|
Parallel Worlds - Created by Differences in Sensory Perception - Page 3© Olga Bogdashina
Page 3
Nov 22, 2002
Likewise we never find it strange or bizarre if the blind child touches things to recognize them, we should not demand from a child whose sensory perceptual problems are not straightforwardly visible to 'behave himself' and 'stop mouthing and smelling objects' (when he tries to recognize things). We accept that we cannot cure blindness and we do not waste time and effort to teach a visually impaired child to recognize colors. We see our task to help this child function using compensatory strategies, and adjusting the environment to make it easier for him to orient in space. We accept and respect his disability that, if appropriately addressed, does not interfere with the quality of life. Let us do the same for our autistic children and try to imagine what it is like to see through their eyes, to hear through their ears, etc. It is crucial to understand how the qualitative differences of sensory perception associated with autism affect each particular child. Often it is not the treatment and the number of hours you work with your child, but in 'what perceptual world' you both are, i.e. whether you are in one and the same perceptual world or in two parallel ones. Understanding each particular person's specific difficulties and how they may affect this person's functioning is vital in order to adjust environment and adopt methods and strategies to help the person function in the community. What makes the matter even more complicated, is that no two autistic people appear to have exactly the same patterns of sensory-perceptual experiences. In the next few articles we will discuss the most commonly reported perceptual phenomena in autism. References Delacato, C. (1974). The Ultimate Stranger: The autistic child. Noveto, CA: Academic Therapy Publications. Grandin, T. (1996). Thinking in Pictures. Vintage Books.
Go To Page:
1
2
3
The copyright of the article Parallel Worlds - Created by Differences in Sensory Perception - Page 3 in Autistic Behaviour is owned by . Permission to republish Parallel Worlds - Created by Differences in Sensory Perception - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
In response to message posted by olga202:
Hi Olga.
My grandson has recently been diagnosed as autistic, I myself have worked with y ...
|
In response to message posted by AT7:
Olga, My 7 year old grandson has Asperger's Syndrome. It is related to autism, so we are ...
|
For the first time I started to see 'into' the world of autism after reading your article. You managed to paint a very clear picture of the different ways autistic people feel. I now look at the autis ...
|
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to
Olga Bogdashina's
Autistic Behaviour topic, please visit the Discussions page.
|
