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A presentation to the parents of
Pixies Hill Primary School
April 2015
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*Always
*Unique
*Totally
*Interesting
*Sometimes
*Mysterious
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* Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of
disorders with common disabilities in three key areas:
* Social awareness and interaction
* Language and other communication skills
* Imaginative Play
* Autism consists of disorders of brain development and
brain function
* Causes are not yet known
* Autism affects all races and cultures around the world
* Autism affects boys more than girls.
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* Reading skills – although they can struggle with
inference and deduction
* Exceptional balance
* Drawing skills
* Computer skills
* Exceptional memory
* Music skills
* THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT!
* www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVhXOFtoYYStrengths
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* Social interaction
* Communication
* Unusual obsessive and repetitive behaviours
* Sensory Issues
* Gross and fine motor issues – hypermobility
* Anxiety
* Issues with personal space
* Poor chronology
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* Anxiety can be caused by all sorts of things…
* Sudden changes in timetabling
* Changes in routine, changes in teaching staff.
* The environment: furniture changing from its
normal place, bridges, escalators, lifts, stairs.
* Getting dressed/undressed.
* Noisy environments.
* PE lessons
* Following complicated instructions
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* Mrs Tate shares her experience of living with
Autism.
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* Autistic children have difficulty processing
language.
* They tend to take things literally eg. Struggle
with idioms – ‘Who let the cat out of the bag?’
* Too many words can confuse.
* Autistic children can be hyper sensitive to
lights, smells and touch.
* Abstract concepts – like God – if it isn’t
concrete they might fid it hard to comprehend.
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* Autistic children can be stubborn or single
minded.
* They sometimes make a decision about
something and then find it impossible to
change their opinion.
* They can become obsessed with rules and
regulations. Can be regarded as bossy.
* They find it hard to take turns in conversations
and listen to other peoples ideas.
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* When an Autistic child displays challenging
behaviour there is normally a trigger.
* Sometimes the trigger isn’t apparent – it could
be because they are harbouring a grudge about
something that happened a long time ago.
* When the level of anxiety is so high that the
child throws a tantrum it is best to leave the
child to calm down in a quiet place and not use
too much language.
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* Many people with an autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) have difficulty processing
everyday sensory information such as
sounds, sights and smells. This is usually
called having sensory integration difficulties,
or sensory sensitivity. It can have a profound
effect on a person's life.
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* How our senses work
* Our central nervous system (brain) processes all the sensory information we
receive and helps us to organise, prioritise and understand the information. We
then respond through thoughts, feelings, motor responses (behaviour) or a
combination of these.
* We have receptors all over our bodies that pick up sensory information, or
'stimuli'. Our hands and feet contain the most receptors. Most of the time, we
process sensory information automatically, without needing to think about it
much.
* People with sensory integration difficulties - including many people with an ASD have difficulty processing everyday sensory information.
* People who struggle to deal with all this information are likely to become
stressed or anxious, and possibly feel physical pain. This can result in challenging
behaviour.
* “If I get sensory overload then I just shut down; you get what's known as
fragmentation...it's weird, like being tuned into 40 TV channels.”
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* Some children who are Autistic also have a
diagnosis of ODD.
* This behaviour is best described as a child
having an angry argumentative approach to
almost everything they are asked to do.
* It is like a knee jerk reaction where the child
feels compelled to say or do the opposite of
what is being requested.
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* A person with Autism has problems understanding
another person's emotions. He may not be able to
properly interpret facial expressions, body language or
gestures. The inability to interpret others emotions is
often referred to as mindblindness. This may lead a
person to misunderstand his reactions to an emotional
situation and view a response as inappropriate or
negative.
* Sometimes people assume that with Autism will have
an emotional response or lack of response as an
inability to feel emotion. This is not true. A person
with Autism feels emotion but he may have trouble
expressing his emotion or find unusual ways to express
it.
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* Autism causes problems with language,
communication and social interaction. A person with
Autism may not be able to make friends easily and
may also find two-way conversation difficult. He
may appear to talk at people, rather than with
them and fixate on favorite topics even if the other
party shows distinct signs of disinterest or distress.
He continues to talk about the topic and is oblivious
to the other party's reaction. He also may
misunderstand language at time and taking many
things literally, missing subtlety. In a relationship,
the communication problems can easily lead to
misunderstandings.
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* Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a
group of behavioural symptoms that include
inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
* Common symptoms of ADHD include:
* a short attention span or being easily distracted
restlessness, constant fidgeting or overactivity
* being impulsive
* ADHD can occur in people of any intellectual ability,
although it is more common in people with learning
difficulties. People with ADHD may also have
additional problems, such as sleep and anxiety
disorders.
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Inattentiveness
* The main signs of inattentiveness are:
* having a short attention span and being easily distracted
* making careless mistakes – for example, in schoolwork
* appearing forgetful or losing things
* being unable to stick at tasks that are tedious or timeconsuming
* appearing to be unable to listen to or carry out instructions
* constantly changing activity or task
* having difficulty organising tasks
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Hyperactivity and impulsiveness
* The main signs of hyperactivity and impulsiveness are:
* being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings
* constantly fidgeting
* being unable to concentrate on tasks
* excessive physical movement
* excessive talking
* being unable to wait their turn
* acting without thinking
* interrupting conversations
* little or no sense of danger
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* There are organisations who can support
families with Autism:
* ADD-Vance:- ADD-vance is a registered charity set up in Hertfordshire in
1996 to support and empower adults, children and families with Autism, Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and related conditions in
Hertfordshire.http://www.add-vance.org/
* Autism Education Trust:http://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/
* National Autistic Society: www.autism.org.uk
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Hertfordshire HUBs
The KIDS East and West HUBs offer information and support for parents and carers of
disabled children and young people aged 0-19 in Hertfordshire.
http://www.kids.org.uk/hub
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