I’ve mentioned again and again the importance of creating one-on-one relationships with campers, and that usually involves getting down to their level. This is easy with most children, who I will refer to as “neurotypical,” but it’s a little bit more difficult to develop relationships with children who have Asperger’s Syndrome or are somewhere on the High Functioning Autism spectrum. (To clarify, when I refer to children with Autism, I am referring to children on the High Functioning Autism spectrum, who are more independent, as opposed to children on the Low Functioning Autism spectrum, who would need more individualized care.) Autistic children function differently from neurotypical children, and it is extremely important to understand these differences in order to best cater to their individual needs.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, Autism is a “neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication and markedly restricted/repetitive behaviors and interests” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). When working with young children, it is often more difficult to determine if they are autistic because children develop so differently. However, in my personal experience, I have been able to pinpoint a few tell-tale signs of Autism. Although every child with Autism is different, they typically like to be off by themselves and may have difficulty interacting with other children because they cannot always pick up on social cues. Additionally, many children with Autism have a very nuanced and specific interest that they know a lot about. For example, I have a camper who is absolutely obsessed with buses. He loves sitting in the driver’s seat, talking with bus drivers, and inspecting every bus he sees. If I don’t know exactly where he is at a given moment, and there is a bus nearby, I can almost always guarantee that he is on or around that bus. With that said, these characteristics are only visible from the outside in. The first step to working with children with Autism is to understand where they are coming from. According to Kim Martin, an assistant at the University of Maryland Autism Research Center, “A child with High Functioning Autism faces a heightened sensory system. Lights are brighter, sounds are louder, and clothes have a more intense feel.” Being mindful of this heightened sensory system, it is important to understand that children with Autism may frequently feel overwhelmed by their internal feelings, and this isn’t even taking their external social interactions into account. For this reason, children with Autism need extra space and may require some time to be alone. This time is crucial for them to collect themselves and calm down, and camp counselors should be aware of this necessity. (Obviously, it is important to establish boundaries, such as telling them that they must be able to see you at all times, so that you can keep an eye on them.) When children with Autism feel ready, they will come back to you and rejoin their group. Furthermore, even though children with Autism have difficult times interacting with others, it is extremely important that they receive a sense of interaction and belonging on a one-on-one and group level. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to find out what it is that they love. I have found that the best way to approach them is while they are alone. I like to sit at a far-enough distance, so that they do not feel overwhelmed by my presence and ask them what it is that they love. (Of course, some children like being stubborn, and then I like to go the “What do you hate?” route and make my way up from there.) Children with Autism are similar to neurotypical children in the sense that they both love to talk about their interests. However, as Ilya Zhitomirskiy, a fifth-year University of Maryland Psychology student with Asperger’s Syndrome puts it, “Most people are like foxes from the fable of the fox and the hedgehog, and they know a little about everything. People with Asperger’s—they’re hedgehogs.” (The fox in the fable can see the larger picture, but the hedgehog is only able to see one focus.) It is also very important that children with Autism are exposed to group social interaction, so that they can become more comfortable with it, as it is a skill they will spend the rest of their life mastering. It is a counselor’s job to facilitate these interactions and to ensure that the group includes everyone. At the same time, however, campers should know that the child with Autism in their group functions a little bit differently than they do. (This creates a sense of transparency that I briefly discussed in the last post, and it teaches children to treat others how they would like to be treated, even if they are different from them.) With that in mind, it is likely that some neurotypical campers will try to pick on a camper with Autism because they seem different. (Stay tuned for a post on how to prevent and deal with bullying in the near future!) Because children with Autism are not able to pick up on social cues as easily, they will likely be unaware of any bullying that is going on, which will create even more reason for neurotypical children to want to bully them. According to Ilya, “They may not know the normal social conventions, and they might not know if normal people are trying to take advantage of them.” (For this reason, even subtle sarcasm should be avoided when working with children with Autism because they will likely take it literally.) On top of everything, the most important thing to remember is that children with Autism are still children, just like every other camper. They may function a little bit differently from the neurotypical campers, but they still have the same basic needs and desires as everyone else. In the long run, kids are just kids, no matter what the American Psychiatric Association says about them! I’ve found it’s helpful to summarize the points I made throughout the post at the bottom, so here they are!
Thanks for reading! Logan *P.S. During my interview process, I learned that Asperger’s Syndrome was recently put under the category of Autism Spectrum Disorder, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s 5th Edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is why I wrote my post about High Functioning Autism instead of Asperger’s Syndrome. Additionally, I was unable to include everything I learned during the interview process because it would be WAY too much information, but I would be happy to discuss more with anyone who is interested! ***Big thank you to Kim Martin and Ilya Zhitomirskiy for taking the time to let me interview them!***
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Logan DechterUniversity of Maryland student by fall and spring, camp counselor by summer. Archives
February 2018
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