behaviour leads to a desired outcome, it may be repeated again and again, as it is a way they see they can control things around them. It can be manifested in the following ways
Self-injury e.g. head-banging, scratching, pulling, picking, grinding teeth and eating things that arent food.
Aggressive e.g. biting and scratching, hitting, pinching, grabbing, throwing, verbal abuse.
Stereotyped e.g. repetitive movements speech manipulation of objects and rocking.
Non-person directed e.g. damage to property, stealing, incontinence, lack of awareness of danger and withdrawal.
Disruptive e.g. screaming and spitting and inappropriate sexual behaviour
Other behaviours e.g., smearing, stripping off and running away
11. Define the characteristics of autism through childrens behaviour 10 Marks
Characteristics of autism vary significantly and dependent on the severity. The NICE Guidelines for Diagnosis give the following characteristics as indicators of ASD
Spoken language
o
Preschool age 0-5 years - delayed speech development fewer than ten words by the age of 2 or not speaking at all, they may use non-speech vocalisations eg grunts,
intonation may be flat or odd, repeating words or phrases and a tendency to refer to
themselves with their name rather than I and preferring to communicate using single words, despite being able to speak in sentences
o
School age5-19 years - they may use spoken language in unusual ways, preferring to avoid using spoken language may have limited use of words, monotone, and repetitive
speech, speaking in pre-learned phrases, talking at rather than to others, prefer only to talk about topics which they are interested in, and may be seen as rude or inappropriate.
Responding to others
o Preschool 0-5 years- gives either no or delayed response to their name being called, may not respond or have reduced responses to facial expressions, reacting negatively
when asked to do something by someone else, and may not accept cuddles. o School age 5-19 years - they may also show difficulties in understand other people’s
intentions or requests and misunderstand sarcasm or metaphor due to literalism
Interacting with others
o Preschool 0-5 years - not aware of personal space, little interest in interacting with others, preferring to play alone, rarely using gestures facial expressions when
communicating, avoiding eye contact, aloof manner, lack of sharing of interests with others, not initiate play, not imitate others, not enjoying situations that most children
their age like e.g. birthday parties, detached from feelings of others and uses adult as a means to get wanted object, without interacting with adult as a person
o Primary School 5-11 years – in addition having few close friends despite attempts to form friendships, not understanding how people normally interact socially, unable to
adapt communication to situations, reduced awareness of socially expected behaviour, reduced ability to share and may often play alone.
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o Secondary school 11-19 years - in addition problem with losing at games turn-taking rule changes, reduced understanding of friendship and social isolation.
Unusual or restricted interest andor rigid and repetitive behaviours
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Preschool 0-5 years - repetitive movements such as flapping their hands, rocking back and forth or flicking their fingers or play in a repetitive way e.g. lining blocks up in order
of size or colour, rather than using them to build , preferring familiar routine, getting extremely upset if there are changes to their normal routine, over or under reaction to
texturessoundssmells strong like or dislike of certain foods, over-focus on certain interests and insisting on following their own agendas.
o
Primary school 5-11 years - they may believe that everyone should always stick to the rules, more orientated towards objects than people, dislike of change may lead to
aggression or anxiety.
o
Secondary school 11-19 years - may have a preference for highly specific hobbies and interests, adhering to the rules can result in regular arguments, emotional distress
caused by change, and repetitive behaviours may negatively affect daily activities.
Eye contact, pointing, and other gestures
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0-19 years - All may exhibit reduced or no use of gestures and facial expressions to communicate, lack of eye contact, rarely point to or show an object to share interest and
poor attention span
Ideas and imagination
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Preschool 0-5 years - v little variety in pretend play, little or no imagination and obsessive interest in certain toys or objects whilst ignoring other things
o
School age 5-19 years little flexible imaginative play or creativity, lack of understanding of social etiquette and hierarchies and not develop age-appropriate peer relationships.
Additional factors
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School age 5-19 years - includes poor social or fine and gross motor skills, while certain areas are advanced, social and emotional development may be more immature than
other areas of development, naivety, trusting people excessively, Low muscle tone, does not react to pain, sleeping problems, difficulties toilet training, eats or chews on unusual
things, Puts objects to nose to smell them, removes clothes often, frequent diarrhoea upset stomach constipation, a lack of common sense and less independent and delayed
sexual development
12. Summarise the theory of mind and how this this affects young people with ASD 6 Marks
