Insisting on ‘Look at me when I’m talking to you’ vs. Talking to the wall Some autistic children need an intensive interaction style that make them aware of the presence of others and does not let them ‘slip’ into their own world – this is a directly-confrontational approach . For instance, for Temple Grandin, a more ‘intrusive’ style was beneficial as her sensory-perceptual problems were mild. For somebody with severe sensory distortions, a different approach is needed. They

‘Do you want eye contact or a conversation?’ This was the question asked by someone with Asperger syndrome when he was approached with “Hi, I’m so-and-so, I’d like to know your opinion on…” Perhaps, this ‘introductory question’ might sound strange to someone who doesn’t know much about autism, but if you are familiar with ASD, you’ll find it very logical and appropriate in this situation. Avoidance of eye contact is a common characteristic in autism and it is often seen as on

Research shows that young autistic children have more typical behaviour (89%) than atypical behaviour, for example, they look at people’s faces, react (turn) toward voices, respond to their name when called, etc. (Gabrielsen et al . 2015). During the first six months, infants with ASD present a similar to typically developing infants’ pattern of face-gazing accompanied by vocalizations (Chericoni et al . 2017; Young et al . 2009). However, already at the age of nine months,

by Peter Myers Savant syndrome is the condition in which individuals with serious neurodevelopmental disabilities or other central nervous system disorders have some ‘islands of genius’ that stand in marked contrast to things they cannot do. Individuals with savant syndrome are often able to perform tasks better than ‘normal’ people. Previously, savant syndrome has been classified either as congenital or acquired (Treffert 2009). In congenital savant syndrome , the extraordin

When Wednesdays are blue, numbers are as cities, and 5 + 2 = yellow … After one of the ‘incidents’ (panic attacks), Alyosha attempted to give his explanation of what had happened: “In the shop I heard black, then the word broke down into pieces and they entered my eye. I became blind because everything was black.” At the time I was bewildered with his explanation, and placed his ‘reports’ into the category ‘confusing’. However, in 2011, I came across the account by Brian King

Seeing or tasting sounds, hearing colours, being touched by sights… Alyosha was about 9 years old when he tried to account for a panic attack by saying: “I was scared. I saw a yellow ‘z-z-z’ sound.” This was confusing, until I realised he had synaesthesia. Synaesthesia (Greek syn – ‘together’ and aesthesis – ‘perception’) or ‘cross-sensory perception’ is an involuntary physical experience when the stimulation of one sensory modality triggers a perception in one or more diffe

- ‘Mum, on my way home from school I met a very nice lady. We chatted. She sent you her best wishes.’ - ‘But who was this nice lady?’ - ‘I don’t know, but she knows us all: she asked how we all were doing…’ - ‘Why didn’t you ask her name?’ ‘Oh, mum, it’s so embarrassing…' There is a neurological condition that, though not specific to autism, appears to be quite common in (at least, some) autistic individuals. It’s called prosopagnosia, or face blindness. People with this cond

During a science lesson, the teacher shows a picture of a plant and explains what different parts of the plant do. ‘The root holds the plant in the soil and takes in water; the petals attract insects…’ Johnny, a boy with autism, seems to stare at her and listen to the explanations. However, his attention at the moment is directed to the play of light on the teacher’s earring; the colour changes each time the teacher moves her head. A few days after the lesson, Johnny goes for

Heel-to-toe, here we go When my son started walking (at the age of 12 months), his posture and gait was very strange: Alex started walking on his tip-toes, and while walking (or running), my little ‘ballet-dancer’ didn’t swing his arms – his arms were dangling along his body. Not knowing much at the time, I tried to correct his idiosyncratic movements the way I could: Whenever and wherever we went, I was singing (while coordinating his arm-leg movement – his right leg stepp