Autism Awareness

What is Autism? 

Autism is a spectrum disorder in which an individual is impacted through a neurodevelopmental condition. This affects an individual in many different ways although if we look at specifically what the disorder can impact it includes the following;

• Emotional regulation

• Behavioural regulation 

• Task difficulty 

• Social communication

• Sensory processing 

When understanding Autism, it is important we understand the following terms; Emotional regulation, Behavioural regulation, Task difficulty and social communication

Emotional regulation:

What is emotional regulation? Emotional regulation is the ability to understand where an emotion is not only stemming from but also the ability to recognize your emotions. What can this look like for an individuals who have ASD? There are a wide amount of areas that this can impact one's day to day goings. When looking specifically at examples and the impact,t we can look at a basic example of when something is making someone upset or sad they most likely will have those feelings and be aware of where it is coming from and what they can do to make it better. However an individual with ASD may be much more impacted by these emotions in the sense that they might not realize where it is coming from. Sometimesit may come later on or sometimes not at all. This also could come in the form of different emotions being seen by others when something happens including instead of sadness it could be anger that others see. Another area in which emotional regulation for someone with ASD is impacted is the intensity of emotions one might feel. On one hand someone with ASD could have a much larger reaction to a smaller incident which neurotypical people may brush off and move past now. On the other hand, they may have no emotional reaction at all at that moment. Being aware of what specifically may cause larger emotional responses and letting the individual have these emotions is important but also seeing what support could be given in the situation to help this person. Remembering that this is also very unique to each individual and situation when it comes to ASD. 

Behavioural regulation:

What is behavioural regulation? This is when an individual is able to match their behaviours to the situation at hand and have “appropriate” reactions to situations that happen. Individuals with ASD may find other ways that neurotypicals do not necessarily part take in to regulate. Some examples of how this may look include things such as having a toy that when emotions get high they play with. On the other hand, being unable to regulate and needing to do so could look like head banging on things. This could also look like hand biting when unable to find a way to regulate as these things give the chances to get that regulation for an individual who may not be able to communicate at the time what is going on a chance. The way to see if one is doing behavioural regulation is by asking: is this behaviour (such as hand biting) is done without the intent to hurt themselves but they are seen to be able to talk about what has happened after this behaviour?  It is important to remember the physical regulation is not done to harm oneself but done to ground oneself in ASD. If it goes farther this may no longer be a tool that someone with ASD is using for regulation. 

Task difficulty: 

There may be certain tasks that are easy for neurotypical people which may take more support or extra aids and/or tools for neurodivergent people to complete. When looking specifically at task difficulty there are certain things that you may need to remind an individual to do daily. This could be something as simple as reminding them to eat breakfast. Task difficulty could also fall under having a harder time in school and needing potentially some extra aids to explain certain subjects differently and being given extra time to actually learn the material. Other areas could be going out in public which will tie into the social communication portion of ASD, such as knowing when it's time to pay or how to deal with larger crowds and different settings. Being able to know where an individual needs extra support is highly important and implementing tools to do so can also be beneficial such as an individual they enjoy spending time with going out with them, doing short times out working your way up to longer periods of time. 

Social communication: 

Some individuals do not have the ability to recognize social cues; this could be things like noticing personal space boundaries or knowing the difference in facial changes in social settings. Neurotypical individuals communicate with conversation but a large part of this also includes non-verbal communication. When someone with ASD has a harder time being able to recognize these cues it makes it much more difficult for them to function in a social setting. This can be tied into small social settings such as school or a small gathering and larger social settings such as malls, grocery stores, restaurants. The conversations and mannerism that neurotypical people are easily accustomed to may not be something that is easy for someone with ASD such as eye contact, or hugs from friends may be extremely difficult. Another area is understanding things such as sarcasm may be harder for individuals with ASD as a lot of processing is taken literally. Lastly there are individuals with ASD who aren’t as impacted by social communication. 

Sensory processing: 

Sensory processing is the ability to cope with certain noises, certain textures, smells, brightness, or anything that can impact your senses. An individual with ASD may have a much harder time dealing with one or some of these or even all of these things. If a neurotypical person hears a vacuum they may be able to go on with the rest of their day and not be bothered by it. However, if there is noise sensitivity for someone with ASD they may have a behavioural and emotional reaction to the vacuum, making it harder for them to cope in that moment and for a while after. This also goes for food. Some textures in food may be more difficult for an individual to eat or enjoy tying in also the smell. Finding safe foods that an individual likes is highly important as it can give them a break with sensory processing when doing something as simple as enjoying a meal. Being able to notice what causes a behavioural or emotional reaction can be highly beneficial for someone with ASD when it comes to sensory processing.