Vinay is a 14-year-old on the Autism Spectrum. He is non speaking and communicates using the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). He has problems with both gross and fine motor skills. He displays attention and hyperactivity issues. His parents and teachers need to work hard on keeping him engaged. Reading and writing is a problem for him. The focus right now is on self help skills, on giving him the quality of life that will help him be independent. He needs to be challenged mentally through situations where he needs to solve problems.

Contrast Rohit with Vinay, who is also a 14-year-old on the Autism Spectrum. He studies in a regular school and is doing fairly well. He scored 70 per cent in the last exam. He also may have some attention problems. He finds only Math and Science difficult and hence needs some remedial intervention for this. Otherwise, he is independent and engages in reasonably good conversations. At present, we are working on emotional sharing and understanding the true meaning of friendship.
Both boys were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. They share a common diagnosis and yet appear so different from each other.

How can this be? How can they both be autistic and yet so different from each other?
When we think of a child who is non speaking and has problems with fine and gross motor skills, we assume the person has intellectual disability.

IQ tests don’t make it easier for us to diagnose autism. A child may be unwilling to perform in front of another person of may just be having a rough day. Besides, if we go by the theory of multiple intelligences, then each child may have a different form of intelligence.

In order to capture the full range of abilities and talents that people possess, Gardner theorizes that people do not have just an intellectual capacity, but have many kinds of intelligence, including musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual, and linguistic intelligences.

Dr Harvard Gardner

I’m interested in Dr Harvard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, as my son (Mohit) and several of my students have shown me that they learn differently. They see the world differently. They may be blessed with an intelligence that is difficult for us to fathom with our limited view of life.

This is the reason I don’t agree with high and low functioning autism. It’s disrespectful to our children.

I have learned about the Core deficits of autism from my teacher, Dr Steven Gutstein (Founder RDI Connect)

I believe in the theory of core deficits and co occurring conditions.
Here’s something for you to think about.

• Does your child understand his/her role in a situation without being explicitly told what to do?
In an emotionally charged situation, can your child calm himself down, with your support? (Co regulation)

 

 

• Can your child stop himself or herself from inhibiting a harmful action or an obsessive thought process? (Self Regulation)

• Many functions are related to your child feeling ‘competent’ or good about himself in a situation.
This leads to the building up of self. It gives the child personal agency. To be successful, our children need to feel competent.
Does your child feel competent? (Competence Development)

• Does your child understand what he needs to focus on at any given point of time, when there are multiple things happening? Can your child shift attention quickly when things are in a state of flux?
(Joint Attention)

• Does your child understand the impact of her actions on you? Does she take actions to repair the effect?
For example: your child may repeat the same thing 10 times, exhausting you in the process. Does she understand why she needs to stop and the impact it has on you? (Emotional Responsibility)

All autistic individuals share core areas of deficit. Both Vinay and Rohit manifest the core deficits, differently.

We’ve also got to consider Co occurring Conditions.
• Autism can be accompanied by other conditions. These are called ‘co-occurring conditions’.
• Co-occurring conditions can appear at any time during childhood. Some might not appear until later in adolescence or adulthood.

Some examples of co occurring conditions are- speech and language delays, seizures, anxiety, attentions deficit, clinical depression, Down’s syndrome, OCD, sleep issues, fine and gross motor issues, developmental delays.

If you now look at Vinay and Rohit with the lens of core deficits and co occurring conditions, you’ll see that Vinay has more co occurring conditions than Rohit.
They both manifest the core deficits- but in a different manner.

Dr Stephen Shore, an autism advocate who is on the spectrum, said, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Individuals diagnosed with ASD present with unique strengths and difficulties and experience characteristics of their disability in different ways.

 

 

It makes much more sense to understand how the core deficits and co occurring conditions play out in your child’s life.

The message I want to leave you with is a message of hope.
Believe in your child. Presume competence – always.

 

Your child is waiting for you. How long will you make him/her wait?