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.
1 in a 100 people are affected by Autism
The World to those affected by autism is mass of people, places and events which they struggle to make sense of.
How do people with autism see the world ?
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'.
There are over half a million people in the UK with autism.
Three main areas of difficulty :
Difficulty with social interaction
People with autism often have difficulty recognising or understanding other people's emotions and feelings, and expressing their own, which can make it more difficult for them to fit in socially.
Difficulty with social imagination
Social imagination allows us to understand and predict other people's behaviour, make sense of abstract ideas, and to imagine situations outside our immediate daily routine. Difficulties with social imagination mean that people with autism find it hard to understand and interpret other people's thoughts, feelings and actions, predict what will happen next, or what could happen next, understand the concept of danger, for example that running on to a busy road poses a threat to them, engage in imaginative play and activities: children with autism may enjoy some imaginative play but prefer to act out the same scenes each time. Difficulties with social imagination should not be confused with a lack of imagination. Many people with autism are very creative and may be, for example, accomplished artists, musicians or writers.
Difficulty with social communication
People with autism have difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal language. Many have a very literal understanding of language, and think people always mean exactly what they say. They can find it difficult to use or understand facial expressions or tone of voice, jokes and sarcasm. Some people with autism may not speak, or have fairly limited speech. They will usually understand what other people say to them, but prefer to use alternative means of communication themselves, such as sign language or visual symbols.
Who is affected by autism ?
Autism is much more common than most people think. There are over half a million people in the UK with autism - that's around 1 in 100 people. People from all nationalities and cultural, religious and social backgrounds can have autism, although it appears to affect more men than women. It is a lifelong condition: children with autism grow up to become adults with autism.
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