What is Autism?

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 (ASD), 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 also have other 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.

Autism is often spotted within the first two years of a child's life but while there are many ways in which this spectrum disorder may go on to affect a person as they develop through into adulthood there are 3 main areas of difficulty that are common to all.
Difficulty with social communicationDifficulty with social interactionDifficulty with social imagination

People with autism spectrum disorders have difficulties with both verbal and non verbal communication. Many have a very literal understanding of verbal communication & therefore find it difficult to interpret or understand jokes, sarcasm, facial expressions & the nuances of conversation. Knowing this about people with autism informs staff teams and supporters to be able to develop appropriate ways of communicating.
 
People with autism may have:- a love of routinessensory sensitivityspecial interestslearning disabilitiesOver half a million people in the UK have autism across all cultural, religious & social groups.

People with autism often:-find it difficult to tell people what they need, and how they feelfind it difficult to meet other people and to make new friendsfind it difficult to understand what other people think.

Asperger syndrome is a type of autism.

People with Asperger's syndrome may initially present as having good verbal skills by using complex words or phrases. Since they may often have few obvious outward signs of disability this can mask the fact that they struggle to interpret language appropriately, often fail pick up on ordinary social cues such as when to end a conversation, & have difficulty interpreting facial expressions. This can lead to frustration & sometimes can result in outbursts of anger leading to challenging behaviour. Appropriate specialist support is often needed to enable people to access ordinary community resources & take part in ordinary experiences safely, without conflicts occuring as a result of this mismatch.

At Dignity Group we understand that people are all different even though they may have been "labelled" as a result of needing to find specialist support. Getting to know the person is the most important factor in finding out how the things that they struggle with impact their everyday life. For this reason we make sure that everyone has a key person to work alongside them. This key person will not only have a good understanding of Autism and how that affects people but will spend time getting to know & understand the person they are supporting. In this way we can help to tailor the services that we offer and enable each person to be supported in an individual person centred way.

Call us to find out more on 01243 811482