subject: What Is An Autism Spectrum Disorder? [print this page] Autism Spectrum Disorder encompasses Asperger Syndrome, High Functioning Autism and Low Functioning Autism. Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder that is also being discussed amongst professionals as being no different to High Functioning Autism.
Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder have impairments in social interactions in that:
They can have difficulty "taking turns" at conversation;
They can also be deficient in 'spur-of-the-moment' interactions with others so they often miss sharing enjoyable experiences, games, fun and conversations;
They may lack emotional reciprocity; (not be misconstrued as to thinking they do not have feeling towards others).
Building and developing friendships with peers at developmental levels may be difficult.
Processing takes time.
Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder can show repetitive motor movements - for example, their hands may start flapping or their body may twitch. They are often inflexible in their ways too, and struggle to adhere to routines or expectations that are not purposeful. This is when you may experience a battle of the wills. Autistic Spectrum Disorder causes an individual to have different pathways to the average individual. These different pathways cause struggles in these areas:
Communication - speech, interaction with others through speech, stating their needs and wants appropriately and clearly, etc.
Social Skills - understanding what others body language is telling them - example: rolling eyes due to boredom, looking around showing clearly that no interest is be given in what is being spoken about etc. Knowing how to show interest in what others have to say, taking turns etc.
When these elements are clearly a much needed part of a success outcome in one's life, it can make life extremely hard when an individual has struggles in all of them. Which leads to a final area that can make life of an individual with Autistic Spectrum Disorder even harder and that is ENERGY?
When an individual is lacking in areas that are very important to a person's life it means that they have to work harder throughout their daily experiences and this leads to exhaustion in their energy levels.
Humans are all given the same amount of energy for the daily interactions and occurrences' and during an individual with ASD day their energy is used up much quicker than their peers and this makes their tolerance levels become a lot lower and so to achieve even the simplest tasks in their days extremely hard. So taking this into account will help you become more accepting of the individual with ASD and give you clearer understanding as to why the individual may not be too easy to work with.
Autism Spectrum Disorder may even go unnoticed, as this condition falls under the "Unseen Disabilities" label, and in turn this can cause families to experience great difficulty in receiving support and assistance on many levels. But as you can see it really is a "spectrum" of different conditions in both children and adults.
