Autism Spectrum Difference (ASD*)
Autism Spectrum Difference (ASD) is characterised as persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts as well as the presentation of restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities.
For a child to be diagnosed as Autistic*, they need a team of experts (Psychologist, Speech Therapist and Paediatrician) that refer to a 'checklist of traits' or 'characteristics' from the DSM-V/DSM-5 - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Ed.
*Autistic people have been advocating for the name of this condition to change from Autism Spectrum Disorder as the term Disorder is offensive. There are some that would like to see the name change to 'Autism Spectrum Condition', but in the meantime with the 'D' still in the title and acronym, the term 'Difference' is being used.
These characteristics have been used for many years, and are mainly based on a male/boy's presentation of Autism, as experts believed that only boys/males could be Autistic. This makes it much harder for girls/females to be diagnosed (see the section below on the female presentation of Autism.
Source: Understanding The Spectrum – A Comic Strip Explanation, Rebecca Burgess
The Mighty
The Art of Autism
The Autism Diagnostic Criteria - The Autistic Community's Response
There are many Autistics who don't feel comfortable with the wording of the diagnostic criteria, as it focuses on problems and challenges, using words like 'deficits' and 'failure' and is a very negative portrayal and explanation of what Autism is.
The terminology also defines Autistic socialising as wrong or disordered, but from the Autistic person's perspective, it's just 'different' socialising. This assumption and the use of negative terms are both offensive and hurtful to the Autistic community.
The criteria also views Autism as a behavioural condition which is also incorrect as we know it's neurological. It also fails to recognise other areas that impact Autistic people such as sensory processing/sensory sensitivities.
Social Communication Challenges
Social Communication Challenges Explained
It would be like an actor getting up on stage and performing lines and actions from a Shakespear play (that they used to perform in) when they're meant to be performing in Harry Potter.
Just because they've acted before, doesn't mean they can always use the same script or performance as it won't be appropriate and will look odd.
Not only is the actor performing the wrong thing, but they also can't tell from the facial expressions of the audience members that they're making a mistake.
Source: @autism_sketches, Autism & Scripting
Wearing face masks
You may have experienced this social communication difficulty in recent times also interacting with others wearing face masks. You've found it difficult, and even confusing at times, not seeing areas of the person's face that makes the most expressions and they can't see yours which impacts the non-verbal messages you're wanting to express to each other.
Mask wearing makes socialising SO much harder for your friend as it combines mask-wearing to their known challenges as well as forcing your friend to look into people's eyes which can be really difficult (as mentioned above).
Source: Humintell, 'Face Masks Reduce Emotion Recognition Accuracy',
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities
Restricted and Repetitive Behaviour Explained
When your friend shares their interests with you over and over again, it might be really annoying.
Try to remind yourself that it's the way your friend or peer is trying to connect with you.
Links
Person First Langauge...
because neurology is not an accessory
When 'person with Autism' is used, it implies that Autism is a mental disorder, as the DSM-5's ASD diagnostic criteria suggest. The distinction when using, 'Autistic person' or 'an Autistic' allows for Autism to not be associated with a mental disorder, condition, disability or some other potentially harmful descriptor.
This terminology has resulted in those who have accepted or embraced their diagnosis to feel validated and accepted for who they are and also entitles those Autistics who are striving for self-acceptance to feel supported in their efforts.
Source: @autism_sketches
Source: @autisticalityau
The Autism Spectrum
The way that the Autism Spectrum Disorder is portrayed is as a line (literally, a spectrum) that goes from 'less Autistic', to 'really Autistic'. (There are also those that describe Autistic people as either 'high-functioning', or being a 'high-functioning' Autistic, which assumes that the person is at the 'less Autistic' end of the spectrum. This is both wrong and insulting and there's more on this below.
Recently, the 'Spectrum' has been modified after the Autistic community expressed their concern over how misleading this linear association is and has been revised to be more like a gradient or colour wheel that now identifies the areas of strengths, challenges and traits associated with Autism, including social communication and executive functioning skills, and language and sensory challenges/differences.
An Autistic person might be able to plot or mark the colour wheel to illustrate their areas of difficulties or challenges, as well as strengths. However, it's important to keep in mind that these dots can move up or down each area of the colour scale every day - or even several times a day - depending on how affected or impacted the person is at any given time. For example, their sensory sensitivities are usually less impacted at home as they tend to have more control in their own environment.
The Autism Spectrum starts at Autism, not at neurotypical
Saying 'everyone's a little bit on the Spectrum' is not only incorrect and inaccurate, it's also really offensive to those that are Autistic i.e. those literally 'on the Spectrum'.
High-functioning Autism... It's literally not!
Functioning labels were originally developed so that Governments could assign a 'level' of funding, or financial assistance, based on an Autistic person's level of intelligence (IQ) and the degree to which a person's Autism impaired or disabled them. In addition, these 'labels' were used by professionals to describe which end of the 'Spectrum' a particular Autistic person was at to ensure it matched the level of funds and support they would receive from the Government.
The issue with these functioning labels is that it assumes that there's an easier and harder level of Autism, and it groups Autistic people into certain categories based on whatever people think they need support in.
