ABOUT AUTISM

Autism is a life long condition. It is not a condition that affect a particular ethnicity but it is more commonly diagnosed in males rather than females. There are more efforts being made to recognise the typical characteristics which means more children are being diagnosed and at an earlier age. This is great news because support can be put in place to help the child's development and education and the families ability to cope.  

Autism will affect a persons ability to varying degrees in three main catagories:  

Social Interaction

Social Communication

Social Flexibility  

This means possibly being affected by your ability to talk, respond, carry out instructions, interact, socialise, share, empathise, compromise and understand.  

People with autism experience the world in a different way because of our senses. Some are over-sensitive or under sensitive or a combination of the two depending on the experience. This can make daily life difficult to manage.  

In addition to the five main senses (touch, taste, vision, smell and sound) people with Autism are also affected by the sense of balance (vestibular) and body awareness (proprioception).  

If you can imagine walking through a supermarket an being affected by bright lights, loud music, lots of imagery and colours, variety of smells, strangers looking at you and the uncertainty of what you will experience at the next corner. It's understandable that what is a normal daily experience can be hugely overwhelming.  

Now think to a time when you felt stressed or frustrated like queuing in an airport, going through security, almost missing a flight, arguing over the size of hand luggage, people pushing past you, talkative passengers, being sat down uncomfortably for hours, having to eat something that wasn't that nice and feeling exhausted at the start of a holiday. You experience this seldomly but try daily where people don't understand why you are upset and unable to explain exactly what have led you to the point of despair.  

This is just a very brief summary about Autism. More information can be found under the useful links tab.