxiety

•Recognizing what emotions feel like and look like in self and others.

•Understanding gradations of emotion; matching emotional response to people, activities and settings.

http://www.aane.org/

Regulation of Attention and Impulses

• Controlling flight or fight response when anxious.

• Filtering out extraneous stimuli.

• Analyzing relevant vs. irrelevant information.

• Sustaining attention to relevant information.

• Switching attention from one thing to another.

• Intense, narrow, time-consuming personal interest(s) — sometimes eccentric in nature — that may result in social isolation, or interfere with the completion of everyday tasks.

• Vulnerability to stress, sometimes escalating to psychological or emotional problems including low self-esteem, depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

http://www.aane.org/

Flexible Thinking

•Coping with changes in familiar routines.

• Seeing more than one way to accomplish a task/solve a problem.

•Realizing there are exceptions to rules; tolerating when other people bend rules.

•Accepting feedback, advice, suggestions or help from others.

•Change may trigger anxiety, while familiar objects, settings, and routines offer reassurance. One result is difficulty transitioning from one activity to another: from one class to another, from work-time to lunch or from talking to listening.

http://www.aane.org/

Central Coherence/Generalization/Main Idea

• Seeing “the forest for the trees.” Seeing the big picture due to a tendency to focus on the details of a given situation.

•Abstracting the main idea from text or conversation.

•Recognizing and categorizing information.

•Understanding complex or abstract concepts.

•Generalizing skills from one setting to another.

http://www.aane.org/

Executive Functioning/Problem-Solving

•Organizing thoughts and materials.

•Written expression.

•Time management

•Prioritizing, initiating, and completing tasks.

•Generating novel or alternative solutions.

Theory of Mind/Perspective Taking

•Recognizing and understanding other people’s thoughts, feelings, and intentions due to a tendency to ignore or misinterpret such cues as facial expression, body language and vocal intonation.

•Processing social information quickly and efficiently.

•Being tactful; being able to tell “white lies.”

http://www.aane.org/

Hidden Curriculum

•Understanding the unwritten or implied social rules.

•Knowing what to do or say in various social situations.

http://www.aane.org/

Social Pragmatics

• Appearing awkward or rude, and unintentionally upset others.• Noticing and correctly interpreting other people’s

nonverbal communication (gestures, body position, facial expression and tone of voice).•Modulating one’s own nonverbal communication.• Initiating, joining, and maintaining conversation.• Using humor and sarcasm appropriately; understanding

other people’s use of sarcasm and humor.• Feeling somehow different and disconnected from the rest

of the world and not “fitting in” — sometimes called “Wrong Planet” Syndrome.

http://www.aane.org/

Proxemics

•personal space

•1 ½ to 3 feet

• Invasion of someone’s personal space increases their anxiety

• Factors???

Non-Verbal Communication

•Body and posture

• Facial expressions, gestures, movements

Non-Verbal CommunicationKinesics

Haptics•Touch

•What message are we sending?

•Touching only an area of the body that:

1) socially acceptable within the context

2) consent has been given

3) Touch is light

Non-Verbal Communication

•The vocal part of speech, excluding the actual words one uses

•Tone

•Volume

•Cadence

Paraverbal Communication

Self-Awareness/Self-Advocacy:•Perceiving and expressing one’s own feelings.

•Understanding/accepting one’s own strengths and weaknesses.

•Developing strategies to offset weaknesses and build on strengths.

•Knowing when one needs help; asking for help.

•Recognizing and protecting oneself from bullies.

http://www.aane.org/

Chronic Fatigue:

•Difficulties with sleep patterns.

• Fatigue due to sensory stimulation in certain environments.

• Fatigue due to conscious mental processing of information that others might process intuitively.

•Exhaustion due to easily-triggered nervous system (active “Fight or Flight” response).

http://www.aane.org/

What do these people have in common?

Dan Aykroyd

Thomas Jefferson

Daryl Hannah

Albert Einstein

Beethoven

Susan Boyle

Tim Burton

Intelligence, Special Interest, Memory

• Average to very high intelligence.

• Good verbal skills; rich vocabulary.

• Ability to absorb and retain large amounts of information, especially about topics of special interest.

• Ability to think in visual images.

• Be self-motivated, independent learners.

• Propensity to think outside the box and generate novel solutions to problems.

• Some people may show a strong aptitude for a particular field of study or topic.

http://www.aane.org/

Strong Focus

•Ability (in some cases a preference) for spending time alone.

•Take an interest in arcane or off-beat fields of knowledge.

•Concentrate for long periods of time on reading, experimenting, writing,

•Avoid wasting time in some activities that appeal to neurotypical people.

• Some special interests can be channeled into productive hobbies or even careers, where the person may be creative or make new discoveries.

http://www.aane.org/

Detail-oriented

•Ability to notice small details of an idea, theory, number pattern, book, film, object or visual image.

•Ability to perform repetitive tasks where accuracy, rules and routine are important.

• Strong work ethic; commitment to quality and accuracy of work.

http://www.aane.org/

Unique Humor

•Play with language and create puns.

•Enjoy sarcasm and satire.

•Relish life’s absurd, dark, or incongruous side.

• See through empty rhetoric or conventional pieties.

http://www.aane.org/

Honesty

•Ability and tendency to tell the truth—

even if it’s not tactful or in one’s self-interest

•Desire and tendency to follow rules.

http://www.aane.org/

Desire to Connect

•Expend effort and energy to learn social skills that do not come naturally.

•Persevere in the face of rejection, confusion or frustration.

•Believe the best of everyone (sometimes naively).

•Accept quirkiness or imperfection in others, and become a loyal friend.

http://www.aane.org/

Fair and Just

•Tendency to be unconventional, open-minded, and tolerant.

• Intensely responsive when made aware of injustice.

•Advocate for the underdog, victims of bullying or member of an oppressed group.

•Propensity to express caring in non-traditional ways.

•Tendency to relate to and defend animals.

http://www.aane.org/