Autism. With that word, you might have made a few correlations into what you believe it is. The immediate thought, from lack of education, is that people who have this developmental disorder can not speak or they are more aggressive than an average person. People believe that those with autism are all the same in what they can do. These misconceptions need to be cleared up, for they can truly hurt someone with these lies.
In order to move forward, we need to cover the main points about what autism spectrum disorder is. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects around 1 in 54 children within the United States of America. This spectrum disorder has different levels of severity in how it can affect others. ASD offers major challenges with social interactions between groups of people, behavioral challenges in which they may be seen as aggressive, and most of all communication issues both with verbal and non-verbal communications. A spectrum disorder, which Autism is, means that there are levels of severity in which people can be affected by this disorder. There are three levels that people can lie anywhere on. The first level means that there is a need for support. The second level means there is a need for substantial support, and the third level means there is a need for requiring very substantial support. There are a lot of misconceptions that all people with ASD act the same way. This is not true. People are all different based upon where they lie on the spectrum.
Autism Society of America has been working on changing the month of April which has been notoriously Autism Awareness Month into Autism Acceptance Month. The goal with this is that there will be no change within our progress in helping this disorder if society stays ignorant to what this disorder is all about. Working on educating yourself and others on what ASD actually is can help those with ASD to feel more comfortable living within their communities. People with ASD are not troubled, crazy, or badly behaved kids. They have a complex developmental disorder that can impact all aspects of social interaction from talking to even violent outbursts. Within schools, we need to work to identify ASD earlier while keeping in mind that ASD is on a spectrum, not one kid will be the same.
Some signs of autism to keep in mind in order to help identification are such things like:
Issues with communication when being talked directly to
Prefers being isolated or alone, or most comfortable being alone
Trouble with the interpretation of feelings of others
Repeating movements or speech
Avoidance of eye contact
Sensitivity of loud noises
Sleep problems
These are only a few of the many signs that can help with the identification of autism at young ages. There is no known cure because this is a spectrum disorder that affects everyone differently, but if we work as communities and societies to become educated, we will start to accept people that are present on the Autism Spectrum. Acceptance is the first step towards change.
Let's start working with our schools or families to provide education about Autism Spectrum Disorder whilst clearing any harmful misconceptions that are floating around. Autism is not a disease nor a result of being a bad kid. It is a developmental disorder that we need to learn about in order to help increase the overall quality of life for those with ASD. Work to rid yourself of the ignorance you have in relation to ASD.
Image Source: https://www.speechandot.com/signs-and-symptoms-of-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-toddlers/
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