Whether your child has mild or severe Autism Spectrum Disorder, making reading a fun activity can help your child's learning and social skills. You'll find sharing books together can be a good way to connect with your son or daughter. Reading also helps your child's language development and listening skills.
Some kids with autism might love to read while others love having books read to them. Some kids might not initially show an interest in books, but you might still be able to introduce them to books in ways that can support their development and eventually you might see them find a connection with books after all.
A small percentage of children with ASD (5-10%) can sound out letters and read words better than they can understand what they read (this is sometimes referred to as “hyperlexia”) [1]. But many children with ASD struggle with both reading words and understanding what they read.
Do all children with autism have reading difficulties? No! Many become voracious readers.
Children with ASD often need a hug, just like other children. Sometimes they need this much more than other children. But some children don't like to be touched. Respect their personal space.
However, they look up to the mother or caregiver for social referencing and hover around or cling to the caregiver. Children with an ASD are not vigilant and do not look up to the caregiver for social referencing. They may not cling to the caregiver, although go up to them for succor.
While many children with autism feel averse to hugging, some children with autism like to be hugged. Some children can swing the opposite way and want so many hugs that they feel hug deprived when they aren't getting enough.
Some people enjoy very light touches on their skin while others are ticklish and cannot tolerate such touching. Extreme sensory issues are very common in autism. Some children with autism cannot tolerate sounds or hugs, while another is oblivious to sounds and craves hugs.
Signs of High-Functioning Autism in Children
May appear more mature for their age and have above-average intelligence. A tendency to avoid eye contact. Trouble deviating from a routine or adapting to changes. Trouble making friends and maintaining social relationships or not “fitting in” with peers.
Associative Thinking: Most individuals on the spectrum are associative thinkers rather than linear thinkers. In other words, one thought connects to another and so on through sometimes loose or seemingly irrelevant connections.
Visual learning and thinking and autism
These strong visual skills might be because autistic children tend to focus on details, rather than the whole. Also, autistic children are often visual learners. This might be because visual information lasts longer and is more concrete than spoken and heard information.
It's common for autistic children to behave in challenging ways. If you understand why autistic children behave in certain ways, you can work out how to change the behaviour and help children manage it. When autistic children can manage their own challenging behaviour, they can learn and get along better with others.
Sometimes, environmental factors can cause sensitivity to a child diagnosed with autism, such as light and sounds that can be very distracting and uncomfortable. These can cause the child to become temporarily hyperactive or disruptive.
The study brings hope to those parents who worry that children who are not talking by age 4 or 5 are unlikely to develop speech at all. Some children with ASD develop meaningful language after age 5. "There is a burst of kids in the 6- to 7- age range who do get language," Dr. Wodka said.
Many children on the autism spectrum are fascinated by animals, trains, or other aspects of the real world. Selected TV and videos, such as "Animal Planet" and the "Eye Witness" videos can build on those interests.
This study interviewed 9 autistic people and found that all had listening difficulties. The loudness of background noises, and the number of people talking, affected their ability to listen, as did other sights, smells, thoughts, and feelings.
Level 1 autism: traits and behaviors
Inflexibility with ideas and actions. Difficulty switching between activities. Executive functioning limitations. Difficulty building and maintaining social relationships.
A child with level 1 autism may understand and speak in complete sentences, but have difficulty engaging in back-and-forth conversation. Children with ASD level 1 experience some inflexibility of behavior, like difficulty switching between tasks, staying organized, and planning.
Although the exact cause of autism is still unknown, there is evidence to suggest that genetics play a significant role. Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
The main laughter that children with autism produce is the voiced laughter. It is described as a tonal, song-like quality and is associated with positive emotions in typical controls. Not to worry for their laughter is not forced.
Young children may express more voiced than unvoiced laughter, as they haven't yet learned to purposely laugh. The test group of autistic children laughed just about as often as the non-autistic kids, but the autistic children's laughter was 98 percent voiced, while non-autistic children produced both types.
Many kids find freedom in dance they can't find elsewhere. With the daily challenges children with autism face, finding freedom with movement might be the perfect tool to help your child be themselves without pressure from the outside world.
Early signs of autism can be detected in babies by playing peek-a-boo, research has shown. If their brains respond less than they should to the stimulating game they are more likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as toddlers.
Most prefer bland foods, although there are notable exceptions: One child reportedly likes raw lemons; another consumes ground pepper by the spoonful. Nearly half of the children are sensitive to certain textures.