What is Autism?

Autism is a complex developmental disorder that typically appears within the first 3
years of life. It is part of a group of disorders known as Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). Usually it is present from birth (though not always obvious) and lasts
throughout the life.

Autism is known as a spectrum disorder because it affects each individual differently

and at varying degrees. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe. Autism
impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated
with rigid routines and repetitive behaviours, such as obsessively arranging objects,
or following very specific routines.

Children and adults with autism typically display major impairments in three areas
which are referred to as the ‘Triad of Impairments’.

The three areas of difficulty which all people with autism share are:

 Difficulty with social communication

 Difficulty with social interaction
 Difficulty with imagination

Many people with autism also have sensory difficulties e.g. over or under sensitivity
to sight, touch, taste, smell, sound, temperature, or pain. Because of their
impairments, people with autism often experience overwhelming anxiety, frustration,
and confusion when faced with the demands of everyday life.

How many people have autism?/who is affected by autism?/what is the

incidence of autism?

People from any country, culture, religion and social background can have autism.
Around 1 in 100 people are likely to have autism and it is four times more likely to
affect boys than girls.

What causes autism?

The exact causes of autism are still being investigated. However, there does appear
to be a mixture of both environmental and genetic factors at play. Research suggests
that combination of factors may account for changes in brain development.

Few important facts to be noted:

  Autism is not caused by bad parenting (person’s upbringing, the amount of
love/care parents give to the child, their social circumstances etc).
 Autism is not caused by lack of love or inadequate parenting skills.
 Mothers don’t have any role to play in causing autism.
 Women should not be blamed for giving birth to a child with autism.
 Having one child with autism does not mean that all the other children will
born with this disability.
 Autism is not an illness that other children, siblings or adults may catch


Are there any cures for autism?

At present, there is no cure for autism. However, development and changes occur
and progress is possible. For many years, researchers are trying to find out cures for
autism, but no cure has been found yet which may totally reverse all the effects of
autism. Though it is a lifelong disorder with no cure, there are a wide range of
treatments and intervention approaches that help reduce some of the difficulties and
help to manage behaviour problems.

Why should I give label of autism to my child?

It is hard for parents to accept that their child has autism. But avoiding diagnosis for
the fear of label can cause plenty of problems for the child. If autism is identified at
an early age, the treatment can also be started immediately. Research indicates that
starting intervention/treatment at an early age can result in great progress and
improvement in the child.

Is it important to identify autism? If so, why?

Yes, it is important to identify or diagnose autism. Having a diagnosis can be helpful

for the following reasons:

 It may help in understanding people with autism better.

 It may help in choosing appropriate intervention for people with autism which
may help to reduce autism like features.
 Some children with autism may have intolerance to certain food items. Getting
a diagnosis my help in being aware of those food allergies. Avoiding those
food items may help in reducing hyperactivity, digestion problems, anxiety,
and some other conditions of the child.
 Some children with autism have sensory problems. They may bang their
head, flap their hands, bite wrist, spin, or may be sensitive to light, sound and
 touch etc. these issues can be resolved by timely diagnosis and early
intervention.
 Some children may not talk or may have very limited speech. Some others
may find it hard to interact with others. All these problems of socialization and
communication can be addressed by getting a diagnosis and starting
appropriate treatment.
 Diagnosis may also help in choosing the right school for the child.
 It may allow people to access services and support.


All people with autism can benefit from a timely diagnosis and access to appropriate
support and services.

What are the characteristics (/symptoms) of autism?

The characteristics of autism vary from individual to individual. However, there are
three major groups of characteristics which people with autism typically display.

Difficulty with social communication

Children and adults with autism show a range of difficulties in social communication
that include both verbal and non-verbal communication. Some people on the
spectrum may not develop speech (or may not speak), while some other may have
fairly limited speech, or may not have functional speech. The development of the
language is often delayed and may follow a different pattern from that of typically
developing children.

