Children diagnosed with autism usually
exhibit very poor social maturity for their age. Communication
skills are delayed and peer relationships are very immature. They
may play with toys near other children but not with the other
children. This is known as parallel play.
Verbal and nonverbal
communication is also very restricted. Eye to eye gaze, facial
expression and general gestures to indicate their feelings are also
limited.
Often a child with autism will demonstrate hand flapping movements, toe walking, and
extreme interest in moving objects. They often do not understand
that others have feelings and dismiss the fact that a person may be
hurting. They do not show feelings of sympathy or joy for others.
The right posterior part of the brain is felt by some researchers, as being
"shutdown" or "asleep" that limits the patient's capacity for taking
in social/emotional information that is essential for developing and
maintaining relationships
Autistic children will often talk nonstop on a topic of special interest to
themselves, and be completely uninterested in what another person
has to say. Autistic children don't choose to be socially disconnected; it is, according
to brain researchers, a byproduct of systems in the brain being
shutdown or disconnected. This may result from either too slow or
too fast brainwaves causing either underfunctioning or
overstimulation and confusion in the brain.
Autism is usually associated with lower functioning in the ability of children
diagnosed with the disorder. Children who may be diagnosed
with Asperger’s Disorder have many of the symptoms of autism except
that they usually function within the normal range of ability, have
average reading and math skills and have good language ability.
These children do not meet all the criteria for autism. However,
they do exhibit many of the symptoms. Many of these children are
initially diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Children with ADHD have great difficulty staying on task in order to finish a project
as they are very distractible, don’t seem to listen when spoken to,
have difficulty organizing tasks and activities, and are often
forgetful. Hyperactivity and impulsivity can also be associated with
ADHD.
Although Autism,Asperger’s and ADHD are different disorders, each has some aspects
of the other two and sometimes one may be confused with another.
Children who have been diagnosed with one or another of these disorders need to be taught
and reinforced to respect others space and that others have feelings
that can be hurt by name calling, being touched without permission,
interrupted, etc. With a great deal of support and reinforcement of
general rules of conduct children with these disorders will begin to
understand the perspective of others.
