Autism Awareness | Public Health Campaign

Understanding autism - put yourself in their shoes

Sensory Differences

Being over-sensitive or under-sensitive to specific sights, sounds, smells or textures. This can be a positive thing but can also cause distress or discomfort.

These sensory differences can affect how a person feels or acts and can have a strong effect on a person’s life.

Children are already working very hard to interpret the world that is not familiar to them. As adults, we should be adapting the environment to support them.

Communication

Many children and adults find it difficult to understand spoken language:

They may have difficulties understanding what the words mean.
Processing and making sense of the language, if too much information is given.
They may find it difficult to understand the intended meaning eg sarcasm, which can lead to confusion, lack of focus or avoidance of conversations.

Trying to understand what others mean and how to behave can be exhausting and stressful.

Conversations are unpredictable and involve quick responses. This is why many people with autism avoid conversations with their peers and will often talk to adults or children much older or younger than themselves.

Routine

Consistent, predictable routines and structure are very important to people with autism.

Routine helps individuals work out what the expectation is within a situation. Therefore, change of routine can be very distressing.

Prepare for any changes in routine beforehand, if possible, use pictures, symbols and talk about the changes.

Stimming & Meltdowns

Stimming stands for ‘Self-stimulating behaviour’ (NHS) – it’s a kind of repetitive behaviour. This behaviour provides a variety of functions including:

For enjoyment
To gain sensory input through self-stimulating
To reduce sensory input (focusing on one particular sound may reduce the impact of loud, distressing environment)
To sooth &calm
Expressing feelings

Meltdowns: This is not a temper tantrum. This is not bad or naughty behaviour. A meltdown is an intense response to an overwhelming situation. It happens when someone becomes overwhelmed by their situation and temporarily loses control of their behaviour.