Autism - What is Autism?

People with autism have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of, and which cause them considerable anxiety.   In particular understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in everyday family and social life may be harder for them.   Other people appear to know, intuitively, how to communicate and interact with each other, and some people with autism may wonder why they are ‘different’. (NAS website, 2007)

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability.   It is a part of the autism spectrum and is sometimes referred to as an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).   The spectrum covers a range of conditions that share what has come to be known as the ‘triad of impairments’.   The triad is defined slightly differently by different authors but the currently accepted version is that there are developmental difficulties in:

• Understanding social and emotional information and relating to others;
• Understanding and using all aspects of communication, regardless of speech development;
• Monitoring, controlling and being flexible in both thinking and behaviour

Disturbances in all three aspects of development should be there in autism and it is the interaction between these areas of development that leads to the characteristically complex patterns of behaviour seen in autism.   There is increasing evidence too, that for some individuals, their sensory perception and responses might be different.   Some individuals may appear to be over-sensitive and others may seem under-sensitive, relative to their normally developing peers.

Individuals with autism differ from each other, reflecting differences in the severity of their autism, their intellectual ability and any additional difficulties.   Their personality and experiences, in terms of the response of their family, professionals and the wider community will also have an impact.

There are over half a million people in the UK with autism – that’s around 1 in 100 people.