Awareness Trail

Autism is a biological disorder of the brain that impairs communication and social skills. It encompasses a broad spectrum of disorders that may range from mild to severe. Autistics have been described as being in their “own world”. Many high functioning autistics describe two worlds; “their world” and the “outside world”. Many autistics describe their experience as "thinking in pictures", to quote Dr. Temple Grandin. There are serious sensory challenges that accompany autism, and some say are the source of autism, that must be understood to fully comprehend the disorder (see the discussion below). Some of the markers are as follows: Absence or delay of speech and language: * Repetition of words (echolalia) in place of a normal verbal communication. * Hand leading to communicate in place of verbal requests. * Absence of verbal communication. Difficulty relating to other children and adults: * Absence of eye contact. (When directly in front of the child, they may look in every direction, except at the individual in from of them). * Apparent aloofness. * Lack of interest in other children and what the other children are doing. * Lack of response to verbal requests. * No response when name is called. * Avoidance of physical contact (even with parents and siblings). * Indifference to others in distress or pain. Odd behaviors: * Self-stimulation, spinning, rocking, hand flapping, etc.. * Inappropriate laughter or tantrums for no apparent reason. * Inappropriate attachment to objects. * Obsessive compulsive behaviors i.e. lining up objects. * Repetitive odd play for extended periods of time. Example: stacking blocks for a half hour at a time. * Insistence on routine and sameness. Difficulty dealing with interruption of routine schedule and change. * Possible self injurious behavior or aggressive behavior toward others. Sensory Challenges: * Hyper (over) or Hypo (under) sensitivity of the five senses (See the discussion below) * Abnormal responses to the senses. * A lack of response to pain or an overreaction to something seemingly minor such as a door closing. Sensory dysfunction In order to fully understand autism, a thorough knowledge of the sensory challenges that autistics face is necessary. For a typical individual, we take the normal function of our five senses for granted: 1. Vision 2. Hearing 3. Touch 4. Taste 5. Smell Some Examples: of the impact a dysfunctional sensory system may have. A Walk Through the Neighborhood A typical individual has no problem walking down the street with a friend, having a conversation, hearing the sounds of the neighborhood in the background, smelling the blooming spring flowers, and maybe chewing gum, all at the same time. For an autistic individual, who has a dysfunctional sensory system, this typical experience may be completely overwhelming. The individual may be completely oblivious to the sounds of the neighborhood such as an ambulance screaming by, or may be totally overpowered by the smell of blooming flowers. The sun shining through the trees may be such an intense experience, it may inhibit the individual from being able to concentrate on walking down the sidewalk. Thus this inability to mesh the senses appropriately may profoundly impact someone's ability to "act" and communicate in a "normal" fashion.