Autism spectrum disorder Flashcards
Autism
Triad of disturbances
- Social
- language/communication
- Behavioural
4 quadrants - sensation
Low registration - high threshold - requires a lot of stimulus to get child to detect sensory information but response is passive
Sensation seeking - high threshold - more active strategy, constantly moving around
Sensory sensitivity - ow threshold with passive strategy. Tend to be sensitive to information but don’t do much about it
Sensation avoiding - low threshold - physically remove themselves from situation if they don’t like the stimulus
Sensation
Low registration = tolerate clothes being skewed (tactile), poor balance (vestibular), poor JPS (proprioception)
High registration = don’t want to be touched (tactile), motion sickness (vestibular), covering ears (auditory)
Adjusts posture
Postural difficulties are common - unbalanced weight of visual information
Visual disregard
Visual hypersensitivity
Tunes movement
Under-responsiveness can be seen in children with passive response to low registration
- lower physical activity, slower postural reactions
Over-responsiveness can be seen in children with active response types
- hyper vigilant behaviour (avoidance); rapid, ballistic postural reactions (seekers)
Integrates
Unbalanced weighting of certain stimuli (especially vision) can lead to altered posture and movement patterns
Over rides
Overweighting of visual stimuli can heighten ‘moving room’ affect - sensitive to being in a car
Overweighting of vestibular stimuli can heighten responses to head movements through space
Variety
Repetitive movements for sensory stimulation
- hand flapping
- running
- spinning
Ease
Can usually move freely
May have difficulties with coordinating movement or using sensory systems for efficient movements
Modulation
Sensory processing difficulties may lead to difficulty wth effectively controlling the force and timing of movements - amplitude of muscle contraction
Effectiveness
May show sensory avoidance of some activities
- FM interaction with certain textures
- GM function that involves rotational movements
May show problems in other activities due to pragmatic or social difficulties
Normal milestones
May reach all general milestones but with altered quality
Some children will show delayed and/or altered motor development
Timing
Poor sensory processing may contribute to poor motor control
Reduced eye contact and social reciprocity may contribute to poor timing in ball sports
Safety
Visual avoidance may lead to poor scanning environment, being caught off guard
Low registration/perception
- slow hazard identification - trips, falls
- slow/poor balance reactions
Behaviour regulation = act out against others in the environment