They find it hard to:

 Communicate clearly what they want or need

 Use gestures and facial expressions in communication
 Understand gestures and facial expressions of others (e.g. they may find it
hard to understand by looking at other’s faces that they are happy or sad or
upset)
 Use tone of voice according to the situation ()
 Understand tone of voice of others
 Use or understand jokes
 Imitate actions or sounds
 Understand word meanings
 Use or understand common phrases
 Express their feelings
 Initiate communication/start a conversation
 Carry the conversation on with give and take between the two people
Some people with autism may use unusual vocal intonation/rhythm (or may have
unusual or odd speech), while some other who have good language skills may talk at
length about their own interests. Repeating language either in words or phrases from
videos or somewhere else over and over again (known as echolalia) is also found in
some children with autism.

Ideas to help/ideas that may help:

 Use simple language: Use simple or easy to understand language

 Avoid idioms: Try to Avoid the use of idioms and phrases
 Avoid words with two meanings: Do not use the words that may have more
than one meaning
 Use clear words or concrete terms: Try to Avoid the use of ambiguous
words or abstract terms (For example instead of saying ‘We shall go to the
park later’ try saying ‘We shall go to park after dinner’ or ‘we shall go to park
at 7 p.m.’)
 Reduced language: Try to Reduce your language/ try to use as small
sentences as possible
 Get child’s attention: Try to Get child’s attention before starting the
conversation/ when you speak to the child, first get his attention
 Call child’s name: Try to Call child’s name when you speak to him (to get his
attention, & also to make it clear to him that you are talking to him)
 Reduce background noise:
 Give additional time to respond: Try to Wait for the child to respond (as the
child may take more time to process information than typically developing
children) / give child some extra time to process the information
 Give clear instructions: Try to Give clear instruction to the child. (For
example instead of saying ‘all children should get into bed’ try saying ‘Sara,
get into bed’)
 Give instructions in order: The child may have problem in rearranging the
instructions and putting them in order. Therefore, try to give instructions in the
order in which it may happen. (For example instead of saying ‘get into the car
after putting your shoes on when you finish taking your lunch, as we are going
to park’ try saying ‘finish your meal first. Then put your shoes on. Then get
into the car. We are going to park’)
 Give one instructions at a time: Do not give/ Try to Avoid giving several
instructions at a time (as given in the above example). Try to give one or two
instructions to the child, when he finish doing that, then give more.
 Give positive instructions: Give positive instructions to the child. Instead of
telling them what they should not do, tell them what they should do (For
example instead of saying ‘Do not throw rubbish around’ try saying ‘Ahmad,
throw the rubbish in the bin’).
 Introduce first and then concept: (For example ’first eat, then video game’).
 Give choices:
  Introduce finish concept:
 Use visual aids to clarify the message:

Difficulty with social interaction

People with autism experience some degree of difficulty in social interaction. Some
of them may not seek out contact with others and seems to be happy with their own
company. While some other may want to interact with other people and make
friends, but may find it hard to do so.

They often have difficulty in:

 Understanding other people’s feelings and emotions

 Expressing their feelings and emotions
 Sharing excitement and pleasure with others
 Playing with others (the child with ASD may avoid peers, preferring to be with
adults or children of a different age) {the child may also prefer such games he
can play alone, like cars, toys, etc}.
 Forming friendships
 Sharing (the child may grab toys or food from other children, and may not
share his toys with others)
 Turn-taking
 Understanding the perspective of others
 Understand social rules (e.g. how to behave in a particular situation)
 Approaching others (e.g. stand too close to another person, repetitively
question or push another person to get attention, etc)

{An inability to understand social rules of a particular situation make it hard for
people with autism to fit in socially.}

People with autism sometimes appear to be insensitive, which can be due to the
difficulty in recognising how someone else is feeling. Their limited social
understanding can lead to a behaviour that appears inappropriate to others.

