Jennifer Sladky
SPD 160
Article #1-Due 8/28/13

Autism Spectrum Disorders “Autistic spectrum disorders refer to a range of disorders related to the core disorder of autism and including Asperger’s syndrome” (Lewis 110-121). The ASDs have 3 things in common. They all have impairments in the areas of social and emotional understanding, all aspects of communication, and the flexibility in thinking and behavior. The actual core of autism has been acknowledged for 60 years. ASDs have not been recognized for as long as the core of autism but the base to the disorders have a solid genetic background and are very well established. The actual characteristics and basis for classifications of ASDs come into place where the functioning of the brain and development have been interfered with. Children that are not classified as having ASDs already have a hard time understanding other people’s emotions, but when they have been classified as having an ASD they can barely understand their own emotions and thoughts that are running through their own head. Their actions and communication skills are greatly hindered because they don’t know how to communicate what they are feeling or thinking, because a lot of times they don’t even understand it themselves. Some children with ASDs may be very closed off and will not look you in the eyes or communicate with you in any way because they are more on the ‘closed off’ side of the ASD, but then there are others who will constantly interact with you by looking you in the eyes, communicate with you vocally, and will even touch you. I have personally worked with children who are placed in opposite ends of the spectrum. I worked with a little boy in Africa this summer who would constantly touch you, look at you, sing to you, ask you thousands of questions, sit in your lap, hold onto your shirt or skirt if you were busy holding another child, and would even kiss me all over. He was classified as having an ASD along with ADHD. I have also worked with a little boy a few summers ago who was completely opposite of my little boy in Africa. This boy would not look anyone in the eyes, would not answer any questions, and would hardly even acknowledge that anyone else was around. After working with him for 3 days in a row, he finally started getting used to me being around him and could sense that I wasn’t like most other people who judge him or ignore he even existed. I kept talking to him even though he wasn’t responding to me, and then when I knew he wanted it, I would keep quiet so he could concentrate on the pictures that he was drawing. He had a beautiful gift of humming any song that came into his head and would be pitch perfect. He also was an artist. He would draw a picture of a cartoon character on his favorite movies or television shows all from memory. He would get all the detailing, shading, and spacing down perfectly without even looking at anything other than from his memory.
Each child with an ASD needs different