by Emma Walker

Created on: September 29, 2010

The term autism refers to a range of lifelong related neurological developmental disorders, that is thought to affect approximately 1 in 100 people (NAS 2010)

The symptoms of autism can vary from one affected person to another in terms of how they manifest and in severity, but the three consistent areas of difficulty a person with autism experiences are with social interaction, communication/language difficulties and unusual patterns of thought, other associated characteristics of autism are repetitive behaviour, a dislike/resistance to change and obsessions.

Communication/language difficulties could include delayed development of speech, problems with pragmatics (the art of conversation) and semantics (the meaning of language), literal interpretation of things that are said to them, echolalia (repetition of speech), difficulty processing and retaining verbal information and some people with autism can not or do not use speech as a means of communication.

Difficulties with social interaction can occur in part as a result of communication/language difficulties but it can also be due many other things including obsessions, that other people may find strange and hard to understand.

Another common feature of autism is high levels of anxiety/stress, which can result in withdrawal/solitariness, depression and possibly aggression.

Unusual patterns of thought such as cognitive difficulties and an inflexibility of though are common as are an inability to conceptualise and appreciate other people thoughts or feelings and a lack of empathy.

Other common features/symptoms of autism include a lack of/ poor eye contact, sensory issues such as hypersensitivity to noise, smells and or textures and motor difficulties (gross and fine).

In addition to the range of features/symptoms already mentioned there can be many more, plus some other conditions have strong associations with autism, these are called co-morbids and include attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), dyspraxia and dyslexia.

There is no cure to autism, and to a certain extent no treatment, but the condition can be managed.

People with autism like structure, routine, consistency and a predictable environment. If there is a particular trigger or dislike a person with autism has, by the people around them being aware of this it can where possible be avoided.

To optimise communication various solutions can be employed depending on the individual’s difficulties. For non-verbal

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