Ideas to help/ideas that may help:

 Joint attention: introduce such games to the child in which he/she has to
interact with some other person. For example, (bubble activity....)
 Playing by child’s side: if the child with autism doesn’t allow anyone to join
in his play, sit near the child where he can see you, and copy his play. {This
may help him tolerate other people around him, sharing his play, .... }
  Joining in child’s play: Whatever the child likes to play (such as with cars or
with some other toy, or with water etc), join him in it. If he does not like to play
with his brothers or sisters, then parents should join him initially. Later on
when the child gets use to of parents’ presence, brothers and sisters can also
be introduced/included into the play.
 Turn taking:
 Accept child’s privacy: The child with autism may find it hard to interact with
people, and may need some time to be on his own. This may help him calm
down. So after hectic activity of being socialize, give them some time to be
with them only.
 Express your feelings in words: Try to express your feelings and emotions
in words in addition to gestures. Child may have difficulty in reading your
emotions himself, so explain it. It will help the child to understand that others
have feelings too. And also, will help in explaining the way of expressing
emotions. (e.g. if you are happy on an action of the child, with a smile tell him
that you are happy on this action of the child)
 Help the child in expressing his feelings: For example, if you give child’s
favourite toy or food to him, tell him that ‘are you happy on having this toy’.
 Explain social rules: Explain the rules of a social situation (for example, how
to behave in front of guest, or in a super store, or in mosque, etc). They child
may find it hard to learn by observation.
 Help the child get use to of social gatherings: Don’t keep the child at home
due to the reason that he cries a lot in a gathering. Try to take him out with
you to the market, to the weddings, birthday parties etc. if the child can’t
tolerate at all, first start from 5 minutes. Then increase the time gradually.
After sitting in a gathering for 5 minutes, one parent can leave the gathering
with the child. Gradually the child may develop the stamina/resistance for a
social gathering. ........


Difficulty with imagination

Children and adults with autism show a range of difficulties with imagination as well.
Some may not be able to make sense of abstract ideas, predict the behaviour of
other people and guess what other people are thinking; while others may focus in on
the details of an object rather than the bigger picture (e.g. looking at the wheels of a
car, rather than playing with the whole car).

People with autism find it difficult to:

 Engage in imaginative play and activities

  Make sense of danger/ understand the concept of danger (e.g. a child may
run in the middle of a busy road without predicting the danger of accident)
 Understand or predict the behaviour of other people
 predict the upcoming situation/ predict what may happen next
 prepare for change
 cope with new or unfamiliar situation
 plan for future

Despite the difficulties in the area of imagination in relation to social situation, some
people with autism may be extremely creative and imaginative. For example, an
individual with autism with special interest in music, art or writing, may become great
artists, musicians or writers.

Ideas to help/ideas that may help:

 Daily and weekly schedule

 Inform about change
 Gradual change/ introduce change gradually
 Use visual aids or timetables to introduce change
 Help him improve his imaginative thinking..... (try to broaden his vision.... give
him ideas........ let him think in more than one situation/find out more than one
solution/explore things.... describe the use of a thing in more than only one
way.... e.g. bed can be used to sleep, to sit on it etc. garden can be used for
play, for parties, for a walk, .....
 (Try to involve him in imaginative play sometimes. E.g. if child is playing with
doll, you can arrange wedding of the doll. Or if child plays with the cars, you
can create a racing competition, ....)

Additional/associated features/characteristics:

Sensory difficulties

Children and adults with autism may experience some degree of sensory
difficulty/some form of sensory sensitivity. There may be difficulty in one or more
senses (e.g. sound, vision, touch, taste, smell, balance and body awareness) which
may either be intensified (hyper-sensitive/over react to sensory stimuli) or under-
sensitive (hypo-sensitive/under-react to sensory stimuli).

