If we think of an autistic child, we can get carried away by the most common trait of this disorder: shyness. Immediately one thinks of an eccentric person, immersed in his reality, who does not play or talk to anyone. The person ignores the rest of the world, including their parents and immediate family, however, knowing how to behave with an autistic person is very important.
Autism is a widespread developmental disorder. It affects the person throughout their life and develops before age 3. According to DSM-5, it is characterized by differences in communication and social relations, changing patterns of behavior and interests, and limited, repetitive and stereotypical activities.
- People with this type of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from a well-known mental blindness.
- A term based on the theory of the mind.
- Which refers to the inability to attribute mental states to oneself and others.
- Closely related to lack of empathy.
- In other words.
- They cannot read or express their own emotions.
Therefore, patience and understanding are fundamental to relating to an autistic person, to be able to socialize with them it is essential that you explain how you feel and why your emotions.
If you can establish a good connection with the autistic child or adult, your introversion, lack of social reciprocity, and emotional responses can decrease and encourage interaction.
People with autism often have a strong sense of justice and can even push it to the extreme. Let’s look at an example, we took a teenager who suffered from this disorder to the show of his favorite artist, however, there is a long queue to enter the room.
This teenager may think he’s at the top of the line, not at the end, even if he was the last. That’s because he’s a number one fan, hidden motives, no regrets. But should we keep in mind that, for him, it’s not about breaking the line?It’s just the fairest thing.
Therefore, the person accompanying the teenager needs a lot of tolerance and patience to explain that when you get to a new place, you have to go to the end of the line, explaining how adapting this social rule to its values, can make great progress.
Another peculiarity of autism is the concern to preserve the invariance of the environment. Due to their hypersensitivity to change, the person may feel embarrassed by simple changes.
These are irrelevant or very subtle changes for most people, but not for the autistic person. For example, they can be uncomfortable if the curtains are open or when your chair is away from the table.
Introducing or explaining these small changes in your environment is critical, if you don’t warn or ask the person about the changes, you can overreact and even get injured.
This hypersensitivity is closely related to the importance of routine to these people.
In fact, it is often a crucial aspect of your life, without this the difficulty of establishing social relationships increases exponentially, so when it comes to an autistic person it is necessary to take into account their customs and activities. You must respect your time, your space and the way you execute them.
Approximately 60% of people with autism have an intellectual citation of less than 50, showing significant intellectual deficits.
However, it is also true that these children get better test results that measure manipulation or visuospatial skills, and also have automatic memory.
Self-stimulating behavior (repetitive and stereotypical) is a characteristic symptom of this type of disorder, for example, shaking hands or shaking hands, overlooking objects, always wearing the same clothes, showing a constant obsession with talking about the same subject or repeating words. you’ve heard (echolalie).
These behaviors are persistent and, over time, tend to get worse; its function is to provide the child with sensory or kinesthetic feedback, but beware!Because to properly relate to an autistic person, it is necessary to take into account that cutting or interfering in these moments of automation can have the opposite effect.
It is more practical to systematically ignore them or reinforce other behaviors that motivate the person.
As we’ve seen in this article, it’s hard to maintain proper social interaction with an autistic person, so knowing this disorder in depth is the first desirable requirement for anyone who wants to establish an emotional connection or a good connection with an autistic person.