by Andrew Franz

Created on: April 18, 2009

Autism and Localization of the Senses

The new hot button disability in the Special Education world, autism lies in the public domain as an easy explanation of subversive student behavior. Certainly, this stems from its prevalence and the visibility of the characteristics, yet, it is remarkable how little is still known by the general public. This pseudo interest has yielded to a subconscious discrimination against those people with autism. Frequent misconceptions give way to unease, incorrect diagnoses by laymen, and fear. Just like ADHD in the late nineties and AIDS in the eighties, the best weapon for an end to the misapprehensions is national awareness. This paper examines the inability of a person with autism to discern between local and background stimuli, and further still, how these characteristics could be misconstrued as antisocial or even aggression. The greatest question to be answered is how do these characteristics and perceptions hinder people with autism in the educational process?

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects 1 in 150 people. It strikes all races and creeds with a four times greater chance in males than females. Autism hinders a person's ability to relate socially, specifically in communication and empathy (Autism Speaks). A person with autism has a tendency towards repetitive behavior and restriction of the body and interests (DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association, APA 1994). It is thought that autism may be linked to 22q11 deletion syndrome in which a person is born without part of chromosome 22 (Niklasson et al 2009). Due to the seeming prevalence of autism at the turn of the century, it is important to delve into the best strategy for education and development of survival skills.

When looking at people with autism, apparent are the mannerisms and behaviors, the muscle spasms, the glazed eyes, and the frequent out-bursts. It appears the person is suffering from a visual or auditory impairment. However, most research supports that these are characteristics of neurological development issues. Xiaoyan Ke and his colleagues found an abnormality in the frontal lobe of children with autism (2009). However, the frontal lobe is not associated with sensory function (Centre for Neuro Skills 2006). In fact, visual and auditory stimuli are processed regularly in people with autism (Magnee et al 2009).

Autistic students are often associated with mental retardation. Because of their mannerisms and sometimes stunted cognitive abilities,

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