The possible difficulties individual with autism may have:

 Balance and body awareness:

  May rock, spin, flap their hands,
 May stand too close to others
 May bump into people
 May have difficulties to navigate rooms
 May have difficulties to avoid obstructions
 May have difficulties with fine motor skills/tasks (e.g. doing up buttons, tying
shoe laces etc.)
 Sound:
 May exhibit panic to specific sounds
 May sometimes seems deaf
 May dislike loud noises, crowded places
 May dislike sudden, unexpected sound (such as dog barking etc)
 May dislike high-pitched, continuous noises
 Some may like noisy places, and may bang doors and objects
 May have difficulty filtering out unwanted sounds
 Vision/sight:
 May play with light and reflections
 May have problem with throwing and catching
 May flick fingers before eyes
 May have sensitivity to light (/particular level of illumination)
 May have difficulty filtering out unwanted movements or sights in a visually
busy environment
 Touch:
 May not like to be touched
 May have difficulty in brushing and washing hair, cutting nails, wearing cloths
 May like only certain type of clothing
 May not like anything on hands or feet
 May hold others tightly
 May not feel pain
 May not feel extremes of temperature
 May harm himself
 May enjoy heavy objects on top of him
 Taste:
 may like very spicy food
 may eat everything (e.g. soil, grass, materials)
 may like only certain type of foods and flavours
 Smell:
 may have no sense of smell and fail to notice extreme odours
 may lick objects
 may have toileting problems
 may dislikes perfumes, shampoos etc

it is not necessary that all children with autism may have all the difficulties described
above/here. Some may experience some of these, while others may not have any of
these at all.

Ideas to help/ideas that may help:

 Sensory friendly environment: Try to develop comfortable environment

according to child’s needs that may reduce the risk of possible anxiety due to
sensory overload.
 Inform about change in advance: Tell the child in advance about any possible
sensory change or overload. For example, if you are taking the child to a
supermarket, tell him in advance that you are going in a supermarket and it can
be noisy, etc.
 Ideas related to balance and body awareness system:
 Try to encourage the child for activities such as swings, seasaws, rocking
horse, etc to help develop the balance and body awareness system.
 [Try to encourage the child for threading activities such as (TEACCH pic, shoe
box activity) ...... ] fine motor development.
 Try to organise the room furniture in a way that makes it easy to walk. Plenty
of furniture all around can make it hard for the child to navigate easily.
 To help the child with personal space concept, try using different strategies,
such as the arm’s length rule. (the children who stand too close to a person,
being unaware of personal space, for them make a rule that whenever they go
to talk to a person, they should first hold out their arm to check if they are at
appropriate distance from the person.)
 Ideas related to sound system: (/ideas to help difficulties related to sound)
 Prepare the child in advance if you are taking him to a noisy place
 (If the child is sensitive to sound), arrange a less noisy area in the house
away from the main sitting area and kitchen (perhaps a bed room or a corner
in a room) where child can spend some time to relax and to calm down.
 Personal stereo can be a good choice to cut down the unwanted external
noises.
 Ear plugs can also be used.

 Ideas related to vision: (/ideas to help difficulties related to sight)
 If the child is sensitive to bright lights, use dim lights or deep coloured bulbs.
 Use dark curtains.
 Sunglasses can be used when going out.

 Ideas related to touch: (/ideas to help difficulties related to touch)
 The children who don’t like to be touched, tell them before you are about to
touch or hug them.
 Allow the child to wear the cloths he is comfortable in.
  Gradually introduce different textures.
 Gradually help the child to regulate their sensitivity to touch.
 Children, who like heavy object on the top of them, quilt or weighted blankets
can be a good choice for them.
 Water or soft play.........

 Ideas related to taste: (/ideas to help difficulties related to taste)

 Gradually introduce different type of foods.
 Change the texture of the food, e.g. mash it etc.
 Activities that involve mouth.......

 Ideas related to smell: (/ideas to help difficulties related to smell)

 Some children who have no sense of smell or weak sense of smell, they may
lick some strong smelling things or may like to smell faeces etc. To avoid such
problem, strong smelling products can be used to distract the children from
unwanted (/ inappropriate) objects. These can also be used as rewards on
child’s good behaviour.
 The children who are over sensitive to smell, they may find it hard to cope
with strong smell of perfumes, shampoos etc. for them, fragrant free products
can be a good choice.

Some important consideration:

All the ideas given above, should not be tried on each child. As each child’s difficulty
is different, therefore, the ideas related to your child’s particular difficulty are likely to
help.

