Lesson 2: Behaviour
In the last lesson, we briefly went through what things can be different when you have autism. In lesson 2, we will address behaviours, interests and common everyday challenges that may come up.
Cognition
In this lesson, we will start by talking about cognition.
Cognitive abilities may be impacted in people with autism. For example, it might be difficult to see things from other people’s perspectives. In this video, we talk more about why that is.
Remember!
Cognition is, among other things, how we think and learn things.
- Planning and flexibility may be difficult.
- It can be difficult to sort out what is less important in a given context.
- Handling complex social situations can be very energy intensive.
Cognition and cognitive abilities.pdf
Perception
Perception involves how you interpret different sensory impressions and how they interact. In this video, you will learn more about that.
Remember!
- People with autism may experience sensory impressions with much greater or much less intensity than other people.
- The experience of your own body and sense of balance may be different.
Perception differences
People with autism often perceive things differently. This means they may react strongly, for example to a flashing light or the sound of a vacuum cleaner. In this video, you will find more examples of what perception differences can lead to.
Remember!
Perception differences are common with autism.
This can lead to
- sound, light, taste, and smells being experienced differently
- wanting to lie down and eat
- getting caught up in the details, but missing the big picture
- having a delayed reaction to sensory impressions
- being sensitive to new clothes or different kinds of touch
- hypersensitivity and/or hyposensitivity to heat or cold.
Adapt the environment
Because people with autism may have perception differences, it is important to adapt the environment. In this video, we explain why.
Remember!
Adapt the environment to the child instead of trying to change the child!
Social perception
Someone with autism may have a harder time handling situations with lots of sensory input. With social interactions, you have to be able to interpret both sensory impressions and others’ signals at the same time. In this video, you will learn more about how this is connected.
Remember!
Social interactions can be very exhausting and energy-intensive for people with autism. Misunderstandings can occur easily, when they have to quickly perceive, interpret and react to others’ signals.
Examples of situations
Perception and behaviour
Children with autism don’t have a ‘social autopilot’. In this video, we talk more about what that means.
Remember!
People with autism don’t always experience a need to do what everyone else is doing or fit in. As a result, there may be situations where they react in a way that others around them did not expect.
Understanding the child’s perception differences can make it easier to understand their reactions and behaviours.
Common behaviours
In this video, we go through what behaviours are common with autism.
Remember!
It is common for people with autism to have special interests, which can be an asset for motivating the child in their schoolwork, for example.
Daily challenges
In this video, we go through daily challenges connected to behaviour.
Remember!
Try to understand what is behind your child’s behaviour. This makes it easier to adjust the surroundings.
Don’t forget that reactions may arrive later than expected, so think about what happened before the child’s reaction.
It is common for daily challenges to increase in situations where the child does not really know what is expected, for example in new situations. So try to prepare your child to the best of your ability for new events.
Examples of everyday challenges
Going to bed or conflicts of interest in families are examples of daily challenges. In this video, you will find examples of how to handle these.
Remember!
On holidays or when travelling, it is good to try to prepare your child as best you can by explaining the following:
- Where are we going to be?
- When will we go there?
- How will we get there?
- What will we do when we arrive?
- Who will I be with?
Examples of everyday challenges.pdf
Stress cup
The stress cup illustrates how different factors might affect someone with autism. In the video, we go through how different events in the morning can cause the cup to overflow.
Remember!
A person who has autism may sometimes be impacted by different factors than someone who does not have autism.
To some extent, all parents must plan and be a step ahead in order to avoid conflict. This is even more necessary for parents of children with autism. If the planning goes well, it also makes it easier for you to stay calm.
To reduce the risk of the “stress cup overflowing” during your morning routine, you can do the following:
- Prevent, for example by laying out clothes the night before.
- Change, for example by showering at night instead of in the morning.
- Clarify, for example by having a schedule of what will be done in the morning.
Reasonable expectations
In this video, we talk about why it is important to have a balance between support and challenge.
Remember!
Provocative behaviours often indicate an imbalance between support and challenge. In that case, take a step back to gain a better understanding of your child’s reaction.
Shared problem-solving
In this video, you will see a roleplay in which we show how shared problem-solving can work.
Remember!
It helps to achieve sustainable solutions to a problem if your child is part of coming up with finding solutions.
Parents explain
Living with the diagnosis
What is it like for your child to live with the diagnosis? Are there foods you avoid? Does your child excel in other ways?
Spending time with others
Hear parents talk about what social interaction is like.
Conclusion lesson 2
Great work!
You’re finished with the second lesson!
During the webinar/follow-up, we will discuss what you’ve gone through so far in this parents class.
Consider
We have talked about how reality can be perceived differently for someone with autism. You have also received examples of how it can impact daily life for the child. All children are different and have varying degrees of ease or difficulty in different situations.
- What is particularly challenging for your family?
- Are there specific situations that your child finds difficult?
- What might cause that?
Lesson content
If you would rather read the content of the videos from lesson 2, you can click on the document below.