Autistic Spectrum Disorder

It is important to remember that ASD is a Spectrum disorder, and therefore not all, or any, of this information may apply to or affect one child as severely as the next.

• » As Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder, it affects numerous areas of functioning. Thus a child with ASD that may be able to cope well in some areas, but may suffer huge deficits in other areas.
• » Most individuals with ASD gain a TRIAD of impairments, namely
  • - Severe deficits in communication -receptive and expressive language skills
  • - Lack of social skills/norms, lack of social awareness, inability to read facial expressions, understand gestures/emotions of others
  • - Lack of imaginative and play skills
• » In addition to these deficits, other common traits of Autistic Spectrum Disorder include, but are not confined to
  • - Lack of ability to express own emotions, often manifested as extreme temper tantrums, or a silent, evasive seeming child said to be living 'in their own world'
  • - Obsessive rituals such as spinning, flicking of objects for self-stimulation
  • - Obsessive rituals that the child must perform at certain times in certain ways -insistence on 'sameness'
  • - Inappropriate play e.g. lining up /stacking of blocks, using balls/toys in ritualistic colour/shape coded patterns inappropriate for what the object was intended for
  • - Sensory impairments e.g. hypersensitivity to noise, sound, textures
  • - Lack of 'Theory of Mind' - cannot understand that others have needs separate from their own
  • - Extremely fussy about what foodstuffs he/she will eat
  • - Low motivation
  • - Weak attention span
  • - Little or no compliance skills
  • - Frustration at not being understood/being able to understand that usually manifests as behaviour problems
  • - Extreme difficulty with self control/self regulatory behaviour

These highlight only a few of the many areas of developmental challenges the child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder faces.

Generally therefore, including the most high-functioning children with ASD, learners with ASD are unable to cope within a classroom setting without an extremely high level of support.

TRIAD CAN train educators in terms of:

• » behaviour management strategies,
• » classroom programmes for smoother running in terms of transitions, sensory processing awareness and sensory overload prevention
• » adapted teaching of the child with ASD in terms of academic curriculum
• » strategies for crisis intervention and prevention
• » functional communication systems that will allow the ASD child to understand and be understood
• » 'red light' warning events/situations with the ASD child to pre-empt/avoid

TRIAD can also train the facilitators to be used in classrooms to assist the learners with ASD. These facilitators can be trained in terms of:

• » General ASD training
• » Behaviour management techniques within the classroom/playground situation
• » Assisting the ASD child in terms of group work, social functioning
• » Assisting the ASD child in terms of attending/compliance skills
• » Teaching the roles of facilitating within the Inclusive Educational setting

For the ASD child that may not, on any level, succeed in being accommodated within the classroom setting, TRIAD can establish and train a facilitator to implement a home programme for the ASD child. This home programme will cover all aspects of:

• » Compliance/behaviour modification skills
• » Attending skills
• » Functional skills
• » Academic skills
• » Self-help skills
• » Social skills
• » 1:1 ABA therapy techniques to be used under a programme supervised by TRIAD

The home programme will further work towards preparing the child to succeed in moving forward towards functioning within the mainstream inclusive educational setting.