Another important thing to be noted is that the child should be helped in managing
the sensory difficulties. Though the child should be provided with comfortable
environment considering his sensory difficulties to reduce the risk of possible
anxiety, but complete avoidance can make the child even more sensitive to the .....
gradual exposure is very essential to reduce the sensitivity of the child.

Rewards can be used

Love of routines

Children and adults with autism may find it difficult to make sense of the world. The
world may appear to them a very confusing and unpredictable place.

To overcome the possible anxiety and fear of rapidly changing environment around,
they may:
  Prefer order and routines.
 Want to travel the same way to school, park or a takeaway etc.
 Dislike the change (e.g. changing house, school, any object, furniture, toy or
any other thing).
 Prefer to eat exactly the same food or wear the same cloths etc.

Some important consideration/ideas to help:

 Introduce change gradually

 Warn the child in advance about any change
 Give reason for that change
 Child’s love of routine can be used to /can be helpful in .......organizing the
child... managing.... in order....
 Use timetables to organise child’s day....


Special interests

Many children and adults with autism may have special interests of intense nature.
They are likely to become very upset if they are asked to stop doing their favourite
activity in order to do something else.

They may:

 Have intense interest in cars, trains, computers, a toy, a TV programme, an

animal etc.
 Talk at great length (hours...) about their favourite topic or interest
 Not realise that others are tired of listing or do not share the same degree of
interest
 Show great distress if their favourite toy/object has been taken from them


Some important consideration/ideas to help:

 Remember that.........may need some time to do his favourite

 Child’s special interest can be used as reward for desirable behaviour. For
example, if you want the child to perform certain activity ........ first brush your
teeth, then you’ll get your cars.

Dealing with inappropriate or bad behaviour:

Some children with autism may also have behaviour problems. Some commonly
asked questions about problematic/socially inappropriate behaviour are:
Q.1. Is it appropriate to stop the child with autism from an inappropriate behaviour?

Yes, it is very essential. Stopping children from bad behaviour/habit does not mean
that you are suppressing the child. Even if the child has ASD, he/she should not be
allowed to beat other children, run in the house naked, jump on the guests, spit all
over the house, throw things and food items all over the house, etc. Letting the child
do whatever he wants, can result in habit formation of socially unacceptable
behaviours.

Q.2. Is it appropriate to beat the child with autism for an inappropriate behaviour?

Beating a child does not solve the underlying problem/root cause of that undesirable
behaviour. The child may repeat the same bad behaviour at some other time, or may
start showing some other inappropriate and more challenging behaviour. Therefore,
beating should be avoided as much possible.

Research indicates that there is always some reason behind an action. If a child with
ASD is showing an undesirable behaviour, he may have difficulty communicating his
needs, little understanding of what is expected from him, anxiety of sitting with
guests, anxiety due to going in a gathering etc. the child with autism have problem
understanding the world around him. Therefore, his behaviour can be a result of
misunderstanding.

Effective way of reducing the inappropriate behaviour is to find out the root cause of
that behaviour and to address that cause.

Q.3. What are the possible triggers (reasons) of inappropriate behaviour?

 Anxiety: One possible reason of child’s misbehaviour can be anxiety. If the
child get stressed or tensed due to any reason (such as unpredictable or
uncomfortable environment, change, inappropriate communication etc.), it can
affect his behaviour.
 Change: another reason of child’s bad behaviour can be change. It may
include change of furniture, room, house, school, class, teacher, etc. It may
also include transition from one task to another, one activity to another,
vocation to term-time, etc.
 Misinterpretation of other’s behaviour: as the child with autism has
difficulty understanding other’s emotions and behaviours, he may
misunderstand some behaviours and may consider it against his interest.
 Inability to understand what is required from him: children with autism
may have poor imagination and observation skills. They may not understand
social rules and may find it hard to learn from observing others. They may not
know how to behave with guests, or how to behave in a super store, or may
not understand what parents want from them.
  Inability to communicate his needs properly: The child may not know how
to ask for a toy or biscuit for example, he may snatch or grab it from others.
Likewise, he may not be able to tell his parents that he want to go to a park for
example, and may start crying or throwing things, or beating others.
 Fear about what is going to happen: unpredictable environment can also
cause anxiety or fear in children with autism and can be a reason of bad
behaviour.
 Uncomfortable environment: As children with autism may have difficulties
related to senses, socialization, communication and imagination, they may
feel uncomfortable in certain environments. Social gatherings, noisy crowded
places, overload of sensory stimulus such as bright light, loud noises, strong
smell etc can be some examples of uncomfortable environment.
 Inability to perform a longer task, or focus on the whole of a task.

