1. February 13, 2013
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2. 1. Old and New Classifications
2. Verbal vs. Performance Abilities
3. Executive function
4. Recent research in the news – is it accurate?
5. Tips for working with students
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3.  Autistic Disorder
 Asperger’s Disorder
 Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD)
 Pervasive Developmental Disorder (somewhat rare)
 Rett’s Disorder (rare)
 Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (rare)
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4. MORE LESS
SEVERE SEVERE
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5. *Disturbances in social relationships
*Difficulties with communication
*Unusual and repetitive interests and behaviors
*Deficient in executive functioning: trouble with
prioritization, impulse control, attention,
retention, organization
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6. Frontal
Posterior
Systems or object orientated not people
orientated
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7. Baron-Cohen – Autism Research Centre
Cambridge University
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8. Autistic Disorder Asperger’s Disorder Nonverbal Learning
Disabilities
Strong in performance Weak in performance Weak in performance
abilities abilities abilities
Weak in verbal tasks Strong in verbal tasks Strong in verbal tasks
Content to be loners Seek out social Seek out social
interaction, little success interaction, little success
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9. Subtests of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Purpose: illustrate the testing our students endure
Help understand performance vs. verbal abilities
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10. 29 Questions
Measures: general information one has acquired
in his/her culture
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11. Part 1: 3-7 digits are reproduced
Part 2: 3-7 digits are reproduced backwards
Measures: attention, concentration, mental control
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12. 35 words
Measures: degree of learning, comprehension,
expression
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13. 14 problems
Measures: concentration, mental math ability
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14. 14 items that ask what way 2 things are alike
Measures: Abstract verbal reasoning
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15. www.beaconcollege.edu

16. 20 cards
Measures: ability to perceive visual details
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17. 9 tasks
Measures: nonverbal abstract processing,
problem solving
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18. 26 items
Measures: inductive reasoning, nonverbal
abstract problem solving
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19. 26 items
Measures: spatial reasoning
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20. 27 items
Measures: Quantitative and logical reasoning
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21.  Summary
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22.  No 2 people display the same problems to the
same degree or in the same way
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23. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
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24. Called context blindness
Have social skills but cannot use them in all
situations
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25.  Not one single thing
 Believed to be an element of executive
dysfunction
 Low energy and being out of touch with one’s
body and emotions
 Difficulty in changing gears
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26.  Difficulty starting things if stopped
 Difficulty in stopping things started
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27.  Might be able to do something easily one day
but run up against severe inertia with the
same task the next day
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28. Autism isn’t something constant like blindness or
deafness but rather something variable, more like
multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, or lupus. What
we can do one day, we can’t do every day. What
we can’t do one day, we might be able to do on
another.
www.unstrangemind.wordpress.com
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29.  Journal of Child Psychology and
Psychiatry, January 2013
 News media reporting children can “recover”
 Behavioral therapy early in life
 Deborah Fein of University of Connecticut
 n= 34
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30.  “Higher cognitive functioning and somewhat
milder initial symptoms”
 Parent reports that participants “had typically
developed friends”
 20% reported impairment in nonverbal social
interaction
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31.  3 - parent completion surveys
 1 - clinician observing and scoring
 1 - IQ test
 1 - handedness test (left handedness is more
common in ASD)
 2 - facial recognition and language
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32. Statement from the Autistic Self Advocacy
Network (ASAN)
Autism is a natural part of the human condition
and not something to recover from or eliminate.
The goal of autism research should be to create
happy Autistic people, not to encourage ‘passing
for non-Autistic’ without regard to the impact on
our quality of life.
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33.  Every difficulty or issue cannot be “fixed”
 Most important interventions are patience
and being positive
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34.  Reinforce turn-taking when speaking with
others
 Reinforce cues for when to
reply, interrupt, listen, change the topic, and
end the conversation
 Wait longer than you usually would for an
answer
 Make the same point several different ways
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35.  Provide oral material in written form as well
 Explain and point out the signals and clues
when a person is using sarcasm
 When showing movies use closed captioning
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36.  Remind often of assignments and due dates
 If frequently forgetting materials, encourage
student to use peer assistance
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37.  Do not give false praise
 Provide
positive, explicit, appropriate, accurate, and
specific praise
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38.  Normal levels of auditory and visual input
can be perceived as too much or too little
 Keep the level of sensory stimulation within
the student’s ability to cope
 Consider developing a crash room for
students with sensory overload
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39.  Resistance to change is usually an indication
of stress
 Explain fully what the change entails
 Be as consistent as possible
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40. Accept, support and understand autism as diversity
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