Consulting regarding Individuals on the Autism Spectrum
Consultation services are often requested for students in Autism Spectrum. It is a
complex disorder that often varies student-to-student depending on where the
student falls on the spectrum. Males are four times more likely to be diagnosed with
Autism as females. Dr. Melissa Rutherford has developed an eye tracker technology
that measures eye direction while infants look at faces, eyes and bouncing balls on a
computer screen. Dr. Rutherford has written that the test can detect the disorder as
early as 9 months. The research indicates that older mothers and fathers have
higher rates of incidence. Early diagnosis and treatment of autism is key to long
term life skills and academic success. Because autistic individuals do not modulate
in the right brain, they experience problems with social skills, friendships,
impulsivity, decision-making and thought processes. These issues often result in
their lack of being able to obtain a driver’s license and participate in many of the
common activities of their peers. Complicating matters further, many of the
individuals are risk-takers, sometimes not realizing the true risks involved resulting
in social and legal difficulties. Other deficits common within the Autism Spectrum
include ADHD, language and vocabulary, OCD, aggressive behaviors, social anxiety,
abnormal EEG’s and schizoid behaviors.
A fairly new issue in Autism is the study of sensory sensitivities. It has been found
that ASC individuals have more tactile and taste/smell sensitivities and auditory
filtering issues.
Students with Autism can be intellectually gifted or challenged or anywhere in the
average range. Students with this disorder are attending community colleges and
universities at rates higher than ever before. To be honest, university faculty and
staff are not always prepared to address the needs of this population as well as
might be preferred. Advisors are often asked to provide instructional assistance and
consultation. Residence hall supervisors also need education and professional
development regarding best practices for this disorder because the social
implications are a major concern.
Asperger’s Disorder, at the high functioning end of the Autism Spectrum, is a
quantitative impairment in social interaction. These individuals generally have great
difficulty in eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and developing and
maintaining peer relationships. In addition, individuals struggle to experience
emotion and feelings. They are unable to read others expressions and needs.
Developing empathy is particularly challenging. Gross motor also tends to be a
challenge for these disorders. These students will generally not be the star athletes.
However, language and cognitive functioning are generally developmentally
appropriate. They also may have visual strengths and spatial strengths. Please help
these students find their strengths!! Because their gifts might be more difficult to
discover, they might not yet be aware of what gifts they hold and are just waiting to
share.
The behaviors often are a barrier for the individuals and might include OCD
functioning, rigid adherence to routines, stereotyped motor mannerisms, ADHD
responses. Individuals often will have a diagnosis of both OCD and ADHD in addition
to Asperger.
Best practices include teaching self-advocacy, anti-bullying strategies, social skills,
role-playing, academic strategies to address deficits, skill-streaming utilizing
modeling, career education and appropriate workplace/employment behaviors,
constructive feedback, effective and advanced interpersonal relations feedback
including reflection statements and confrontation.