Transcript Difficulties and Strategies in ASD

Creating supportive
environments for Tweens and
Teens on the autism spectrum
Dr. Wendy Lawson CPsychol; MAPS;
MBPsS
What to expect from this talk
An insight into some of the
difficulties for Tweens & Teens with
ASC
 Why these are so (some research)
 What you can do to be helpful
 How to help us to help ourselves
 What we both need to know and
appreciate to help us all cope

Expectations
on
each
of
us
appropriate eye contact

















appropriate body space
sensitivity to others
appropriate small talk
sharing interests and friendship skills
appreciating facial expressions and body language
using facial expressions and body language
learning conversational techniques
being appropriate in discussion and behaviour
using table manners
noting and using rules for single and group activities eg.
using public transport, going to a movie, stranger danger
etc.
understanding dating and sexual etiquette
appreciating personal hygiene
interacting appropriately with authority figures
appreciating appropriate behavior, dress, and manners in
social situations
developing and using self-calming skills
others……..
CHANGE
Change, change and more change,
Of context, place and time.
Why is it that Life’s transient stage
Plays such havoc with my mind?
You said, “We’ll go to McDonald’s”
But this was just a thought.
I was set for hours,
But the plan then came to naught.
My tears and confused frustration,
At plans that do not appear,
Are painful beyond recognition,
And push me deeper into fear.
CHANGE
How can life be so determined?
How can change be so complete?
With continuity there is no end,
Security and trust are sweet.
So, who said that change would not hurt me?
Who said my ‘being’ could not be safe?
CHANGE
Change said, “You need continuity”
In order to find your place.
For change makes all things different,
They no longer are the same.
What was it that you really meant?
All I feel is the pain.
Are Social stories the answer?

Although social stories are a positive
means to helping to discover and
implement all of the above, they do
not work for all individuals. Autism is
a spectrum diff-ability. If we are to be
successful in assisting with self-help
skills we need to understand
individual learning styles (visual,
kinesthetic, auditory) personality
differences and accommodate
individual interest.
Social Skills
Self-help skills means Self Help (with
the right support)
 Learning to cope with change and
with difference is essential for good
self-esteem.
 Please help me to learn how to help
myself (I won’t if you always do it for
me)
 To do this you need to use
accessible language. Words may not
be enough.

Using IT
The Universe is alarming and
unpredictable with:
 No context
 No scale
 No clues about other people’s
intentions.
 obsessions (often technical) may
result
 Obsessions (Passion) take over our
interest, therefore: using these
constructively is part of the answer
in helping us feel valued.

The Research
Nancy Minshew and her team have
demonstrated that our brains are
‘wired up’ differently to typical
individuals.
 “The way people with autism think
forms the basis for their behavior” (June
2003).

FOR MORE INFO...
Google current research on ‘brain and autism’. Local autism
support groups. Email Wendy: [email protected]
Cognitive differences
Research focused on structures
within the brain; cell minicolumns
which play an important role in the
way we take in information and
respond to it.
 minicolumns in ASC were found to
be significantly smaller, but there
were many more of them.
 Dr Casanova said the increased
amount of cell minicolumns could
mean a constant state of over
arousal. (January, 2004)

Cognitive differences

Using functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) scans, researchers have
found numerous differences in the activity
of brains of people with normal IQs who
have autism. The new findings indicate a
decreased level in the coordination
among brain areas. The results converge
with previous findings of white matter
differences in autism compared to
typicals. (White matter consists of the
"cables" that connect the various parts of
the brain to each other). (July, 2004)
Cognitive differences


autism is a system-wide brain difference
that allows more limits on the coordination
and integration among brain areas, than
shown in typicals. This theory helps explain
a paradox of autism: Some people with
autism have typical or even superior skills in
some areas, while many other types of
thinking are not so connected. The team's
study is published in the August (2004)
edition of the British journal Brain and is
available online at
www.brain.oupjournals.org.
THEREFORE:
I need help to build the type of connections
that typicals access more easily than I (often
of a social nature).
Increased Number of
Minicolumns in Autism
Casanova et al., 2006
Memories are built from connection
As
chemicals
flow in and
between
Synapses
information
is
exchanged.