Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):

• It affects how people communicate and interact with others, and how they make sense of the world
• Is a developmental condition that is typically life-long
• People with ASD experience sensory issues, such as over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to sounds, smells, and/or touch
• Experience social-emotional barriers eg struggle with typical back and forth conversation, have little or no interest in sharing interest and emotions
• Experience difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication
• Experience difficulty in developing and maintaining relationships, particularly appropriate to age and development – eg making friends
• Can have restricted of fixated interests – eg only playing with certain toys or talking about certain topics
• May have behavioural challenges due to all of the above
• Diagnosis can typically be made around the age of two years, or when it becomes apparent the child is not meeting the ‘usual’ development milestones

The most important thing of all to remember…..

• People with ASD have a wide range of ABILITIES