Characteristics of and Parenting an Autistic Child

Exceptional Child

Research Report

Due: June 16, 2005

Characteristics of and Parenting an Autistic Child

Autism is one of the most rapidly growing diagnosis of special needs today, and mysteriously continues to stump doctors, and the whole medical field to why it exactly occurs in these people. Many people have their ideas to why, but no one really knows for sure what causes this disability. When starting this research report I knew I wanted to focus on autism because I was interested in the people that struggle with this disability. I began my reading and research and found that there were so many more characteristics and spectrums of autism than I could of ever imagined. First, I will explore the different characteristics that autism has to better understand the people with this disability. Next, I had the priveledge of interviewing a parent of an autistic child. Through her interview we will be able to better understand what it is like to be a parent of an autistic child.

The Characteristics of autism are so broad and different for every person, but there are many characteristics that are similar in many cases. Cognitive characteristics for many autistic individuals are that they are very distractible, have narrow or focused attention spans, and lack perspective or point of view. I found it very interesting that 70% of autistic individuals are mentally retarded in one or both of verbal and nonverbal intelligence.

Communicative characteristics are severe delays in language development, nonverbal to highly verbal, also poor word retrieval, and pragmatics. Some may be receptive rather that expressive, and speak with a monotone voice. Along with communication characteristics, there is social and recreation characteristics, which include severe delays in understanding social relationships, inconsistent sensory responses, restrictions of activities and interests, and also an inappropriate display of emotion. In many cases autistic individuals have a lack of fear or knowledge of dangerous situations, they also may self-injure and have aggressive behaviors. There might be a high activity level and immature social skills, also a lack of independence, but dependence on rituals and routines, there is a definite insistence on sameness. There is also a lack of eye contact with others, and a lack of facial expression, body posture, and gestures.

The last category of characteristics is the sensory characteristics which includes the over sensitivity to touch, movements, sights, and sounds. There also seems to be an under reaction to pain, touch, and the environmental surroundings. The activity levels vary in degrees based on the individual, but in most cases there is motor coordination problems and poor self-concept.

Autism is so broad, and that is why I decided to narrow my research done to one individual because every person with autism is different from the other. From a mother's point of view, in this interview we will see what it is like to be a parent of an autistic child.

Q: How does it feel to be the parent of your child?

A: Well, life has changed a lot for me. Having a child is change enough in anyone's life. Having a child with autism is like having triplets, I imagine. I felt very overwhelmed by the constant reminders that Kaitlin is different. I felt ripped off that I didn't have a child who wanted to sit around and cuddle with me. I was frustrated when I tried to talk with her a she wouldn't look at me. I felt like I couldn't take her where other mom's could take their kids, for fear that she would create a scene and I would look like an unfit mother. It is very hard to have another person look at the way you interact with your child, knowing that they are judging you, and not want to justify your actions to them and list all of the characteristics of autism. Now that she is older, I find myself wanting to give her space and independence, and yet still wanting to keep her from making mistakes. It is a balancing act everyday. On a more postitive note though, I love being a mom. I love having a child who is so special. I love watching her grow up and knowing that she will be great despite her disability and because of it. I love having educators to help me make future plans for Katy. It is exciting to me to watch others becaome excited about her progress and future endeavors. I really feel that I don't have to go through this alone, which is a blessing to a single mother.

Q: What characteristics does your child have?

A: In rems of her level of functioning, Katy is in the middle of the spectrum. She does have some academic

and communication skills, but also has behavioral issues. In school she learned to speak with the help of the P.E.C.S. program. Now she is able to speak in short sentences, but still requires prompting. She is also very distractable and often perseverates on objects or ideas. When she is angry or frustrated, sometimes her behavios get the best of her. She has been known to bite herself, bite others, and run off. As she has gotten older, though, the incidents of these behaviors has decreased. She doesn't have a lot of friends, but not because they don't want to hang out with her. There are plenty of people who would like to get