Autism Spectrum Disorder: Peering in from the outside

Observe the world around you (particularly a personal or news event unfolding) and reflect on the contextual lens yourself and others wear, the influence this may have on how the situation is perceived by various parties and how these factors might ultimately influence the outcomes from the event.

I have two friends whose children have been diagnosed with different types of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One of these friends had her child diagnosed at quite a young age and has been able to access early intervention programs (like AEIOU) which has greatly improved his developmental progress, to the point that it is considered that he will be functioning at the same level as a child who does not have this disorder within a few years. The other friends son has just entered high school and has not had access to any of these early intervention programs due to their non existence when he was younger. He is now considered too old to be able to access these programs.

The challenges each of my friends has had to face has been extremely varied due to the different levels of support each has received. While my first friend was able to access the early intervention programs which greatly assisted her sons developmental progress, my second friend has had years of difficult behaviour to cope with from her son, which has resulted in him not progressing very well at his schools and left her wondering how he is going to cope when he finally starts to attempt independence in five short years when (or if) he finishes high school.

For anyone that has not been exposed to children with ASD, the behaviour they display can appear like nothing more than that of a bratty, spoilt child. Prior to the diagnosis, that thought may have crossed my mind several times too. However, once I started to learn more about it, I realised that they just see and interact with the world differently to us. Their behaviour at times, is nothing more than a display of their frustrations at not being able to communicate their thoughts and feelings to others effectively.

While I now have a greater understanding of this disorder and the challenges they have faced, my first friends parents have chosen not to learn more about their grandchilds diagnosis and still percieve his behaviour to be nothing more than a result of bad parenting. Their other daughter has produced, what would be considered by society, "normal" children with no evident behavioural abnormalities. They are quite conservative people and I often wonder if they are choosing to ignore the situation that exists, hoping it will go away, or if they really do believe that the behaviour displayed by this child is due to a lack of discipline. Perhaps if they took the time to research ASD further, they would understand and be able to interact with their grandchild more effectively.

My friends situations have allowed me to see their realities from different perspectives and question my own perceptions of this condition over the years. The most important thing I think I have learnt, is that just because something looks a certain way, doesnt mean that there are not other factors involved that you may not be aware of.