Summary: The Autistic Spectrum

773 Words2 Pages

The autism spectrum is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Children with autism show some social, language and communication problems. They exhibit various challenging behaviors such as having trouble switching from one activity to another, ignoring or refusing requests, engaging in self-stimulatory behaviors such as hand flicking, flapping and rocking, lack of interest in other people and difficulty in making friends (Cohen, & Volkmar, 1997). However, despite being faced with these various challenging behaviors, students with autistic spectrum exhibit some behaviors that are considered their strengths such as visual thinking, perfectionism in some areas, being organized and a strong sense of order and routine.
Students …show more content…

Their limited use and understanding of non-verbal communication, for instance, gestures and facial expressions among the children with autism make the interaction difficult between them and their adults and peers as they cannot understand what people mean when they use them. They have difficulties forming and sustaining friendships because they love sticking to some routines in life and find it difficult to switch from one activity to another (McConnell, 2002). For an average kid, they get easily bored doing the same thing, and this affects the interaction between children with autism and healthy children. They exhibit a lack of interests in seeking and sharing enjoyment with other people. They tend to be more attracted to some objects than to people, and this also affects their interaction with others due to their lack of interest. Additionally, children on the autistic spectrum have difficulties with emotional and social responsiveness. This also affects their interaction as they cannot respond to social and emotional acts within their environment. Another way in which their behavior affects their interaction is due to their short attention plan (Cohen, & Volkmar, 1997). They tend to be attentive for a very short time and then engage in their activities, and they cannot concentrate on their peers and adults. Furthermore, children with autism are hyperactive; this significantly affects their interaction with their peers as they are always active which makes their peers get tired easily. They also cause self-injury to themselves which makes their peers afraid of them as they feel they can harm them any time which also affects their

Open Document