Q.4. What are the possible strategies to control the inappropriate behaviour?
(/////////Some important consideration/////////ideas to help)))
 Be patient: it may take time to change an inappropriate or bad behaviour of
the child. Don’t lose hope if the child doesn’t show improvements initially.
 Be consistent: whatever strategy you use to control child’s bad behaviour,
continue using it for some time. Don’t change strategies every day. (strategies
don’t work like magic stick. It takes time to change a habit.)
 Change your communication: Good communicating with children can solve
many problems. (Please see the suggestions discussed above under heading
of communication difficulties).
 Analyse behaviour: if the child show any bad behaviour (such as hitting
others, throwing things, crying, etc), try to observe him. Notice him that when
does he get upset and why? What is the reason behind that bad behaviour?
Find the reason, and try to remove that problem which becomes reason of
bad behaviour (/try to address the cause).
 Prepare for change: Tell the child in advance that you are going to change
the furniture, home, school, class etc. (social stories, structures or time tables
can be useful for it).
 Ensure autism friendly environment: Bright lights, loud noises, strong
smells and many other things can cause anxiety in children with autism. To
avoid bad behaviours of children with autism, the environment around them
should be free from such triggers and should be comfortable for them
 Use structures: Structures help children with autism understand what is
expected from them and also inform them about what is going to happen.
 Divide a longer task into small steps: For example, teaching the child to
wear a pant independently can be divided into three small steps, such as: put
legs into the pant, button the pant, zip it. Let the child learn each small task
one by one.
  Motivation: Children may find it hard to learn anything or change their habit.
Encourage them if they do something good. Appreciate their efforts. Make
them feel that they can do it.
 Rewards: The child should be given a reward on good behaviour or desirable
activity. In the beginning, the child may not understand social praise and may
not consider it a reward, such as ‘good work’ etc. Initially, child’s favourite toy
or activity can be used as reward. But while giving the reward, add social
praise as well to make the child familiar with it, for example, ‘good boy’, ‘good
work’, well done, etc.

Ideas to help siblings in accepting an ASD child in the family / acceptance of

an ASD child by his siblings/ Involving siblings/ what should I do to make
my ASD child ....

A child with ASD needs more time and care as compared to typically developing
children. Parent’s extra care may cause anxiety or anger in brothers and sisters of a
child with ASD and they may feel ignored at times.

This issue can be resolved if:

 Parents have balanced and positive approach for all children.

 Parents involve siblings in taking care of the ASD child.
 Parents help the siblings to feel that they are important and their role as carer
of their ASD brother/sister is appreciable.
 Siblings are given proper appreciation on helping their brother/sister with
ASD.


Siblings can help the child with ASD in many ways including socialization, self help
skills, interaction etc. Brothers and sisters can work as a role model for the child and
he may learn plenty of skills from them such as turn taking, playing games, tolerating
people around them, making friends, social interaction, self help skills etc.

Brief introduction of intervention approaches

There are plenty of treatments and intervention approaches that help in reducing
number of problems associated with ASD. Each individual with ASD show unique
pattern of behaviour, therefore it is hard to suggest only one therapy or treatment
that may benefit all individuals with ASD. Certain people may find one therapy or
treatment useful, while other may not. (or certain people with ASD may benefit from
one approach, while other may not/// one approach may work for one parson with
ASD, but may not work for another). It is important to select the approach that meets
the needs of the individual with ASD. For the purpose of information, brief
introduction of some of the treatments and therapies is added in this section.

