Autistic Children and How They Experience the World - Research Paper Example

? Running Head: AUTISTIC CHILDREN Autistic Children and How They Experience the World School What is Autism? Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that presents a delay in the speech and language development and impairment in communication skills. Symptoms may be seen before the age of three. Warning signs may consist of the child’s difficulty with using and understanding language; trouble relating to family and peers; weird play; resistance to changes; unusual behavior; and repetitive body movements. However, because every ASD case is unique, symptoms may vary in every child (Quinn & Malone, 2000). After decades of intensive study in autism, experts introduced the term Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD to reflect the wider spectrum of clinical features that now define autism (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). ASD is also referred to as Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Covering this spectrum are Classic Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified, and Rett Syndrome (Quinn & Malone, 2000). Since autism was first described in 1943 by Leo Kanner, a child psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins University, a great deal of research has been done to study this condition and understand the perplexing exhibited behaviors by people under the Autism Spectrum Disorder. All the information that we know of the disorder were gathered from observations made by medical experts on the autistic behaviors of those affected with the condition. Personal stories and individual experiences of the ‘real experts’ ¬ the autistic individuals themselves, could give us a first-hand, in-depth knowledge of their sensory world (Albano, 2008; Bogdashina, n.d.). Temple Grandin, a high-functioning autistic, a livestock equipment designer, with a Ph.D. in Animal Science at the University of Illinois and an assistant professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, shares her personal account, "I pulled away when people tried to hug me, because being touched sent an overwhelming tidal wave of stimulation through my body...when noise and sensory over-stimulation became too intense, I was able to shut off my hearing and retreat into my own world" (Grandin, 2000). Another experience by a 14-year-old severely autistic Hindu boy, Tito Mukhopadhyay, will likewise give us a clear picture: "I am calming myself. My senses are so disconnected, I lose my body. So I flap [my hands]. If I don't do this, I feel scattered and anxious...I hardly realized that I had a body...I needed constant movement, which made me get the feeling of my body" (Blakeslee, 2002). The Triad of Impairments A child diagnosed with ASD displays the following behaviors and manifestations to some degree before the child turns three years old. Deficits in Social Skills. A typical child shows an interest in peers; however, an ASD child withdraws from people and often shows more interest in objects than in people. They are often disconnected from the ‘real world’ and engaged in repetitive, unusual behaviors. Social deficiencies may include lack or no eye contact, stoic or dispassionate facial expressions, lack or no compassion to others and lack of shared interests with the people around them (Exkorn, 2005). Deficits in Communication. ASD children may have little or no speech at all. Some have delayed speech, idiosyncratic, or repetitive speech. Those with speech capacities may not initiate or sustain a two-way conversation. Children with ASD frequently exhibit echolalia in the course of learning to talk. Echolalia is the replication of words or sounds of others’ speech, including their exact intonation and sound (Exkorn, 2005). Restricted, Repetitive, Stereotyped Behaviors. ASD children may have preoccupations or obsessions on specific subjects (ex. dinosaurs, train schedules) or particular objects (ex. bottle caps, piece of string, stickers). They may have routines or rituals (ex. lining up of matchbox cars, touching the walls of the bedroom before bedtime), repetitive actions (ex. rocking, flapping), fixations on parts (ex. wheels of a toy car) or finely tuned sensitivities (ex. wearing the same shirt over and over, eating only certain foods) (Exkorn, 2005). Other Impairments Symptomatic of ASD Difficulties with Movement. Other symptoms of ASD include postponed development of motor skills and poor coordination in motor movements. ASD children may sometimes have trouble doing simple things such as ball-catching and bike-pedaling. They are noticeably awkward, showing stiff walking patterns, walking on tip-toes, funny posture, poor control skills, and impaired movement synchronization (Exkorn, 2005). Sensitivity to Sensory Information. Evident in ASD children are sensory issues of hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to pain, sight, smell, touch, sound, taste, and temperature. A child may feel or may not feel pain; may show preferences for some food textures; may feel more comfortable with hot temperature than with cold; may show dislike for certain sounds; or may have aversion to touch. Some may demonstrate abnormal response to a particular environment setting (Exkorn, 2005). Psychological Challenges. Frequently experienced by autistic children are concentration and security dilemmas such as discriminating attention and hyperactivity in certain situations. They may be extremely obsessed with circumscribed subjects and may exhibit carelessness and restricted responsiveness to safety. ASD children are usually ignorant to risks and threats such as swallowing objects, going out on the streets, playing with or near water, climbing high places, wandering around, or pulling electric cords (Exkorn, 2005). Insomnia is very common for individuals with ASD. Troubled sleep such as beginning and sustaining sleep are strong indications of insomnia. Wakefulness is a consequence of sleep interruptions. In some studies, it was revealed that interruptions in the biological 24-hour rhythm and stress-related issues of the ASD child may cause insomnia (Exkorn, 2005). How do Autistic Children Experience the World? ‘Learning how each individual autistic person’s senses function is one crucial key to understanding that person’ (O’Neill, 1999). The personal stories of autistic persons disclose that one of the major dilemmas they experience is their atypical perception. Some features of the ‘autistic perception’ of the world are testimonials from autistic individuals belonging to the high-functioning group and from close observations made by experts on the behavior of autistic children (Bogdashina, n.d.). Theory of Mind. It is the concept that ASD individuals have trouble understanding others’ thoughts, emotions, or opinions as they are mindblind. Mindblindedness is an individual’s incapacity to sympathize or realize that people think or feel in a different way. This theory is a factor of