At this point in time there is no known cause for Autism. While there are genetic factors, family history and environmental factors that may place a child at risk of Autism, we don’t have a single cause for it.
What is Autism or ASD?
ASD is defined as “a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn, and behave”.
But this needs to be broken down further in order for us to really understand how ASD impacts our children.
Consider this: When we wear sunglasses, the tint often changes the way we see all the colours of different objects, places and people. After wearing them for a long time our eyes adjust and when we take the glasses off… BAM! Everything is so bright! We can understand that the glasses changed the way we saw everything in the world around us.
While kids with ASD can’t just “take their glasses off”, they view the world differently as though they were wearing some form of glasses on their eyes. They process what they see, hear, smell, touch and taste, in a different way to how we do. And it is important not to consider this as a negative quality, but rather use it to help us shape our understanding of how they see the world around them.
At this point in time there is no known cause for Autism. While there are genetic factors, family history and environmental factors that may place a child at risk of Autism, we don’t have a single cause for it.
Process of diagnosis.
The professionals that can diagnose ASD are paediatricians and psychologists. They conduct a series of assessments with the parents and the children which can provide the information required for the diagnosis.
Parents and carers – we can be honest – this can be one of the most challenging experiences in life! The process for diagnosis can be long, and mentally and emotionally challenging. There is uncertainty, sadness, shock, relief and validation all at once. You’ve gone through paediatricians, psychologists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists – if not more… You’re researching online about what you can do to help improve your child’s life (but you must be careful with the information you find online!). You’re contemplating and examining everything you might have done to impact your child’s development.
But you need to understand, it is not your fault! As good and loving parents and carers, you are trying to provide everything you can to your children. After receiving the diagnosis, there is only one step up from here. Unpacking what ASD really is, and watching your child improve in their understanding and use of communication.
Your mental health is also just as important! It is OK to reach out and find support for yourselves so that you can cope with the entire process. This may be in the form of family, friends, psychologist or support groups.
Development of underlying social communication skills.
Social communication is one of the areas in which these children have impaired development. This directly impacts overall communication. Therefore, as speech pathologists, you will find we are often working to develop these skills. In younger children with ASD, we are often following this path of development (Hanen Early Language Program, 2016):
At each step, we are aiding these children to develop the skills required for the next step. What we are really aiming towards is their ability to achieve joint attention – being: their ability to recognise that they are focusing on a specific event or object as another person is, and that this is the purpose for their interaction. Initially, these children may achieve this only for the purpose of requesting, or during a task of high interest. But further down the line we hope to develop this for the purpose of social sharing in conversations or even in play.
In older children with ASD, speech pathologists might work on conversation skills such as staying on topic, using appropriate comments or questions, making appropriate responses and realising that other people can have different perspectives to their own.
Other than targeting social skills, we will often work closely with parents to help improve their language and speech.
We can help!
Our speech pathologists love to help and support you during the entire process. We want to up-skill you so you can feel in control of your world too! We want you to know that you are not alone in this process, and it is OK to feel that it is challenging and difficult.
You will see wonderful changes in your children over the course of their life. It is never easy coming to terms with a diagnosis, but it is easier to shift your mindset to one that is eager to try new things!