Dietary intervention

Some children with autism may have allergy/ intolerance to certain type of foods.
Certain foods may have effects on their behaviour, mood, learning and digestive
system. Gluten and Casein are thought to have these effects. Gluten is a protein that
is found in wheat and other grains such as oats, barley etc. casein is a protein that is
found in milk and the products of milk such as yogurt, butter, cheese etc. For some
people with autism gluten-free, casein-free diet may prove useful, but for others it
may not benefit at all.

Biomedical intervention

There is no medicine that cures autism. However, some drugs may be used to treat
some related conditions such as hyperactivity, anxiety etc. Some vitamins, minerals
or food supplements are also used as a part of intervention.

Anti-depressants, anti-psychotic drugs or stimulant drugs may have some benefits

with a potential of harm as well. Dosage and side effects of the drugs should be
discussed with the practitioner if the child is put on medication.

Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children

(TEACCH)

TEACCH is famous intervention approach that is used worldwide. It focuses on

moulding the environment according to the needs of individuals with autism.
According to this approach, children with autism may have different style of learning.
They may not learn in the same way of typically developing children. Therefore, if
they are provided with appropriate conditions to learn in their own way, they may
learn more effectively without being stressed out.

In TEACCH, the schedules are used to tell the child what is going to happen and in
which order. The area where the child has to study or learn may also be segmented
into parts to minimise the outer distractions and also to specify/ clarify which area is
for which purpose. Work system is also a part of structure teaching that indicates
what the child has to do and how much. On the whole, this approach focuses on
making the environment more predictable and organised for children with autism.

Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA)

ABA is based on the theory that behaviours can be learnt if aided with/ followed by
appropriate reinforcement. The consequences of an action can either make
behaviour weak or strong. If the result of an action would be rewarding, then that will
increase the frequency of that behaviour/ action, and the repetition of behaviour may
lead to habit formation. Likewise, if the consequences of an action are negative, that
would reduce the repetition of the particular action which may result in breaking a
habit. Therefore the approach focuses on reinforcing the desired behaviours and
ignoring, re-directing or discouraging inappropriate behaviours.

Augmentative and Alternative communication (AAC)

Children with autism may find it hard to interact with other, to communicate for their
needs or to use language for this purpose. AAC are the methods that enhance the
communication or replace the conventional ways of communication. Picture
communication, choice boards, visual structures are examples of it.

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

PECS is a communication system that provides an alternative of language and also

helps the children with ASD to start the communication process.

In PECS, the child gives the picture of the food item or toy or anything he wants to
an adult. The adult in response to child’s request gives the requested food item or
toy to the child. This is likely to help them understand that instead of grabbing things,
there are other ways which are acceptable by their adults. This way they may learn
the way of communicating for their needs, and also the importance of
communication.

Social Stories

Children with autism may find it hard to learn from experience or to understand social
rules automatically. To help them fit in social settings, social stories are used. These
contain information about a social situation in a very easy format that children with
autism can understand. Social stories can be developed on any social setting, for
example ‘going to supermarket’, ‘attending Eid Prayer’, ‘attending school assembly’,
etc.

Speech and Language Therapy

Almost all children with autism have problem related to speech. Some are non-verbal
or have fairly limited speech; while, some others who speak well may have literal
understanding of the language. Speech and language therapy addresses the issues
related to language.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists help the children with autism with their daily living skills,
social skills, play skill etc. They focus on the individual needs or deficits of the child
and work with them to develop the essential skills.

Sensory Integration Therapy

Sensory Integration Therapy involves gentle exposure to sensory stimuli to help the
child overcome sensory difficulties. It may include variety of materials or activities
that may help in developing, strengthening and balancing the sensory system of the
child. Disco lights, bubble tubes, mirror balls, soothing music, vibrating cushions,
squeezing balls, water and soft play resources can be examples of materials used in
it. It may involve exposure to particular sensory stimuli according to child’s needs.
For example, for children who are sensitive to touch, handling material of different
texture can be included.