Communication
From Autism Wiki
[edit] Autism
Communication is a major challenge for children with autism. Some autistic children lose speech at 18-24 months, which is known as "regressive autism". Some develop language late, or not all.
Some autistic children develop echolalia, repeating words and phrases but not understanding what they mean. Autistic children are also impaired in their understanding of body language and other non-verbal communication.
Still, inability to speak does not mean that people with autism are unintelligent or unaware. People with autism sometimes find communicating much easier over the internet, and can establish a presence in chat rooms or on message boards.
Since non-autistic people are often unfamiliar with the autistic body language, and since autistic natural language may not tend towards speech, autistic people often struggle to let other people know what they need. As anybody might do in such a situation, they may scream in frustration or resort to grabbing what they want. While waiting for non-autistic people to learn to communicate with them, people with autism do whatever they can to get through to them. Communication difficulties may contribute to autistic people becoming socially anxious or depressed or prone to self-injurious behaviors. Recently, with the awareness that those with autism can have more than one condition, a significant percentage of people with autism are being diagnosed with co-morbid mood, anxiety and compulsive disorders which may also contribute to behavioral and functioning challenges.
[edit] Asperger syndrome
People with AS typically have a highly pedantic way of speaking, using more formal language than appropriate for a context. A five-year-old child with this condition may regularly speak in language that could easily have come from a university textbook, especially concerning his or her special area of interest.
Literal interpretation is another common, but not universal hallmark of this condition. Psychologist Tony Attwood gives the example of a girl with AS who answered the telephone one day and was asked, "Is Paul there?" Although the Paul in question was in the house, he was not in the room with her, so after looking around to ascertain this, she simply said "no" and hung up. The person on the other end had to call back and explain to her that he meant for her to find him and get him to pick up the telephone. [1]
People with AS may use words in a startling and different way. This can develop into a rare gift for humor. Some are so proficient at written language as to qualify as hyperlexic.
Children with AS may show advanced abilities for their age in language, reading, mathematics, spatial skills, or music, sometimes into the 'gifted' range, but these talents may be counterbalanced by appreciable delays in the development of other cognitive functions, such as socializing. [2] Some other typical behaviors are echolalia, the repetition or echoing of verbal utterances made by another person, and palilalia, the repetition of one's own words. [3]
A 2003 study investigated the written language of children and youth with AS. They were compared with normal peers in a standardized test of written language skills and legibility of handwriting. In written language skills, no significant differences were found between standardized scores of both groups; however, in hand-writing skills, the AS participants produced significantly fewer legible letters and words than the neurotypical group. Another analysis of written samples of text, found that people with AS produce a similar quantity of text to their neurotypical peers, but have difficulty in producing writing of quality. [4]
[edit] References
- ↑ Dr. Tony Attwood, Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals (1998), p. 78.
- ↑ Bauer S. Asperger Syndrome. The Source (2000).
- ↑ Attwood (1998), p. 109.
- ↑ Myles BS, Huggins A, et al. Written language profile of children and youth with Asperger syndrome: From research to practice. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities. 38: December 4, 2003, 362-369. Abstract.
