News April 2022

Autism Awareness

World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) aims to put a spotlight on the hurdles that people with autism and others living with autism face every day.

Autism is a condition that affects how a person thinks, feels, interacts with others, and experiences their environment. It’s estimated that 1 in 70 people are on the autism spectrum. It is a lifelong disability that starts when a person is born and stays with them into old age. Every Autistic person is different to every other.

There is a misconception that autism spectrum is linear. In fact Autistic people can display a wide range of characteristics in their communication; sensory experiences; emotional regulations, behavioural & mental health; repetitive movement, body awareness and motor planning; focused or special interests; routines & schedules; executive functioning; and social expression & relationship building.

Throughout this month our psychologist Codie will share her knowledge on Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Codie has an interest in ASD and can provide the following assessments at our Albury and Wagga Offices:
• Cognitive assessments
• Autism assessment
• ADHD assessment

Phone Centacare 1300 619 379 for an appointment or more information.

Communication:

Difficulties in learning or using spoken language
Communicate honestly and directly
A dislike or difficulty with small talk, sarcasm or understanding jokes
Repeating words or phrases in a way that can seem out of context
Not using or understanding gestures like pointing
Lack of interactive eye contact
Using sounds, signs, gestures or pictures to communicate instead of spoken words
Taking extra time to understand spoken information

Sensory experience:

Being constantly aware or more ware of some sensations (sounds, smells, tastes, touch etc.)
Feeling distressed or overwhelmed if there are too many sensations at once (loud noise, lots of touching, bright lights, etc.)
Working hard to avoid distress by covering ears, hiding in quiet places, etc. to block out sensations
Discomfort with touch such as materials of clothes, tags or light touch from others
Seeking sensory experiences by smelling food, flicking fingers in front of lights
Not noticing internal sensations like hunger, cold or pain
An ability to notice specific details, patterns or changes that other people are unaware of

Emotional regulations, behavioural & mental health:

A strong, sometimes overwhelming, emotional connection to others
Delay in learning to understand and regulate emotions
Difficulties understanding how non-autistic people think in some situations (just as non-autistic people have difficulty understanding autistic people)

Repetitive movement, body awareness and motor planning:

Repeating movements such as flapping hands or pacing around to show excitement or to help cope with stress
Non-traditional play such as repetitive lining up of toys
Weak in perceiving social distance
Poor timing and coordination of balance
Clumsiness, difficulties in gross and fine motor skills

Focused or special interests:

Very strong focus on specific interest areas
Deep interest in typical topics such as dinosaurs, sport, Disney or trains, or more unusual topics such as air conditioners, wheels, or bins
Up to 20% of Autistic people have exceptional or above average skills in one or more areas such as reading, math, arts, mechanics, music, memory, etc.
Preference for leisure based on passions

Routines & schedules:

Preferring routines and rituals and don’t like change
Even very small or slight disruptions to a routine can lead to distress and confusion
Preferring to do things in the same way
Rigid and inflexible

Executive functioning:

Areas of strength vary but include: logical or visual thinking, persistence, eye for detail, good skills with technology, memory for facts and figures
Difficulties in formulating plans to get through the days and organize tasks into complete sections
Difficulties in shifting attention from task to task
Struggle with verbal acuity. Verbal reasoning can also be hindered by social meanings that are not obvious to people with autism.
Weak impulse control