What Exactly Is Autism?

I get asked this question a lot....and I'm so happy when people ask me. It is an opportunity to share with others our experience as well as help spread awareness & understanding. Recently, I was asked this question by a friend from high school via Facebook. He said he was looking on the Internet & finding a lot of information with technical terms....not to mention a vast variety of information.

Well, here is what I have been taught.....in a nutshell. Every person with autism is different. It shows up differently in each person. This is because it is a brain disorder. The brain of an autistic person is LITERALLY wired differently than the "typical" brain. So they receive & process information in a different way. What causes it? They still don't know, but they now think that it happens during development in the womb & is related to genetics.


So, how do you know? Basically, autism shows up in THREE areas. If your child is exhibiting traits in only one or two areas, they DO NOT have autism....it MUST be ALL THREE AREAS. AND IT MUST BE A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE IN EACH AREA. Basically, it must happen/occur a lot of the time. Here is a list of the 3 areas & how they show up in our Ethan.

1. Speech - A person with autism will have snags in their speech development. Some may never speak, some may say only a few words, and some may have non-functional speech. Ethan falls into the last of these. Non-functional speech means that he is ABLE to speak & talk, but has difficulty communicating with his words. This is why speech therapy is SOOOOO important! Our Ethan doesn't understand the back & forth of a conversation. Over the last year, he has progressed a TON! Because of his hard work in speech therapy, he is now able to express his wants/needs with his words, able to answer questions with a definite answer (what color is the grass? Are you hungry?), and in the last few weeks.....actual non-scripted/spontaneous conversations have been emerging!!! Non-scripted means we haven't given him his words to say....he is coming up with the words on his own. (Examples of scripted would be like, "Thank you. You're welcome.") YEAH! More about that later this week....

2. Social Behavior - The second trait of autism is delays in social behavior. Lack of eye contact, wanting to play on their own, and being unable to function typically in social settings are examples of delayed social interaction. Ethan struggles very much in this area. Again, because of hard work, Ethan is okay with other kids playing NEXT to him.....although he would still prefer to play alone. For so long, he would wig out if any other child came NEAR him. But NOW he is able to sit next to kids during eating times & play next to kids during playtime. We are still working on sharing our toys & playing WITH kids...but progress is being made & we are so excited!

3. "Odd" behaviors - The last area is to look for strange behaviors. Rocking, spinning, flapping, not sleeping, picky eater, repetitive behaviors and lining up toys seem to be the most common behaviors in this field. Ethan exhibits constant chewing, not sleeping, picky eater, repetitive behaviors, lining up toys. However, there are some more subtle ones as well. For Ethan, we learned of 2 subtle behaviors during his diagnosis clinic. They showed up that Ethan only uses one hand when completing tasks. I had never noticed that before, but he did! For example, eating a bowl of cereal......he will use his spoon with one hand & the bowl moves all over the table....because he doesn't use his other hand to stabilize the bowl. Same thing for pulling up & down his pants.....he only uses one hand. Occupational therapy has been helping in this area as well! But think of the basic skills that you use two hands for....putting on socks & shoes, going to the bathroom, opening things, zipping, buttoning, snapping, etc. These are all difficult for Ethan because he only uses one hand. But it is getting better with practice. Another behavior that we never noticed was that Ethan plays with his toys at eye level. If his cars are on the floor, he is laying on the floor so his cars are at his eye level. If something isn't at his eye level, he will pull it to his eye....TV, computer, flash cards, toys, etc. His vision is fine, it's just something he does, but we never noticed it before. But apparently these traits are common as well.

This is a great visual aid for autism behaviors!

So, that is autism in a nutshell. Usually anxiety is the underlying cause/reason for these behaviors. The world is very scary to Ethan.....people, animals, sounds, automobiles, stores, the environment....it's all changing & non-constant. Not knowing what to expect is almost paralyzing. So, we help him to take in the world a little at a time and teach him skills that will help him navigate through the scary/overwhelming environments. Our Ethan also has Sensory Processing Disorder which makes things that much more complicated. But we are soooo blessed to have a variety of talented & knowledgeable people helping us & Ethan learn & understand how to work through these challenges. He is doing so well, and I truly believe that his future is going to be so much better because of the work he is doing now! GO ETHAN!

If you still have questions about Autism Spectrum Disorder, please check out the links on this blog. They are very helpful!