What is Autism?

Autism spectrum disorder, commonly known as ASD, affects how people communicate and interact with others. It affects how they make sense of the world. Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. 1 out of 160 people in Kenya have Autism Spectrum Disorder. This affects approximately 4% of Kenya's population. People with Autism see, hear and feel the world differently to other people. Autism is not an illness or disease. All individuals with autism share certain difficulties, but being autistic affects them in different ways.

Some of the diffculties experienced by autistic people are often accompanied by sensory issues, such an oversensitivity or undersensitivity to sounds, smells or touch. All of these difficulties may lead to behavioural challenges in some individuals.

Understanding the term "Spectrum"

The term “spectrum” is used to emphasise that autism presents differently in every single person. People with autism have a wide range of challenges as well as abilities. Autism is not a single disorder, but a spectrum of closely related disorders with a shared core of symptoms. Every individual on the autism spectrum has problems to some degree with social interaction, empathy, communication, and flexible behavior. But the level of disability and the combination of symptoms varies tremendously from person to person. In fact, two kids with the same diagnosis may look very different when it comes to their behaviors and abilities.

If you’re a parent dealing with a child on the autism spectrum, you may hear many different terms including high-functioning autism, atypical autism, autism spectrum disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder. These terms can be confusing, not only because there are so many, but because doctors, therapists, and other parents may use them in dissimilar ways. But no matter what doctors, teachers, and other specialists call the autism spectrum disorder, it’s your child’s unique needs that are truly important. No diagnostic label can tell you exactly what challenges your child will have. Finding treatment that addresses your child’s needs, rather than focusing on what to call the problem, is the most helpful thing you can do. You don’t need a diagnosis to start getting help for your child’s symptoms.

How does one meet the criteria for being "Autistic"?

Children with ASD have a combination of two kinds of behaviors: deficits in communication and social skills, and the presence of restricted or repetitive behaviors. It’s called a spectrum because individuals with the disorder may have a wide range of symptoms, cognitive abilities, language skills and behaviors. Signs of a deficit in communication and social skills may include, but are not limited to, a combination of the following:

In younger kids (under 3 years):

• Failure to respond to their own name
• Disinterest in giving, sharing or showing objects of interest
• Aversion to displays of affection
• Preference for solitary play

In older children:

• Difficulty carrying on a reciprocal or back-and-forth conversation
• Lack of eye contact
• Difficulty using and reading body language in others
• Difficulty recognizing others’ emotions, responding appropriately to different social situations and understanding social relationships
• Aversion to displays of affection
• Preference for solitary play

To meet the criteria for ASD, a child’s symptoms in these two areas must be present in early childhood, though they may not become fully clear until later, when social demands exceed limited capacities. Alternatively, they may be clear early on and then masked later by learned strategies. These symptoms must also cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, academic or other important areas of functioning. In addition to the two required criteria to meet the diagnosis, children with autism spectrum disorder often have sensory issues and varying cognitive and verbal abilities.

Sensory Problems

Many children with autism are unusually sensitive to sounds, lights, textures or smells. They may be overwhelmed by too much sensory input, avoiding, fleeing or melting down over things like bright lights, loud noises or commotion. Alternatively, they may seek more sensory input, which they may try to get by bumping into things and excessively touching and smelling things.

Verbal ability

Some children with autism don’t talk at all. Others talk in a stilted tone, or in an exaggerated “sing-song” or high-pitched voice. Highly verbal children with autism may monopolize conversations while showing little capacity for reciprocity or understanding what the other person wants or feels. Autistic children may also repeat certain phrases without appearing to understand their significance, or possess what experts call “non-functional knowledge”— information they can recite, but not use to solve problems or carry on a conversation. Children on the spectrum can also have medical problems and other mental health disorders, including anxiety,ADHD and depression, with symptoms that can be confused with autism