AUTISM
RILEY TIMBS 6R
What Is Autism
Autism is said to be increasing; however, it is not entirely clear whether the increase is related to changes in how it is diagnosed or whether it is a true increase in the incidence of the disease. The word 'spectrum' describes the range of difficulties that people with ASD may experience and the degree to which they may be affected. Some people may be able to live relatively normal lives, while others may have an accompanying learning disability and require continued specialist support.
The main areas of difficulty are in social communication, social interaction and restricted or repetitive behaviours and interests.
People on the autism spectrum may also have:
unusual sensory interests such as sniffing objects or staring intently at moving objects
sensory sensitivities including avoiding everyday sounds and textures such as hair dryers, vacuum cleaners and sand
intellectual impairment or learning difficulties
An estimated one in 100 people have ASD; that’s almost 230,000 Australians. ASDs affect almost four times as many boys than girls
Signs Of Autism
The number of signs in each category varies according to the age of the child and how severely the child is affected.
Social communication red flags
The child:
- doesn’t point to or hold up objects to show people things, share an experience or show that she wants something – for example, she doesn’t point to a dog and look back at you to make sure you’ve seen it too, or she’ll drop a toy in your lap and walk away instead of holding it up and looking at you
- doesn’t use eye contact to get someone’s attention – for example, she doesn’t look at a parent then at a snack to show she wants it
- doesn’t consistently respond to her name
- doesn’t smile at caregivers without first being smiled at or tickled
- doesn’t use gestures on her own – for example, she doesn’t wave bye-bye without being told to, or without copying someone else who is waving
- doesn’t show interest in other children
- doesn’t start games such as peekaboo or patty cake
- doesn’t engage in pretend play – for example, she doesn’t feed her teddy bear
- doesn’t sound like she’s having a conversation with you when she babbles
- doesn’t understand simple one-step instructions – for example, `Give the block to me’, or `Show me the dog’
- copies what she hears from others or from the TV – for example, when you ask if she wants more drink, she echoes back `more drink’.
- Behaviour red flags
- The child:
- has an intense interest in certain objects and becomes ‘stuck’ on particular toys or objects – for example, he will flick the light switch off and on repeatedly, or will play only with cars
- interacts with toys and objects in one particular way, rather than more broadly or in the way they were intended to be played with – for example, turning the wheels of a toy car or lining up objects
- is very interested in unusual objects or activities – for example, drains, metal objects, or watching a specific ad on TV
- focuses narrowly on objects and activities, such as turning the wheels of a toy car or lining up objects
- is easily upset by change and must follow routines – for example, sleeping, feeding or leaving the house must be done in the same way every time
- repeats body movements or has unusual body movements, such as back-arching, hand-flapping and walking on his toes
- is extremely sensitive to sensory experiences – for example, is easily upset by certain sounds, or will eat only foods with a certain texture
- seeks sensory stimulation – for example, rubs objects on his mouth, or face, or seeks vibrating objects like washing machines, or flutters his fingers to the side of his eyes to watch the light flicker.
What Causes Autism
Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person's life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person's communication and social interaction skills.
People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter.
Raising Awareness
Whether you're participating in a race, hosting a breakfast, organising a trivia night or anything in between, we want to keep fundraising as simple and stress-free as possible!
By creating an account at EverydayHero.com.au, You can set up your own event or campaign page to help raise funds for Autism Awareness. Simply follow these 3 easy steps
- Create your own Everyday Hero Account
- Set up your own personalized fundraising page with details of your fundraiser and nominate Autism Awareness as the beneficiary
- Send the link to your fundraising page to all your friends and family so they can show their support.
Campaigns To Raise Awareness To Autism
LIGHT IT UP BLUE
Light It Up Blue' is a global campaign that sees thousands of iconic landmarks, cities and towns around the world turn blue on April 2 to recognise World Autism Awareness Day. The campaign highlights the pressing need for greater public education and awareness of autism in our community.
We are proud to have initiated and hosted Australia’s participation in this campaign for the past three years and this year we'd like to see all of Australia go blue on April 2!
AUTISM AWARENESS BEAR
We’d like to introduce you to our new friend, Autism Awareness Bear!
The wonderful team at Build a Bear Workshop Australia have created this cute, fury blue friend especially for our community.
Bears are $30 and come with their own birth certificate, travel condo and endless love!
A portion of each sale is donated to Autism Awareness Australia to help our fund education and awareness programs to support Australian families affected by autism.
LIGHT IT UP BLUE SYDNEY
Be part of this fabulous World Autism Awareness Day event in recognition of all Australians with autism, and the families who love them.
Empathy - Understanding and being aware of the feelings of others
A person with autism will find it much harder to understand the feelings of other people. His/her ability to instinctively empathize with others is much weaker than other people's. However, if they are frequently reminded of this, the ability to take other people's feelings into account improves tremendously. In some cases - as a result of frequent practice - empathy does improve, and some of it becomes natural rather than intellectual. Even so, empathy never comes as naturally for a person with autism as it does to others.
Having a conversation with a person with autism may feel very much like a one-way trip. The person with ASD might give the impression that he is talking at people, rather than with or to them. He may love a theme, and talk about it a lot. However, there will be much less exchanging of ideas, thoughts, and feelings than there might be in a conversation with a person who does not have autism.
Almost everybody on this planet prefers to talk about himself/herself more than other people; it is human nature. The person with autism will usually do so even more.