We all have autistic traits in us. Most of us can recall, at some time or other, resorting to routines which offer comfort, checking the plugs are off or we have our keys numerous times, needing to perform a task a set number of times so our day goes well, having temporary fixations with numbers and so on. These are normal human behaviour. However, when these traits overwhelm a person, then autism is suspected.
Many adults have lived with autism all their lives and are only now recognising their symptoms. With more recognition, it is more common for adult diagnosis, which, though not seeking to cure the condition, helps the person with it understand themselves better and not feel so alone.
Autism crosses a vast range of symptoms from severe communication problems to high functioning types like Aspergers. Physical symptoms such as awkwardness or clumsiness are more likely to be a result of conditions like ADHD, Dyspraxia and ADD which sometimes accompany autism.
The autistic person may be one who communicates rarely or one who is very good at communicating and shows litle outward signs of their condition until stress at having to constantly cope with our world brings about behaviour which is regarded as odd, like the routines. People with autism find routines and habits comforting. They allow them some control in a world which, to them, is literally, bonkers.
Some may run away or lash out when coping becomes too much and we must not forget that this is what a person with autism is doing most of the time - coping! One man described his life with autism as living in a bubble where you want to scream yet know somehow this is wrong but it builds up inside until you have to go away from people.
If you have a literal and rigid way of thinking, you see the world clearly but only from one aspect. How then, do you read other peoples' facial expressions? - how do you pick up on the social nuances that the rest of us learn so young? How do you know how to react to a joke and how, for goodness' sake do you learn that when someone says 'pull up your socks' it does not mean you have to stop and do that or if another says a man 'has a chip on his shoulder' it does not mean it literally?
Many autistic people are very clever and their understanding of certain concepts is good but when it comes to conceptual thinking, they lack the skills to be able to conceptualise. For example 2 plus they know is 4. Now ask them to imagine two men each with two loaves of bread and they may find it harder to tell you there are four loaves of bread because they find it difficult to imagine the scenario.
I chair a group to support young people from 5-16 with autism. The ability ranges from those who cannot speak to those who are very high functioning and only young people with a diagnosed autistic spectrum disorder can join the group. We have observed something really interesting and it is this:
Although on the surface, the youngsters appear very different with their wide age range and symptoms, they all take part in activities and have developed an across-the-age group identity. I asked one why he thought this was and he turned to me and simply said, 'We all think the same, that's why!' So somehow, across the range of their symptoms there is a common way of thinking, which they all tune into and understand.
For them, they are excluded from 'normal' life and some activities in school for example, they find hard. Many of them have become isolated and find making friends difficult. At the group however, they find there are other people like them, who think like them. They realise they are not 'odd' or 'weird' but simply people with autism. They quickly develop a strong identity with our group and once they find the group, they usually remain steady attendees for several years.
Here, noone thinks them odd if they cover their ears from noise or make little cheeping noises between words as they find it comforting.
You can help people with autism by thinking of it like this: Autistic people have many gifts but socially their tool box is almost empty. What we need to do is give them the tools and the more tools they have in the box, the more they can use them to allow them to cope in different scenarios, which we may take for granted, say shopping or queuing.
How do we do this? By example, taking time to explain clearly and social stories using different situations to allow them to copy and learn by rote. For example, what should you do when you enter a room? How do you ask for something in a shop? The kind of things we pick up as we go along simply do not get into the autistic person's mind without a lot of help from us.
Autism will not be cured but by wanting to help, being there for them and listening we can offer the person with autism a way to cope in our noisy, 'normal' world.
I will close by saying that autism is for life - there is no 'treatment' although drugs work to help with symptoms sometimes and omega 3 oils found in oily fish and flax have been shown to help some because they supplement a co-enzyme found in the brain which allows us to proces information, but if a person is autistic, they are just that and should be loved as they are.
Autism can prove challenging not only for those with it but also for those who love them. Yet, they can be charming, logical, loyal companions and making the effort to understand the condition will allow you to get a glimpse into their world - and help them make sense of ours.
Sometimes, when I sense the strong bond between the youngsters who attend our group I wonder who is right - the autistic person or us 'normal' people!