What is ASD

ASD is a condition that affects how a person perceives the world around them, many aspects of everyday life can therefore be much more challenging for a person with ASD. For example, shopping at the supermarket or going to a new or busy place.  All these activities include navigating a series of unpredictable situations, interacting and communicating with lots of different people, and coping with a variety of competing sensory experiences. 

A person living with ASD may therefore find the following challenging:

• Have delayed speech and/or difficulty communicating.
• Have very poor eye contact.
• Be very sensitive to things such as touch, noise, smell and light and colours (for example they may only wear certain clothes or block their ears at loud noises).
• Processing and understanding what is happening around them
• Coping with a change of routine or an unexpected situation
• Understanding and responding to the emotions of others and being able to interpret facial expressions and body language.

Because of the unique way a person with ASD’s mind works, they may also exhibit the following characteristics, which other people may find difficult to understand:

• An unusually strong interest in a specific topic or subject - this could be trains, dinosaurs or similar
• Repetitive actions or behaviours
• Non-typical emotional responses or expressions - smiling or laughing at sad news.
• Under or over reaction to specific sensory stimuli or an extreme dislike of something
• Restrictive eating habits; this may be only eating certain food or a need for all foods to be kept separate and not to mix.
• A need for strict routine or the development of habitual behaviour. Any changes to routine without prior warning may cause great upset.

However, we are all unique and individual and some people may have several signs and symptons and others just a few.

At Overseal Primary we have very skilled staff who can support children with ASD and help them to successfully integrate into school. We are also always happy to talk to parents and share ideas.

The links below may be useful in finding out more about ASD.