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About Autism
What is Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term used to classify all types of pervasive developmental disorders: autistic disorder (AD), asperger’s disorder (AS), pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), Rett’s disorder and childhood disintegrative disorder.
How can I tell if someone has ASD?
Because autism is a spectrum disorder, and the way it affects people is different every time, there is no such thing as a typical manifestation of ASD. If you were to compare two people with ASD they would be really different from each other, more different from one another than two “normally” developing people might be.
Because the diagnostic criteria for each of the types of pervasive developmental disorders overlap, it is sometimes difficult to tell where on the autism spectrum one falls unless the person is acting out or acting odd. The main areas of difficulties for persons with ASD are:
Social interaction:
People with ASD will not invite or maintain eye contact when they are talking to you or when you are trying to talk to them. They might bump into you, or get close to you because they don’t really have any idea of personal space. They might not be able to read your body language and have no idea if you are feeling uncomfortable or relaxed. They will probably not adjust their behaviour to try and make you feel more relaxed if you are uncomfortable. They will not be able to form genuine typical relationships with their friends and peers, either because they do not know how to interact with their peers, or their peers do not know how to interact with them. They don’t really get excited about sharing their interests with you, or talk about things they have done or accomplished.
Typical communication
Some people with ASD do not speak at all. Some use little square pictures with labels on them (PECS) to communicate with others. Some use sign language. Some people with ASD do speak, but they use computers and assistive technology to help them. Other people with ASD can speak, but they speak using 3 or 4 word phrases that they have picked up from books, the television, the Internet and the radio. Or they echo what they hear people around them say (called echolalia). Many people with autism are good readers and spellers, sometimes even the ones who can’t speak at all. Kids with ASD don’t really enjoy playing pretend and have a really hard time using their imagination.
Repetitive and/or self-stimulating behaviour
People with autism behave differently. They often engage in behaviours which are said to be self-stimulating, which means that they are doing something with their bodies (flapping their arms, rocking, playing with themselves, clapping their hands above their heads) for no other reason than that the movement stimulates them. Sometimes these repetitive or self-stimulating behaviours will be vocalizations - like grunts, screams, or snorts. A few people with ASD hurt themselves when they are engaging in the repetitive and self-stimulating behaviours. They bite themselves, they pull their own hair, or they bang their heads on the floor or the wall. Sometimes they do this to other people too.
Obsessive focus and attention to detail
Most people with ASD have one or two areas of interest and intense focus. They choose a “thing” and then they try to collect and classify everything related to that thing. Sometimes it is focused around particular characters of a television show or movie, but also to broader general categories like dinosaurs or trains or cars. Sometimes the “thing” is time and dates on the calendar. Sometimes it is baseball statistics. Sometimes it is art and music. Even though it may not be the same thing, over the course of their lives, people with ASD will almost always have a “thing.”
Deviation from routine or schedule
People with ASD like it when life follows a predictable routine. Changes to that routine can often cause anxiety and disturb people with ASD, especially if those changes are just sprung on them. Unexpected change and negative surprise experiences can sometimes cause people with ASD to withdraw into their repetitive and self-stimulating behaviours or become frustrated and aggressive. Many people with ASD like to keep daily schedules; they like to see their day planned out.
Sensory Processing
Many people with ASD have issues with the five senses. They can either be really sensitive with the things that they smell, see, hear, touch and taste (hypersensitive), or they do not have the ability to experience certain smells, sights, sounds, textures and tastes (hyposensitive). A hypersensitive person with ASD might wear industrial headphones when they are in a store because they do not like all the sounds around them. To them it might sound like all the people in the store are yelling when they are really just talking, or the buzz from the fluorescent lights might sound like a mosquito buzzing in their ear. Some people with ASD can’t filter out the soft noises so they hear everything going on around them, very loudly. Most people with ASD are very picky eaters because they do not like the taste or texture of many foods. Some people with ASD are so sensitive to touch that they can’t even stand the feel of the inside seams of their clothes against their skin. Some use smell to identify what things are, much in the same way that dogs do. Everything has its own unique smell, and some people with ASD will smell before they see, touch or taste something to figure out what it is. All people with ASD have a lot of sensory issues.
What does “low-functioning” and “high-functioning” mean?
The terms low-functioning and high-functioning have often been used to describe the cognitive ability and level of severity of autism within a person. The chart below (adapted from the US CDC website) shows the characteristics and level of functioning that are typically associated with persons on the Autism Spectrum.
Characteristic |
Low-Functioning
|
Moderately Functioning |
High Functioning
|
Measured Intelligence |
Mentally Retarded |
Within Normal Limits |
Gifted/Savant |
Social Interaction |
Aloof |
Passive |
Active but Odd |
Communication |
Non-Verbal |
Non-Verbal but uses other means of communication |
Verbal |
Behaviours |
Intense, many self-stimulating and/or aggressive behaviours |
Self-stimulating behaviours with little to no aggression |
Mild self-stimulating behaviours |
Sensory |
Hypersensitive or Hyposensitive |
Sensitive to light, touch, taste, smell and sound |
Unaffected by most light, touch, taste smell and sound |
Motor |
Uncoordinated |
Coordinated with issues around fine motor control |
Coordinated with expert fine motor skills |
While these classifications of low to high-functioning are useful to determine the level of severity of autism within an individual, they can become problematic as individuals display some low-functioning characteristics alongside high-functioning ones. For example, a non-verbal person with autism may be able to type and use assistive technology to communicate, or an extremely physically coordinated individual might not be able to deal with a trip to the grocery store because of the amount of sensory input there.
How many people have ASD in Canada?
A common statistic attributed to ASD in the United States is 1 in 150.
According to the 2006 Canadian Census, the following are the best estimates of ASD rates in Canada and Nova Scotia, with an indication of how those rates have been calculated.
- The population of Canada is 31,612,895
- The population of Canadians with autism and pervasive developmental disorders is 190,310
- The population of Canadian children is 5,579,839
- The population of Canadians children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders is 53,740
Therefore, autism and pervasive developmental disorders affects:
- 1 in 166 Canadians (190310/31612895=1/166.11)
- 1 in 104 Canadians under the age of 15 (53740/5579839=1/103.83)
- 28% of the population with ASD are between the ages of 4 and 14 (190310/53740=.028)
- 72% are 15 years old or over
- The population of Nova Scotia is 913,460
- The population of Nova Scotians with autism and pervasive developmental disorders is 7420
- The population of Nova Scotian children is 146,435
- The population of Nova Scotian children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders is 1790
Therefore autism and pervasive developmental disorders affects:
- 1 in 123 Nova Scotians (7420/913460=1/123)
- 1 in 82 Nova Scotian children (1790/146435=1/82)
- 24% of those with ASD in Nova Scotia are between the ages of 4 and 14 (7420/1790=.24)
- 76% of those with ASD in Nova Scotia are aged 15 or over
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