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The Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Historically, the classic "autistic" child has been viewed as having a severe emotional problem. Since the 1960's it has been observed that autistic labeled children have little or no speech, rarely display any effective awareness of people, and maintain a level of activity and engagement that has limited relationship to objects or events in the real world.Autism falls into two groups, those who have been delayed in maturation from birth and those with a history of regression.
Children diagnosed as "autistic" function within a very broad range. Many of these children look and act "typically" but may display repetitive behaviors such as rocking, humming, or repeating verbatim what is said to them (echolalia).
In extreme cases the child may demonstrate the behavior of a severely emotionally disturbed child. Such children are characterized by behavior that is either very hyper (active) or hypo (inactive); they can be destructive or self-destructive, or at times aggressive.
Autism - Sensory Dysfunction
From a neurodevelopment point of view, the brain appears to have severe trauma.Brain maps of autistic children show that the brain is flooded with too much stimulation.
We consider this trauma as the cause to sensory dysfunctions.
From our point of view, there is a strong indication that many of the "autistic" labeled children may suffer from environmental overload.
Sensory Dysfunction and Perception
How we see the world is determined by how our brain interprets information through our five senses. In "The Ultimate Stranger," by Carl Delacato, each sensory channel is described as being normal, hyper, hypo, or being disrupted by "white noise" or interference within the system.
Each sensory channel can be affected in a different way: For example, a child can be hypo-visual, "white noise" auditory, hypo to tastes and odors, and hyper-tactile. Many autistic labeled kids exhibit sensory dysfunctions. The most common pattern includes hyper-auditory, hypo-central vision, hyper-peripheral vision, hyper-touch, hyper-pressure and temperature, and hypo- taste and odor. This results in a pattern often termed as sensory agnosia, or an inability to attach meaning to sensory impressions.