April is World Autism Awareness Month, an opportunity to recognise a condition that affects 1 in 100 people in the UK.
Ambitious about Autism is a national charity for children and young people with autism. The charity had lots of activities taking place on World Autism Awareness Day and continues to celebrate throughout the month. For ways you can get involved go to www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk
The National Autistic Society – the leading UK charity for people with autism, including Asperger syndrome and their families – has also got involved and activities have included OnsieWednesday in celebration of the event.
According to The National Autistic Society autism is much more common than most people think. There are more than half a million people in the UK with autism – that’s around 1 in 100 people.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.
It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. People with autism may also experience over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.
Asperger syndrome is a form of autism. People with Asperger syndrome are often of average or above average intelligence. They have fewer problems with speech but may still have difficulties with understanding and processing language.
People with autism have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety.
In particular, understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in everyday family and social life may be harder for them. Other people appear to know, intuitively, how to communicate and interact with each other, and some people with autism may wonder why they are ‘different’.
The three main areas of difficulty which all people with autism share are sometimes known as the ‘triad of impairments’. They are:
- difficulty with social communication
- difficulty with social interaction
- difficulty with social imagination.
It can be hard to create awareness of autism as people with the condition do not ‘look’ disabled: parents of children with autism often say that other people simply think their child is naughty; while adults find that they are misunderstood.
All people with autism can benefit from a timely diagnosis and access to appropriate services and support.
A diagnosis is the formal identification of autism, usually by a health professional such as a paediatrician, psychologist or a psychiatrist. Having a diagnosis is helpful for two reasons:
- it helps people with autism (and their families) to understand why they may experience certain difficulties and what they can do about them
- it allows people to access services and support.
Find out more from The National Autistic Society at www.autism.org.uk
Rachel Harrison, Speech and Language Therapist
Article written for ITS
April 2014
