Autismvoice

What is Autism? The Core Deficit in Autism Spectrum Disorders

sandrasinclair — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 17:00:00 -0500

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to what autism and autism spectrum disorders actually are. It's understandable, because persons on the autism spectrum can be so individually different. Some cannot talk. Some talk early. Some are highly intelligent, others have some degree of mental retardation. Some have extreme sensory issues and some don't. Some have motor planning problems, and some are very athletic. And the list goes on. So with all of these differences between individuals, what do these people have in common?

Regardless of diagnosis - Asperger's Syndrome, PDD, PDD-NOS, Autism or any other autism spectrum disorder, what all persons with autism spectrum disorders seem to have in common is their core deficit.

Autism spectrum disorders arise from a neurological condition; a weakened area that seems to be located somewhere along the pathway that runs from the prefrontal cortex to the hippocampus of the brain. No one yet knows definitively what causes this condition. All individuals on the autism spectrum have this weakened pathway, which results in the following core deficits:

Deficits in: comparative thought and interpretation, flexibility and adaptability to change, creative thought, decision-making, judgment, and memory of past positive feelings about events.

In typical individuals, this pathway creates a hierarchy of comparison, and interprets everything we see, hear, do and feel. It compares one thing to another, compares past to present situations, compares how we felt before to now, separates important from the unimportant, and then uses all of that information to judge situations and come up with with unique solutions.

Typical people spend most of the day using this part of their brain effortlessly, sailing through thousands of little moment-to-moment decisions with ease. But for a person on the autism spectrum, all of those tiny moment to moment decisions can be quite difficult and often scary.

Because of the weakened brain pathway, individuals on the autism spectrum have a limited ability to compare, interpret and solve new situations. As a result, they remain tied to using solutions they already know, and have limited ability to deal with new or changing situations.

Decision-making and judgment abilites that most of us take for granted, such deciding which way to go to the store today, interpreting and understanding the actions of other people, or even figuring out how near or far to walk next to someone often cause confusion and fear in a person with an autism spectrum disorder.

As a result, the world often seems chaotic and scary to individuals on the spectrum, and other people seem to act in abrupt and unexpected ways that are just impossible for them to understand.

To try to control some of this chaos and keep things predictable, autistic individuals tend to rely heavily on formulas and repetitive sequences to get through their day.

These sequences and formulas rely on a different part of the brain that usually functions quite well in persons on the autism spectrum. It's the area of the brain that runs our "red = stop, green = go", "2+2=4" type thinking - very formulaic, very predictable , and very absolute thought. Unfortunately, this area of the brain is unable to compare, interpret, adapt, or see possiblities.

Of course when faced with new or changing situations, when most formulas won't work, persons on the spectrum often fall apart, out of fear of the unknown. Most of the tantrums, escape, or aggressive behaviors that we see at these times are usually "fight or flight" responses, motivated out of fear, not from being stubborn, manipulative or "bad".

One of the reasons Relationship Development Intervention is effective is because it addresses this pathway directly, by using different activities to exercise and strengthen it, much like what we do for other persons with weak or damaged brain pathways, such as persons with stroke or head injury, etc.

For more information about Relationship Development Intervention, visit http://www.rdiconnect.com. You can also read my article on RDI or listen to the podcast "What is RDI?" - Sandra Sinclair, www.autismvoice.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Language Use in RDI

sandrasinclair — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:52:02 -0400

MP3 File

This radio show podcast is about language use in RDI and why you limit some language in the early stages. The podcast also covers what RDI can look like. - Sandra Sinclair, www.autismvoice.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

Teaching Conversation

sandrasinclair — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:28:09 -0400

MP3 File

This radio show is all about teaching conversation to children with autism by using a declarative communication style. - Sandra Sinclair, www.autismvoice.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

What is RDI?

sandrasinclair — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:13:44 -0400

MP3 File

This radio show is about RDI, Relationship Development Intervention - what this intervention does, and also helps to clear up the difference between the core issues of autism and the co-occurring conditions that often appear alongside autism. - Sandra Sinclair, www.autismvoice.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.

RDI is for All Ages

sandrasinclair — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 18:05:24 -0400

I think the idea of a "critical period" for learning and brain development is a silly, outdated notion, so I was very happy to see Dr Gutstein's quotable on the rdiconnect newsletter this week. In it, he said that he and most modern neurological researchers don't accept the idea of the 'critical period'. "We outright reject the myth that if certain abilities are not developed by a certain age it is too late. There is no evidence in autism to support this." You can read further on www.rdiconnect.com.

Isn't that amazing? It's incredible to me how these ideas get started and just spread around, like urban myths. I don't know who said we had reached our brain potential by the age of five, but boy, that's an idea whose time came and went about 30 years ago. Just let it go, please!

By the way, how could a stroke victim possibly rebuild a new brain pathway if this was the case? We all know that stroke victims can rebuild new brain pathways through therapy and special exercises well into old age. (aka over the age of five). -Sandra Sinclair

What is RDI? - Relationship Development Intervention

sandrasinclair — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 21:59:47 -0400

Relationship Development Intervention, or RDI, is an intervention created by Drs Steve Gutstein and Rachelle Sheely that focuses on the core issues of autism, such as communication, relationship abilities, creative thinking, higher level thought, and flexibility.

RDI rebuilds the brain pathway that is weak in autism by using various games and activities. It's done throughout the day with regular everyday activities, and also via sessions specific to RDI activities.

RDI can be done with almost all children and adults on the autism spectrum, regardless of level of functioning, age, or verbal abilities. In fact, nonverbal children often do very well with this method, because language does not present an obstacle in the early stages.

This is one of my favorite interventions, because it doesn't "skirt around" the central issues of autism by just building other compensatory skills, but rather, deals with these central issues quite directly. This very different approach looks very promising for the future of autism. Website: www.rdiconnect.com

- Sandra Sinclair, Autismvoice.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.