Presented by:
Julie Ashmun, MEd, BCBA , Assistant Director, Operations - University of Washington CARE at the Haring Center - westhoff@u.washington.edu - (206) 221-4482PowerPoint Presentation Slides
Autism = Neurodiversity
ASDs are neurobehavioral disorder that impacts 1 in 88
- You are born with it
- Collection of overlapping groups of symptoms that vary - you an have someone who is severely disabled & cannot speak
- There are high functioning people with autism who may be diagnosed with aspergers. They gain skills to function in society.
- Onset is early in life
- Effects are life long. There is no cure.
Brain differences
- Heavier and bigger brain
- Effects the cerebellum - different connections and pathways - area that maintains balance and posture tends to be underdeveloped
- Effects Amygdylla - triggers emotional pathways - disregulation with emotion
- Frontal lobe - decisionmaking; executive functions
Facts
- More common in boys than girls
- Genetic factors seem to play a role - deletions or abnormalities on genes
- No definitive causes are known. Lots of theories. Genetic predisposition with environmental trigger.
- Post-secondary education - there has been more research around early intervention. When young ones get it, they are more likely to make it to post-secondary education.
- Students (and families) have higher expectations for themselves about what they can achieve than in the past.
Diagnosis
- Criteria is in DSM-IV
- Diagnosis is made by experienced clinicians using standardized assessments and clinical judgment
- There is no biological marker or lab test
- Many have been diagnosed in younger years but do not get re-tested to get formal accommodation at UW. CARE does that testing at a greatly reduced rate.
ASDs include “Classic Autism”, Asperger Syndrome; PDD-NOS
PDD-NOS is a higher functioning type of autism
--Childhood disintigrative disorder
--RETs syndrome - more intellectual disability
DSM IV Defines autism as -
- Delays/abnormal functioning in social interaction, social communication, restrictive, repetitive
- Delay in or total lack of spoken language - devices can help people speak
- Impairment in ability to initiate or sustain conversation
- Imparirment in nonverbal communication - gestures, avoiding eye contact, etc
- --scripting (repeating what they have heard on tv or the radio), sometimes to Reversal of pronouns or prepositions - autism is affected by your perspective of things. If you’re speaking to someone with high functioning autism and you are confused, it could be because they’ve jumbled words up.
- Repetition of things they’ve heard (i.e. on tv) to communicate, or sometimes self-soothing
- Speech rhythm or tone might seem odd
- Autistic people tend to be very visual; numbers & symbols & calendars have more significance for them, make sense to them (some more than others)
- Ability to pick up on social cues. Social reciprocity doesn’t work in their neural pathways. If you point to something, they might not follow because they’re just not cued into that. (Early intervention is helping with this.)
- You need to be more direct with Autistic people because they aren’t picking up on your facial expression (confusion, etc).
- Failure in developing peer relationships
- Lack of spontaneous sharing of enjoyment (i.e. laughing at a joke)
- Lack of social or emotional reciprocity
- Empathy - they might not be able to pick up on your cues that you are sad, or process the emotional aspect of that.
- People with Aspergers say they can see someone else’s pain but cannot express it. Behaviors don’t match up (i.e. laughing at a funeral even though they are feeling sad)
Temple Grandon - thinking in pictures, seeing the world differently
Repetitive patterns of behavior
- Obsessive interests
- Rigid adherence to routines and rules
- Stereotyped motor movements
- When things aren’t the way they are supposed to be, it can be very distressful
Aspergers
- No speaking delay
- Lack of emotional or social component to the speech
- Qualitative impairments in social interactions
- Average or above average intelligence
- Sensory proccesing : sensitive to light, sound, texture, food (humming fluorescent lights can be very difficult for a person with autism)
- Hyper-focus
- There can be a compounding factor as the day goes on
- Executive disfunction - need help organizing and planning, getting dressed, etc
- Flexibility is a huge challenge. Dealing with things that are outside of the normal routine (i.e. cell phone isn’t working, internet goes down)
Change to DSM: all categories will be wrapped into Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism is a spectrum so each individual with the disorder is unique.
Navigating in a social world is hard, takes a lot of energy
Support:
Communication - Just because you are saying something doesn’t always mean the person understands what you are saying.
Temple Grandin - spokesperson for people with autism.
Checking for understanding- asking “did you get that?”; “What did I just say”?
How to communicate?
“Libraries and Autism - Customer Service Tips”
http://www.librariesandautism.org/downloads/TipsHandout-July2012.pdf
Giving choices if they are upset-
The standard technique of saying “that must be very upsetting for you” could actually trigger something. Example: you show attention to the fact they are upset and they start screaming (yes, I am upset!)
High levels of depression and anxiety are common. Some people with Autism are familiar with thinking of their anxiety/stress level on a 5 point scale. Usually they need to support to get down from a 4 or 5 level. It’s better to get under control at their 3 or 4 level.
Using sequences can be helpful - first you do this, second you do this, etc.
Writing things down is helpful.
Behaviors - example- if someone starts humming, why are they humming? Is that because they are getting agitated? You need to get to know the person, and then you can sometimes predict their behavior or help them further.
- Chelle Batchelor
UW Bothell Library
