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Information disseminated by Autism South Africa is for information purposes only.
The onus rests with the reader to explore and investigate the relevant information and alternatives for each individual.
Information disseminated by Autism South Africa is for information purposes only.
The onus rests with the reader to explore and investigate the relevant information and alternatives for each individual.
Information sent out does not imply that Autism South Africa underwrites or endorses any particular therapy, intervention, method or medication. Autism South Africa assumes no responsibility for the use made of any information provided herein.
effects of autism on the sensory system
Clinicians making a proper assessment for autism would look for symptoms much like those found in Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Sensory experiences that parents don't even notice may be extremely frightening or unpleasant for a child - the feel of a certain fabric, sounds of certain frequency, particular colors or seemingly bland foods. Autistic children often exhibit problems coping with normal sensory input including sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.
Indicators of autism affecting the sensory system can include:
• Over sensitivity or under reactivity to touch, movement, sights, or sounds
• physical clumsiness or carelessness
• being very particular about foods
• poor body awareness
• a tendency to be easily distracted
• impulsive physical or verbal behavior
• an activity level that is unusually high or low
• not unwinding or calming oneself
• difficulty learning new movements
• difficulty in making transitions from one situation to another
• social and/or emotional problems
• delays in speech, language or motor skills
• specific learning difficulties/delays in academic achievement.
sensory problems and autism
Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID, also called sensory processing disorder) is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with processing information from the five classic senses (vision, auditory, touch, olfaction, and taste), the sense of movement (vestibular system), and/or the positional sense (proprioception). For those with SID, sensory information is sensed normally, but perceived abnormally. This is not the same as blindness or deafness, because, unlike those disorders, sensory information is sensed by people with SID, but the information tends to be analyzed by the brain in an unusual way that may cause distress or confusion.
SID can be a disorder on its own, but it can also be a characteristic of other neurological conditions, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, dyslexia, developmental dyspraxia, Tourette syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and speech delays, among many others. Unlike many other neurological problems that require validation by a licensed psychiatrist or physician, this condition is most often diagnosed by an occupational therapist. It is increasingly being diagnosed by developmental pediatricians, pediatric neurologists, and child psychologists. While it has not yet been included in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a discrete diagnosis, Regulatory-Sensory Processing Disorder is an accepted diagnosis in Stanley Greenspan’s Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood and the Zero to Three’s Diagnostic Classification. There is no known cure; however, there are many treatments available.
sensory problems and autism
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders such as autism or Asperger's syndrome see their world in a very different way. The filtering mechanism in their brains often works in a different way in assimilating the senses such as touch, smell, hearing, taste and sight. They may be extremely sensitive to some senses and find seemingly routine events fascinating - the patterns of light on a wall, or the rustling leaves in the wind. The autistic child may also be unresponsive to sensations that their parents find unpleasant, such as extreme heat, cold or pain.
Sensory experiences that parents don't even notice may be extremely frightening or unpleasant for a child - the feel of a certain fabric, sounds of certain frequency, particular colors or seemingly bland foods. The child's reactions can easily be interpreted as wilful misbehavior. Along with this will frequently be difficulties in movement, coordination and sensing where one's body is in a given space, leading to clumsiness and difficulty with tasks such as dressing.
