Children with autism are

unaffectionate?
All children with autism have an
intellectual disability?
All children with autism have
difficulties with social interaction?
Children with autism can be cured?
Children with autism learn
differently from their peers without
disabilities and others with
disabilities?
 Autism PDD-NOS

Asperger’s Syndrome
Rett’s Syndrome

Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

Autism is the fastest-growing developmental
disability in the U.S.
Recent studies (2009) estimate 1% of all
children have an ASD. This equates to 1/91
children.
The diagnosis rate for autism is rising 10-17%
each year.
Males are 4 times more likely than females
to be diagnosed with autism.
Communication
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

13 12
Nonverbal/ Vocalizations Verbal
-limited or inappropriate
facial expressions -augmentative /
-limited gestures and use of alternative forms
body language -single words
-use of pulling -phrases
-sounds instead of words -sentences
-aberrant behavior
Voice Prosody Words Used
Quality
-sing-songy -echolalia
-extreme -robotic -rote
volume -monotone -repetitive
-no / limited -no/ limited -formal
variation variation -pedantic
-odd pacing
Basic Intermediate Advanced
-desires -yes/no -relate information
-terminate -converse on topic -gain information
-no of interest -share ideas /
-help -initiate thoughts
-choice conversation -converse on
-greet -comment multiple topics
-ask questions -initiate, maintain,
-answer questions and terminate
-share feelings conversations
16 15
Audience Location, Time Amount
Activity or
Situation
-content -content -content -amount of
often not often not often not content
appropriate appropriate appropriate often not
for audience for location for time appropriate
or activity or
conversation

16
Socialization
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

18 17
Limited capacity to relate to others
Little or no regard for feelings/safety
of others
Little or no attention given to others
unless meeting personal need
Difficulty with peer relationships
Little or no emotional reciprocity
Limited capacity to attend to others
 Nonverbal communication
 Learn from others
 Imitate
 Share experiences
Limited communication with others
Limited or no capacity to share
Limited or no capacity to turn take
The person with an ASD has extreme difficulty
knowing the rules we all seem to just know
 The ‘do’s and don’ts’ that govern our behavior,
but are not spelled out
 The skills, actions, ways of talking, or dressing
that define a group
The person with an ASD has extreme difficulty
observing and responding to the social hierarchy

The person with an ASD tends to be very consistent

in their treatment of others, regardless of hierarchy
Play with Objects
Develop functional use of cause and effect/
construction toys
Develop early play schemes
Interactive Play
Expand play to include peer interaction
Symbolic or Dramatic Play
Expand representational play themes that involve
basic role-play
Expand in a variety of settings
Difficulty understanding and expressing emotions
Presence of rigidity in thinking
Expressing sadness and anxiety as anger
Presence of an extreme “Survival” mechanism (fight
or flight)
Behavior
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

25 24
Repetitive motor and/or verbal actions
Limited interests
Preoccupation with specific objects or parts of
objects
Insistence on sameness
Difficulty transitioning between experiences /
activities
Strict adherence to routines
 Imitation

Sensory System Executive

Differences Functioning
Communication
Socialization
Behavior

Motor Skill Theory of

Impairment Mind
Why do we have senses?
Primarily to survive
Our sensory system operates and initiates our
fight, flight, or fright response
Our sensory system governs our level of alertness
Our enjoyment from our sensory system is
secondary to our survival
Visual
Touch
Auditory
Vestibular
Taste
Proprioception
Smell
People with ASD typically have a varying
pattern of hyper (over) and hypo (under)-
sensitivity to sensory stimuli

Strong sensory experiences trigger flight,

fight, or fright
 The person may avoid such experiences

Weak sensory experiences trigger a craving for

sensory information
 The person may seek such experiences
Impairments in basic motor control, tone,
balance, posture, gait, manual dexterity, and
coordination
Impairments in control over more complex
movements (e.g. imitation, adapting)
Impairments in motor tasks/motor
planning (dyspraxia)
Impairments in motor sequencing activities
Direct Imitation
 Doing exactly what others do, exactly the way they do
it
Context Related Imitation
 Imagining you are in a situation and then practicing
the skill
Functional Imitation
 Watching others and behaving similarly as they do in
similar situations
Difficulty understanding the way other people think,
feel, and behave
Difficulty understanding the perspectives of others
Difficulty understanding why others behave
differently than they do
Attending
Planning
Organizing
Executing
Controlling
Focus
 Foreground versus
background
 Relevant stimulus
Control impulses
Organize needed
material and thoughts
Plan a task
Complete task
Change course
(Flexibility)
Strong visual processing
Focused attention
Excellent rote memory
 Passive Active
Social

Non-verbal Highly Verbal

Communication

Simple Complex
Behavior

If you’ve met one child
“

with autism, you’ve met

one child with autism.”

-Stephen Shore