In my time working in early intervention I worked with a great deal of children who were diagnosed with autism. Most of the time I was the first one on the scene, so to speak. I was the one who saw the characteristics and felt that the child needed further evaluations to get a diagnosis.
The child was obviously red flagged already as needing some supports because they went through the Early Intervention Assessment. Either a pediatrician, a childcare provider, or the parent had some concerns with the child’s development. However, often times these children come in with a referral or concern around one area of development, such as a speech delay. During my time working with the child and through the results of the initial assessments it is often clear to me that the child has more areas of needs and delays than just what was originally presented.
During the time I worked with the child and the family I did my best to reach out to other individuals who would have knowledge about the child’s growth, development, temperament, etc. Often times I would get a release to talk to the former childcare provider. In that research I often would learn that the child had some red flags right at the first few months of life. In some instances the childcare provider tuned in to those red flags and felt something was a bit off, but usually the providers only saw the red flags in hindsight once they knew what to look for.
I can’t entirely blame the childcare providers as babies change so much. Yes we are all born into this world with our temperament, but some babies are tougher than others and it doesn’t necessarily reflect who they will be as they get older. Sometimes babies are very fussy but then turn out to be calm and easygoing kids. On the flip side, some babies are high strung and stay that way.
So, what is this belief that all children with autism have their developmental skills and then they disappear? Some parents say that they see, and feel, their child slipping away from them.
The truth is autism looks like lots of different things. Some children have always had characteristics that were different than other babies, and some seem to lose their skills and abilities. The reason for this is that we are sort of lumping a whole bunch of things into a big category. Currently, we have attempted to divide the different types of autism into categories of a spectrum. But, the truth is, even within those categories, most kids look a little different than the others, and they got to that point a little differently as well.
These children on the autistic spectrum all have developmental delays of some sort, and most likely have delays in the social, emotional, and language areas as well. However, there can also be other areas of impaired development.
Research is just starting to explain this a little bit. An article from the Autism Speaks website states that, “Over the last five years, scientists have identified a number of rare gene changes, or mutations, associated with autism.”
If there are many different changes and mutations in different genes, then it can be argued that we are looking at a number of different things.
The DSMV, which is the next diagnostic tool/book that will be used in diagnosing autism, (currently we use the DSMIV) will be placing children with autism back into a larger category rather than attempting to divide it as they have in the past.
Autism does not look the same in each child with the diagnosis, nor does it present its onset the same. Some children have minor deficits and some have severe ones. Some children are able to thrive in certain areas which will help them to compensate in the areas that are not their strength, while others with the diagnosis will forever need a great deal of assistance in life.
Of course children who are diagnosed with autism have to meet certain criteria to have such a diagnosis. However, saying that all children with autism are exactly the same is like saying that all girls are the same just because they are female. Yes, we can make some general statements as to what “most” girls are, but we know that each girl is their own person with their own habits, likes, dislikes, and learning styles. Likewise, children on the autistic spectrum are also their own people. Yes, I said people! Sometimes I think our society forgets that.
When working with and loving a child with autism we need to adapt our ways, change our approaches, and read their cues just as if we were working with or loving any child.
