• Home
  • Our School
    • Premises
    • About Our Programme
    • Testimonials
  • Aftercare Programme
    • Extra Murals
  • Admission
    • Enrolment Application
    • Fees for 2021
  • Assessments
  • School Calendar
  • Therapy at The Talk Shop
  • Outpatient Therapy Programme
    • Feeding Clinic
  • Our Staff
  • Gallery
  • Tips for Parents
    • Autistic Spectrum Disorder
    • The Importance of Sleep
    • Phonological Awareness
    • Language Facilitators
    • Early Intervention
    • Dyspraxia
    • Discourse
    • Sensory Integration
  • Parent Support
  • Party Venue
  • Contact Us

The Talk Shop

You are here: Home / Talk Tips / Helpful Pages / Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a spectrum disorder where affected individuals can range from mild to severe. There are three or four characteristics:

  • impairment in social interaction
  • speech and language delay
  • obsessive or repetitive behaviour
  • sensory dysfunction

Autism is a life long, complex disorder that affects all areas of the child’s development. It is a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain. It is 4 times more common in boys and current statistics suggest that it occurs as frequently as 1/87 births.

Social interaction

Affected children have difficulty interacting with others and therefore have difficulty forming relationships. There may be little awareness of other people’s feelings with inappropriate social contact. Autistic children may be emotionally indifferent and dislike being held, touched or cuddled. They may prefer to play in isolation. There may be unusual or no eye contact.

Speech and Language delay

Speech may be abnormal, delayed or absent. There may be minimal reaction to verbal input and the child may appear and be tested for hearing impairment. They may only copy what they hear. Facial gesture may be unusual or absent. The child may have difficulty initiating conversations and speech may be “off track”. The child may engage in monologues about his/her favourite topic. They may have difficulty discussing or understanding abstract topics. There may be an unusual tone or axccent that can’t be explained.

Imagination or Behaviour

Symbolic or pretend play is absent or the child plays out scripts copied from TV. They may not see the relevance of the whole and may concentrate on irrelevant detail. They may rock or spin objects or flap their hands. They may obsess about objects or topics of interest e.g. wheels, fans, light switches, Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs. They may be very routine bound, insisting on doing things one way only. Change can cause distress. They may engage in a limited number of activities.

Sensory Dysfunction

One or more of their senses may be heightened and this may result in their day-to-day environment becoming a bombardment of confusing input.

RED FLAGS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

  • No babbling by 11 months.
  • No simple gestures by 12 months (waving)
  • No single words by 16 months.
  • No 2 word phrases by 24 months.
  • No response when name is called.
  • Loss of language or social skills at any age.
  • Odd or repetitive ways of moving fingers or hands.
  • Over sensitive to certain textures, sounds or lights.
  • Lack of interest in toys or playing unusually with them.
  • Compulsions or rituals. Tantrums if rituals are interrupted.
  • Unusual fears.
  • Rarely makes eye contact.
  • Does not play peek-a-boo.
  • Does not point to show things.
  • Rarely smiles socially.
  • More interested in looking at objects than people’s faces.
  • Prefers to play alone.
  • Does not attempt to get parent’s attention.
  • Is in his/her own world.
  • Does not respond to parent’s attempts to play.
  • Avoids or ignores other children if they approach.
  • No real fear of danger.
  • Bizarre eating patterns.
  • High pain threshold.
  • Abnormal sleep.
  • Tantrums.

 

Material taken from Autism Ontario – Durham Region.

durham@autismontario.com

If you are worried, please contact a professional.

AUTISM IS TREATABLE. EARLY INTERVENTION IS CRITICAL.

Sleep

The Importance of Sleep. Research has indicated that it is not the number of brain cells that are important for a child’s potential or ability to learn but rather the number of connections each nerve makes within the brain. We call these connections dendrites and they are extremely important for … [Read More...]

Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness. When children start school they face the biggest challenge of their lives – that of learning to read. Emergent literacy is a developmental period that is receiving much … [Read More...]

Early Intervention

There are many reasons why early intervention gives a child the best chance of future success and this article will help to explore some of these reasons and develop a cogent argument for early … [Read More...]

Dyspraxia

Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia (DVD) has many different names that might be confusing to parents: motor planning speech disorder apraxia dyspraxia apraxia of speech sequencing … [Read More...]

Discourse – Using Storytelling

In order to promote narrative discourse, children need to have an understanding of sequence so that they understand that news and stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Story telling is a … [Read More...]

Copyright- The Talk Shop -2017 - Website by Tau Triton Media.