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Assignment 378 Understand How to Support Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Conditions

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Outcome 1 Understand the main characteristics of autistic spectrum conditions Autism spectrum condition affects a range of different individuals and is a spectrum condition and affects people in a number of different ways. It is important when supporting an individual with autism to identify and recognise each individuals’ abilities – what they can do successfully, needs – what the individual needs support with, strengths and gifts – what the individual is good at, what they have a real talent in, and interests – what is motivating for the person. Autism has a range of diagnostic criteria. This was described by Wing and Gould (1979) as the Triad of Impairments. The triad consists of: * Problems with social interactions …show more content…

For example, a person may hear a sound but experience it as colour, i.e. they will “hear” the colour red. Associated with autism, there are a number of conditions comorbid to ASC. There is a high prevalence of epilepsy in individuals with autism, with a 1 in 4 prevalence, with seizures often starting in early childhood or adolescence. Tourette’s syndrome also has a higher prevalence within ASC then the neuro-typical population, with a prevalence of 6.5% compared to 2-3%. This may be due to abnormalities in dopamine, glutamate and serotonin abnormalities in autism. There is also a high proportion of individuals with learning difficulties, whether mild, moderate or severe, with a reporting from as low as 20% up to 70% prevalence. Outcome 2 Understand how autistic spectrum conditions can impact on the lives of individuals and those around them Autism is a varied and complex disorder which can affect individuals in a number of ways. ASC affects not only the individual with the diagnosis, but their whole family - parents, siblings and others close to them. Below are examples of how ASC can affect different people: Individual | How ASC can affect them | Individual diagnosed with ASC |

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