With the 'spectrum' understood not being a straight line (or linear), the idea that one 'level' or one 'label' could be applied to describe lots of Autistic people, all of their Autistic traits/characteristics as well as the level, or degree, that they're impacted by their traits is both wrong and outdated.
The other issue with using functioning labels in relation to Autism is that it implies that a 'high-functioning' Autistic struggles less with communication, social interactions, sensory overload or restrictive or repetitive behaviours. All this does is describe a person's ability to mask their Autistic behaviours and challenges and we know how emotionally damaging this can be.
See more infographics the negativity around Autistic functioning labels, here.
The term 'high functioning' dismisses the daily struggles and efforts that Autistic people put into the smallest things and calling others 'low-functioning' is shaming those who have decided, or chosen, not to mask their struggles.
Six Myths about Neurodivergent Children
Neurodivergent children need to be taught social skills
This is simply not true and current research supports this. Neurodivergent children have their own very effective ways of communicating but unfortunately are often misunderstood.
Neurodivergent children need to be taught how to interact with their peers
Also false! Neurodivergent kids are often othered and excluded by their peers and adults. This in itself shows that the issues do not lie solely with Neurodivergent children. You cannot make friends if nobody wants to be your friend or if other people do not understand you. Interacting, communicating and building relationships are all two-ways tasks and so everyone has a part to play in making these tasks a success.
Neurodivergent children lack empathy
There is no evidence whatsoever to support this. In many cases, the opposite is true with Neurodivergent children experiencing hyper-empathy. There may be subtle differences in the ways Neurodivergent children express their empathy and this needs to be understood.
Neurodivergent kids are not as competent as their peers
This idea needs to be deleted from society. In order to meet Neurodivergent children with understanding then we must presume competence. This means that we presume Neurodivergent children are just as competent as their peers. This means that we allow for differences in communication styles, adapt our communication but mainly speak to Neurodivergent in the same way we do to their peers. We never make assumptions like “they wouldn’t understand”.
Neurodivergent children have difficulty learning
Everyone can learn but they need to be taught in ways that are compatible with their Neurotype. In fact, many Neurodivergent kids are excellent autodidactic learners. This means that they can teach themselves when given the opportunity to follow their interests.
Neurodivergent children need to be taught how to behave
Neurodivergent children know how to behave but often they experience such high levels of anxiety, stress and/ or trauma that people who are not informed about such things misinterpret their behaviour.
Autistic Myths and Misconceptions
All incorrect stereotypes, assumptions and conclusions - that being Autistic means that you lack empathy, that 'you're not affectionate', that 'you don't look at people when you're talking to them, so clearly you're not interested in engaging socially', that 'you're ok having no friends', that 'you must have an intellectual disability or that 'you don't feel any emotion - can all lead to some very harmful consequences and certainly doesn't respect the lived experience of Autistic people.
Autistic People Avoid Eye Contact
Autistic people have explained that their lack of eye contact is due to often lacking the usual social motivation that leads other children to make eye contact, they find it difficult to focus both on spoken language and on another person's eyes at the same time (I'm the same with my ADHD), they may not understand that watching another person's eyes is more revealing than, for example, watching that person's mouth or hands and/or eye contact might be a very intense and overwhelming sensory experience and therefore avoided.
So, yes, there are Autistic people who don’t give eye contact but many do or it just might be less often or different from non-Autistic children.
Source: @hikiapp, 'We don't need eye contact'....
Not all Autistic people avoid eye contact, although sadly many professionals, as well as the general public, believe this one to be true. Autistic girls/women and high masking boys who get dismissed automatically by professionals because 'they looked at me when I spoke to them'.
So, yes, there are Autistic people who don’t give eye contact but many do or it just might be less often or different from non-Autistic children.
Autistic People Lack Empathy
An important aspect of social relatedness is the ability to empathise with the feelings of others. Empathy involves two major components: a cognitive component (e.g. theory of mind, perspective-taking or mindreading) and an affective component (emotional processing) which allows us to share the feelings of others. The affective component of sympathy involves having an appropriate emotional reaction to another person’s thoughts and feelings and when engaged in affective empathy, we vicariously experience the emotional states of others, understanding that our feelings are not ours but rather those of the other individual.
Autistic people DO NOT lack empathy. They find interpreting facial expressions, body language and tone of voice in others challenging and therefore can't see another person's distress, anger, sadness, frustration, grief or fear (and might be equally unaware of what they are communicating with theirs.
This means, that for them to respond appropriately they need to be taught how to recognise what these emotions 'looks' like in the first place as well as knowing when and how to approach, console as well as know what to say/do and how to say/do it that shows the correct amount of empathy that matches the issue/problem, etc.
The fact is so many Autistic people are in fact empaths and just because they're limited to understanding or expressing appropriate facial expressions to match the situation, does not mean they have limited feelings. Often they can feel too much, (also known as 'hyper-empathetic').
Source: @theautcast, 'Empathy'
Autistic Symbols
It's really important to know which symbols to use when supporting your Autistic children and/or friends in your life.
In conclusion, the puzzle piece is better left in the box it came in than any association with Autism.
Autism Support
Your Literally Ausome
Friendship Guide
A Guide to Understanding and Supporting
your Autistic Friend.