Education beating Autism

The word ‘stress’ has a negative connotation for most people. Stress is anything that thrills us,worries us, scares us or threatens us. Stress can be a strong motivator and energizer at the appropriate intensity.

With too little stress or energy, a person may feel ‘bored’. For the child with autism, if the arousal drops below an optimal level, he will likely seek stimulation from other sources to keep himself alert. It may be in appropriate or inappropriate ways, for example, he may withdraw, start chewing on his shirt or poke another child.
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There has been increasing discussion of autism as being less a disability than a ‘cognitive style’ or ‘learning difference’. Simon Baron-Cohen (2000) cited 12 differences in children with autism to support his argument that “behavior in Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism is not better or worse than that seen in typical development” (p.490); it is simply different.The list includes:

• the child spends more time involved with objects and physical systems than with people
• the child communicates less than other children do
• the child tends to follow his own desires and beliefs rather than paying attention to or being easily influenced by others’ desires and beliefs Read the rest of this entry »