self-involvement characteristic of ASD. It causes social dilemmas, difficulties in communication, and can be mistaken as being unfeeling and self-centered (Exkorn, 2005). Literal perception: ASD individuals appear to see everything as it is, meaning, they can see things devoid of understanding and interpretation. Literal perception is linked with a child’s receptive language or how a child comprehends what is being said. Idiomatic expressions such as ‘raining cats and dogs’, ‘hold your horses’, ‘a head start’ can be easily understood by a normal person, however, these may seem hard to grasp for ASD persons. Imaginative thinking may not be obtainable to people with ASDs. This explanation holds true to Baron-Cohen’s Theory of Minblindedness. Because it is not inherent in ASD individuals to read the mind of others, they are incapable of interpretation (Bogdashina, n.d.). Gestalt Perception. It is the inability to make a distinction between foreground and background information. The autistic brain’s incapacity to filter or select information causes judgment inflexibilities and deficiency in making generalizations. The ASD child, given the same circumstance with the same prompt, can successfully execute the action, however, when the setting is slightly altered, the ASD child fails. For an autistic child, a slight change in the furniture arrangement of a familiar room may make him feel unsafe and threatened. When something is different, the whole gestalt is changed which may further bring uncertainty and irritation (Williams, 1996). Hypersensitivities. Hypersensitive ASD children register and process information to the extreme. Sensory overload may be painful, overwhelming and over-stimulating to autistic children. Bright lights, high-pitched sounds, a certain fabric texture, or the distant ringing of the telephone may cause overstimulation and challenges for the child. In visual/auditory hypersensitivities, distractions should be minimized and environments should be adjusted to the safety of the ASD child. Challenging behaviors, such as self-injury, tantrums, and aggression can be successfully managed by just modifying the setting (Exkorn, 2005). Hyposensitivities. Hyposensitive children may not be bothered by an overload of sensory and environmental stimuli, in fact, these children may seek out extra stimulation (Exkorn, 2005). Repetitive Behaviors. These behaviors include hand mannerisms such as flapping of the hands, twisting or flicking of fingers, rubbing, or wringing hands; body movements such as rocking, swaying, or walking back and forth ; and odd postures. These ASD behaviors may unlock the parents and caregivers’ understanding of how the child experiences the world, confronts challenges, copes with difficulties and develops protective strategies and compensations for his shortfalls. Although these mannerisms may seem meaningless to normal people, these may be soothing and helpful to the sensory needs of ASD children (Glossary of Terms, 2012). Repetitive behaviors have different functions: (1) defensive - to decrease the pain from hypersensitivities; (2) self-stimulatory - to increase sensory stimulation for hyposensitive cases; (3) compensatory - to understand the environment and satisfy cravings in their confusing world (Bogdashina, n.d.) Self-Injurious Behaviors (SIBs). ASD children may engage in self-injurious behaviors in the form of head banging, nail biting, face-hitting, biting of the hand/arm, and excessive scratching. SIBs can be explained in two theories: (1) Psychological theory: SIBs release beta endorphins in the brain, providing an opiate effect that gives internal sense of satisfaction and arousal; (2) Social theory: SIBs may serve the purpose of attention-seeking, a strategy to maneuver adults or a way to avoid a difficult task or an upsetting incident (Exkorn, 2005). Delayed Perception or Delayed Processing. Delayed processing in the autistic brain may necessitate extra time to process the question and the appropriate response. In some cases, it takes days, weeks, months or even years to process information, however, in some; information is stored in the brain for retrieval at a later time (Bogdashina, n.d.) Mono-Processing. In preventing sensory information overload, the autistic brain processes and concentrates on a single modality at a time. Because of this, that person loses understanding of the other information coming through other senses. Hence, while he processes visual information, the auditory input fades or he loses tactile input. This mono-processing serves as one of their automatic adjustments to stop or reduce sensory overload or hypersensitivity (Bogdashina, n.d.) Systems Shutdowns. In cases when ASD individuals cannot control sensory information, he may shut down a few sensory channels or the entire sensory system. For example, some ASD children are assumed to be deaf because they occasionally do not respond to sounds. This is because they discover to ’turn off’ when they experience information overkill, and later retreat into their world of safety. Systems shutdowns may be regarded as an instinctive compensation when the environment becomes unsafe for ASD children (Bogdashina, n.d.) References Albano, A. (2008). Through Different Eyes: How People with Autism Experience the World. Serendip. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1792  American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Children with Disabilities (2001). Technical report: the pediatrician's role in the diagnosis and management of autistic spectrum disorder in children. Pediatrics, 107, 5. Blakeslee, S. (November 19, 2002). A Boy, a Mother and a Rare Map of Autism's World. The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/19/science/a-boy-a-mother-and-a-rare-map -of-autism-s-world.html?pagewanted=all&src=pmy Bogdashina, O. (n.d.). Different Sensory Experiences – Different Sensory Worlds. Autism Today. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/Different_Sensory_Experiences.htm Exkorn, K. S. (2005). The Autism Sourcebook. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc. Glossary of Terms (2012). Autism Speaks. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/video-glossary/glossary-terms Grandin, T. (2000). My Experiences with Visual Thinking Sensory Problems and Communication Difficulties. Autism Research Institute. Retrieved February 28, 2012 from http://www.autism.com/ind_temple_experiences.asp Johnson, C. P. and Myers, S. M. (November 5, 2007). Identification and Evaluation of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Pediatrics, 120, 1183-1215. O’Neill, J. L. (1999). Through the Eyes of Aliens: A book about autistic people. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley. Quinn, B. and Malone, A. (2000). Pervasive Developmental Disorder: An Altered Perspective. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Williams, D. (1996). Autism. An Inside-Out Approach. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Read More