What is Autism?
By Gail Gillingham Wylie

This list is an attempt to move away from concentrating on what we see is lacking or inappropriate when defining the condition of autism and focus on the positive characteristics which are common to most people with this diagnosis and which affect how we interact with them positively in the classroom.

A stress free autistic child:

• Is a happy, well-behaved child.
• Obeys all rules to the letter.
• Is a deep thinker.
• Is highly original creative in his/her thought process.
• Is hypercritical of his/her own behavior. Will automatically assume that anything that goes wrong is his/her fault.
• Has a natural wit and humor beyond his/her years.
• Is intensely curious and eager to learn.
• Is very independent from an early age.
• Is very caring and protective of all life forms.
• Has a one-track mind. Which leads to difficulty in interacting with others who are not on the same track and to our description that they perserverate or fixate on topics or objects that he/she finds interesting.
• Lives in the present.
• Is spiritual, often in ways beyond our understanding.
• May be limited in emotional response to Fear (the emotion that governs their lives if not brought under personal control) and Love (the spiritual celebration of joy for all creation). Emotional reactions displayed are aspects of, or responses to these two basic emotions. Fear gives rise to panic or anger while love becomes a calm peaceful state or is expressed as excitement.
• Very empathetic to the feelings of others. Often too overwhelmed empathetically to able to express it. So tuned in to the emotional states of others that their “lie detector apparatus” works without physical contact; proximity is all that is necessary. The emotional states of others are often confusing because they do not have personal experience of them.
• Their responses to expressions of sympathy, greed, jealousy, praise, envy and so on are often considered inappropriate because of this lack of understanding.
• Is blind to the meaning of facial expressions and body language of others.
• Needs to be specifically taught what they mean. Does not notice them without a lot of effort.
• Has only a literal interpretation of language. This leads to a limited understanding of the social use of language or the pragmatic aspects of language.
• Has only one way to talking to others and speaks to and treats everyone the same. This is often interpreted as being rude or cheeky
• Does not deliberately lie, but may appear to lie but his/her lack of understanding the relationship between cause and effect, by his/her literal interpretation of language and/or by voicing what he/she wished had happened instead of what actually did or because he/she is trying to meet your expectations by saying what he/she thinks you wish to hear due to past company.
• Likes people and enjoys the companionship of others, but only for short periods. Has no constant need to be around others and tends to prefer his/her own thoughts and interests for company.
• Will not deliberately harm others. If he/she accidentally causes harm then he/she will experience intense remorse for a long time after the event although he/she does not show this response immediately. Even harm caused during panic or anxiety attacks will be regretted or produce conflict as the child struggles with concept of who was to blame.
• Requires almost constant mental stimulation broken only by bouts of intense physical exercise to help calm the mind and release the mental energy when overly mentally stimulated by new knowledge or ideas. Intense physical exercise can also help to reduce stress. Does not deal with waiting or boredom well.
• If he/she does not have an interest to occupy his mind, mental energy can be converted quickly into mischievous acts. A mischievous twinkle in his/her eye will signal that he/she either is about to so something or has just done it.
• Is noncompetitive. If involved in sport, it is usually an individual event where his/her focus is on improving his/her own performance rather than on competing.
• Is an observer rather than a participant in most social or sports activities? May like to participate, but fear pain and/or rejection from experience.
• Is a night owl- prefers to sleep during the day, especially if photophobic (sensitive eyes).
• Is a willing helper, but needs to be specifically asked to help. Will interrupt this message literally.
• Likes to order and sort objects and facts. Plays with toys by lining them up or sorting them into categories. May collect unusual objects.
• Has poor short-term memory retention or recall but excellent long-term memory skills although long-term memory may lack a temporal component.
• Regularly talks aloud to him/herself unaware that he/she is vocalizing his thoughts or to assist him/her to think through a problem.
• Is hypersensitive to stimulation: both sensory and emotional which leads to higher levels of arousal that “normal” people in the same situation, and the need to protect oneself from over stimulation.

This leads to:

• Being hyperviligant to the world around him/her. Protection becomes the focus of the 'one track mind".
• Constantly analyses input from the environment trying to make sense out of his/her observations whether of others or his/her own reactions.
• Needs a well-structured and predictable environment to avoid the fear- response (insistence on sameness).
• Discomfort while sharing eye contact with another.
• Development of a variety of repetitive behaviors, which allow him/her, shut down the sensory system when over stimulated or bored.
• Extensive fine-motor difficulties due to sensitivity of the fingertips, which makes holding and controlling a pencil or doing other, related tasks extremely difficult and painful.
• May exhibit abnormal fear-responses to every day objects and/or people because of experience. On the other hand shows no fear or panic in dangerous or traumatic situations where these might be expected.
• Has difficulty switching attention so may be slow to respond or fail to hear correctly any verbal requests when his concentration is monopolized by an object or topic.
• May exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
• May be slow to develop self-help skills due to tactile sensitivity and movement disturbance problems.
• May have difficulty initiating any new activity unless he/she knows precisely what is required or has a model to follow. May appear to be deaf.¹

Note: Portions of this handout have been adapted from a speech prepared and presented by Carolyn Baird, BA (Hons) to the Newcastle-Hunter ADHD Support Group Meeting, and February 16, 2000 in Newcastle, New Zealand. Carolyn is a mother of our children who all have characteristics that place them well within the Autistic Spectrum, and had been diagnosed as having autism herself. She is the elected autistic representative on the Autism Mailing List hosted by St. John's University, and the owner of PAN-L, an international list that provides personal emotional support for relatives and individuals with autism or related disorders on the Internet. She is also co-list owner of Autinet (an international general autism discussion list in Ireland), and co-creator of OzAutsim List or autism related discussion and support for Australian and New Zealand residents. She developed the list of characteristics of autism based on discussion with people with autism and their families from all over the world. I have pulled the information together from throughout her speech, and added a number of items I have discovered through my years of experience in this field, and/or found documented elsewhere, especially in the area of reactions to sensory stimulation.