Autism Awareness Day, April 2

2ND APRIL WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY

Autism is a developmental condition, mainly diagnosed in childhood. Deficits in social behaviour and communication are the characteristics of this condition. The intensity of the condition can be manifested in 3 levels Mild, Moderate and profound. People with mild intensity are able to function normally in the society will little assistance where as people with profound intensity will require consistent care and support.

The symptoms that can be seen are as follows:

- Difficulty in social communication and responsiveness

- Inability to understand and interpret non verbal cues - Difficulties in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships - Repetitive motor movements - Insistence on sameness of routine - Highly restricted interests - Heightened or less responsive to sensory information.

Children that are diagnosed and their parents often find difficulties with acceptance in the society. Due to lack of knowledge and awareness about the condition, it is often misinterpreted or generalised. People often think, these people won’t be able to adjust with the “normal” population. But if certain limitations of the conditions are accommodated in the society it will be an easy cohabitation situation for all. The ways to accept and adapt with the people diagnosed with autism like many other mental health conditions are as follows: - Avoid labelling them as autistic child or autistic person. It’s only a label for the condition not the description of the person as a whole. Terminology used instead can be “person with autism”. - Give them chances to do things as regularly as possible. Working with schedules and specific guidelines is always helpful for everyone. - Treatment given to them should be of love and understanding. - Give opportunity to participate in and assisting them in social gatherings and situations to help them feel comfortable. - Considering the current situations the lockdown might be acting as a downside to the established routines of these children. However like any other child, keeping people with autism engaged in these challenging times is very crucial. Children often need a structure to be given by their parents and care givers, children with autism will need a little bit more than just structure. Children with autism find it extremely stressful to face changes and new situations. They will need supervision, assistance and help to maintain and also improvise the structure in case something doesn’t working out. Following tips can be used for the children in this lockdown period: - Provide a routine as similar to the old one as possible, but at home - Train them for some household chores through different visual aids, picture key chains etc - Stories with social themes to help them understand the current situations might help. - Using different reinforcements ranging from favourite food items, toys, hugs, praises, thumbs up, stars or points will help them be motivated. - Children tend to lose touch of the skills they have learnt so far due to the constantly changing day structure. Thus reinforcing previous learning will help them stay on track. - Academically revision of concepts will help the child be in touch with what has been learnt so far. - Different activities to train them for social skills like turn taking, sharing, greeting others and following instructions at home. - Going slow with the new skills being taught and helping them to adapt them to the changes will be essential. - After all everyone seeks love and acceptance Once we understand what someone is going through, understanding them and being able to empathise is not a big task. What matters is that we are open to knowing, understanding, loving and accepting everyone.

“Someone with autism has taught me that love doesn’t need words.” Written by

Vishakha Gulgule

Consultant psychologist at Vidula Psychological Consultancy

April 2nd 2020