Autism Step by Step: The ultimate guide for families

One of the deepest mysteries of autism has been the remarkable ability of most of these people to excel in their visual space ability. Although most people with autism are unable to tell us about their experience, in this chapter we will tell the experience of some who have done so and who have been the starting point for devising more effective strategies for early childhood education and care. We will narrate the cases of Jerry and Temple Grandin, they have pointed a before and after in the treatment of people with ASD. We will end the chapter with a list of highly recommended documentaries about people who knew how to tell us about their experiences, their feelings and their needs in facing the challenge of living with Autism.

Angel Riviere has been one of the most influential professional at an international level when developing theories about autism. Angel was a person who conveyed passion, commitment and love for his work in this field. In this chapter, we will review his most popular essay with the 20 principles about: What a person with autism would ask us if he or she could.

Theory of Mind is the ability to attribute subjective mental states to oneself and to others. This ability is crucial to the understanding of one’s own and other people’s behaviour. It is said that Autism Spectrum Disorders are strongly associated with impairments of Theory of Mind skills. In this chapter, we will see if this is true or we should consider more perspectives regarding this topic. 

In this chapter we will see the four dimentions of variation in the Autistic Spectrum decribed by Lorna Wing, an English Psychiatrist who had dedicated her life to the stydy and investigation of Autism since her daughter was diagnosed with this condition more than 60 years ago.

In this second section of contents, we will start by defining what is Early Attention in general, the objectives it pursues and the factors that differentiate it from Early Attention in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

In this chapter we explain the necessary conditions (or common principles) that we must consider when applying our therapies and our detail teaching of abilities, through the guidelines given for this reason by Angel Rivíere.

In this chapter we make a brief introduction on the three main areas, in which we will focus on psychological and educational therapies, the area of Social Skills, the area of Communication and Language and the area of Behaviour or challenging conducts. We will clearly explain the relationship between these three areas and then, in the following chapters, we will deeper explore each one of them.

Social Skills are the set of conducts that allow us to relate optimally with our environment and with other people. These conducts we learn little by little since birth, therefore, people with ASD can also learn them, only in a more explicit way. In this chapter we will detail step-by-step the basic level strategies that we have to follow to start working in this area.

In this first part of the course related to social skills, we will learn the most basic strategies to facilitate social relations in people wiith ASD. The strategies are focus on: attention, eye contact and taking turns.

In this chapter, which is the continuation of the previous one, we will continue to explain the strategies, at a slightly more advanced level, to work explicitly on the social skills related to the understanding of social situations.

Communication and Language is the area in which most innovations have occurred and is one of the central focus of psychological and educational intervention. In this chapter, we will explain in detail the types of non-verbal communication: instrumental communication, natural gestures, and the most relevant Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (AACS) in the autism field

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (AACS) are used for children with autism, often as stand-alone communication interventions for those who are minimally verbal. AACS can be a permanent addition to a person's communication or a temporary aid.

In this chapter we briefly describe the characteristics of the Benson Schaeffer’s Total Communication System, this system is based on rigorous and sequenced teaching, is very useful in people with ASD without oral language. Total communication encompasses signed speech and simultaneous communication whose goals are to achieve spontaneous communication through the signs.

One of the most widespread international systems for the treatment of autism in young children is PECS, (translated into Spanish as an Image Exchange Communication System.) In this chapter we will briefly review its characteristics.

In this chapter we will see one of the most known systems so far, the SPC, the Pictographic Communication System. This system is based on pictographic symbols that are simple drawings that are easy to understand and that closely resemble reality. Through this system we can make people with ASD communicate and express their needs, their feelings and emotions. We will also talk about the Boardmaker program and the graphic resources web site called ARASAAC.

In this chapter we will begin by sorting all the information above to know what to do with all the materials we have just seen. We will learn and comprehend how important visual information is to everyone. We will explain the characteristics of the TEACCH program which is a work program for people with ASD based on their abilities, interests and needs. By modifying and adapting their environment, following basic guidelines, progress is achieved and autonomy, self-determination and quality of life are acquired.

In this chapter we are going to describe and define what we mean by challenging conducts. In the same way we will understand why they originate, what is the purpose of all these conducts, what their function is and what factors we have to take into account to decrease this type of conduct.

Throughout this chapter we will learn from practice, with real examples the strategies we have to follow to prevent the emergence of challenging conducts. We again emphasize the importance that all the information that we present to a person with ASD must be visual, and to the point, that is the support through the different Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems.

Finally, in this last part of the behaviour block, we are going to give a series of practical recommendations for action, aspects that we have to take into account during the moments in which the defiant conduct has already been triggered and the crisis situation has been formed.

Nowadays there is an important delay since parents notice that something is not going in the way that it supposed to go relating to their child development. Sometimes, this time waiting for an Early Intervention can change the course of a person's life. Everybody who is related to a child development should know this warning signs in order to realize when somebody needs help as soon as possible.

Autism self-advocate Ron Sandison talks about his journey from receiving an autism diagnosis as a child in 1982 to becoming a professor of theology