About Autism

 What is Autism?

The Triad of Impairments

What causes Autism?

When is Autism diagnosed?

Who does it affect?

What is Sense Impairment?

Characteristics of Autism

 What is Autism?

Autism is a lifelong developmental disorder that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. Children and adults with autism have difficulties with everyday social interaction. Their ability to develop friendships is generally limited as is their capacity to understand other people’s emotional expression.

People with autism generally experience three main areas of difficulty which are:

· Social Interaction: difficulty with social relationships

· Social Communication: difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication

· Imagination: difficulty in development of personal play and imagination

These key types of behavior often known as the Triad of Impairments.

Autism is often referred to as Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The word 'spectrum' is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively 'everyday' lives; others will require a lifetime of specialist support.

There is also a condition called Aspergers Syndrome, which is a form of autism used to describe people who are at the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum.

The Triad of Impairments

In autism a child’s development is impaired in three main areas which are known as the ‘The Triad of Impairments’: Communication, Social Interactions and Imagination.

3: Imagination

Lack of imaginative play, very repetitive interests and obsessions.

 What causes Autism?

The cause of autism has not been conclusively established and research on the condition is ongoing. However, modern medical research clearly points to biological causes and neuro-biological abnormalities. Causes include:

· Genetic factors

· Viral infections

· Pre-natal and perenatal (complications during pregnancy or birth).

Further information and current research can be found at:

The National Autistic Society

 When is Autism diagnosed?

A child’s difficulties most commonly develop between the second and third years of their life. There are a number of reasons for this:

· When a child has severe learning difficulties in addition to autism they may be difficult to isolate and detect.

· The three main areas of development—social interaction, communication and speech and concept formation, all develop around this age.

· Around the age of 2½ - 3 the child develops the experience of ’I’ as separate from the environment.

In some cases the child will develop normally, for example they may begin to use words, then a regression occurs and the early developed skills are lost.  

 What is Sense Impairment?

Most people with autism suffer from the impairment of at least one of their senses. Some senses can be hypersensitive (over sensitive) and others may be hyposensitive (under sensitive), which can make it very hard to withstand everyday stimulation and therefore everyday situations. For example: the sound of traffic can be very irritating due to the noise level and this can then lead to disruptive vision.

Any of the senses can be affected: vision, auditory (hearing), smell, taste, touch, balance and proprioception (relating to the position movement of the body). Consequently, due to this struggle of making sense of an incoming muddle of sensory information, everyday situations can be very overwhelming and frightening to a person with autism. As a result, the right environment can help towards reducing sensory input and overload.

 Characteristics of Autism