Wellness Embodied Blog

April is autism awareness month! 

Let’s talk about autism, what is it and how it affects a person.

Autism is a condition that affects how a person interacts with others, how the person feels, thinks and experiences their environment and situations. People with autism spectrum disorder can have repetitive behaviours or hyper- or hyposensitivity processing information from vision, auditory, touch, taste, smell, from the vestibular system or proprioception.  They can have difficulties with social interactions, communication or can show restricted interest. It is a developmental condition and the cause of autism is not fully understood, but early intervention, education and therapies can make a big difference in these people’s lives.

 

There is a saying:” If you have met one autistic person, you have met one autistic person”. It means no two individuals on the spectrum are the same, they all are different and unique. They can have a strong passion and good memory for topics they are interested in and have good attention to detail.

 

Some characteristics that autistic individuals can present: 

-Social interactions and communications can be difficult for them. They can have difficulties maintaining normal conversation, and have difficulties with body language and reading facial expressions and emotions.

– Some people with autism spectrum disorder can present with repetitive movements, for example movements with their hands.

– They love routines and can become distressed with changes. For example, kids love to take the same route to school, love eating the same food.

– They can focus and delve into topics that they have interest in. Therefore, they can know a lot about certain topics that they are interested in.

– They can have difficulties processing sensory information. They can be hypersensitive or hyposensitive to different stimuli. Some examples of hypersensitivity is when they get distracted by sounds normally not noticed by others or are sensitive to bright lights or sounds. They might avoid certain materials or be annoyed by clothing labels. Hyposensitivity is when a person is under-responsive to a stimulus and seeks additional input. For example watching TV excessively loud, touching things or putting them into their mouth.

 

Here are a few tips on how to support a person with autism spectrum disorder: 

– Providing children a calm place where they can go when they are sensory overwhelmed.

– When a child is struggling with language, use visual cues/ pictures to help the child.

– Say what you mean, no figurative language.

– If the child is too sensitive to noises, provide headphones/earmuffs to decrease noise.

– If there is a change in routine give prior notice.

 

As mentioned above, therapies can make a huge difference in these people’s lives. Physiotherapy can help to improve everyday function or help with fine and gross motor skills and we can tailor an individual program for them. For more information on our services give us a call on 4231 9777 or email us at admin@wellnessembodiedcairns.com

Comments are closed.

© Wellness Embodied 2024

Website created by RJ New Designs

Book Online 07 4231 9777