Navigating ASD: Understanding Autism and Learning Difficulties

Autism, formally known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition that is somewhat common. However, it isn’t well-understood by the general public. It is crucial to distinguish autism from learning disabilities, as these are often confused. Autism is categorized as a neurodevelopmental disorder, while learning disabilities impact someone’s ability to understand concepts, write, read, retain information, and control their motor skills. While each of these learning disabilities may share some common features with autism, they’re distinct in their own right.

Defining Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition related to brain development that affects how people perceive others and socialize with them. People with ASD may behave, communicate, interact, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. Often, children show symptoms of autism within the first year of life. A small number of children with the condition appear to develop as expected in the first year. Over time, it can cause difficulty functioning in society. For example, people with autism spectrum disorder may have problems being social or when in school or at work.

ASD is characterized by social interaction deficits, impaired communication skills, and unusual behaviors. Autism affects how the brain processes stimulus from the outside world in ways that are neurodivergent in comparison to neurotypical individuals.

Symptoms of Autism

Some children show signs of autism spectrum disorder in early infancy, such as less eye contact, not responding to their names, or not being interested in caregivers. Other children may not develop as expected for the first few months or years of life. Then they suddenly become withdrawn or aggressive or lose the language skills they had before. Some people in the mild range on the autism spectrum may have more symptoms that aren't noticed early on. They may not be diagnosed until middle to late childhood, when there is a greater need to communicate and be social.

Autism characteristics fall into two main groups:

Difficulties with social communication and interaction that affect how a child socializes
Restricted and repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities that affect how a child acts

People with autism spectrum disorder may have problems getting along with others and communicating. As they get older, some children with autism spectrum disorder interact more with others and show fewer disturbances in behavior.

Social Communication and Interaction Challenges

Children with ASD may have difficulty developing language skills and understanding what others say to them. The ability of children with ASD to communicate and use language depends on their intellectual and social development. Some children with ASD may not be able to communicate using speech or language, and some may have very limited speaking skills. Others may have rich vocabularies and be able to talk about specific subjects in great detail. Many have problems with the meaning and rhythm of words and sentences. They also may be unable to understand body language and the meanings of different vocal tones.

Poor nonverbal conversation skills are also common. Children with ASD are often unable to use gestures-such as pointing to an object-to give meaning to their speech. They often avoid eye contact, which can make them seem rude, uninterested, or inattentive. Without meaningful gestures or other nonverbal skills to enhance their oral language skills, many children with ASD become frustrated in their attempts to make their feelings, thoughts, and needs known.

Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors

People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention. These characteristics can make life very challenging.

Often, children with ASD who can speak will say things that have no meaning or that do not relate to the conversations they are having with others. For example, a child may count from one to five repeatedly amid a conversation that is not related to numbers. Or a child may continuously repeat words he or she has heard-a condition called echolalia. Immediate echolalia occurs when the child repeats words someone has just said. For example, the child may respond to a question by asking the same question. In delayed echolalia, the child repeats words heard at an earlier time. The child may say “Do you want something to drink?” whenever he or she asks for a drink. Some children with ASD speak in a high-pitched or sing-song voice or use robot-like speech. Other children may use stock phrases to start a conversation. For example, a child may say, “My name is Tom,” even when he talks with friends or family.

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Strengths of Autistic Individuals

Researchers have found a wide range of strengths among autistic people. Your child may have:

The strength to speak out or “go against the crowd,” even if it’s not the popular thing to do
A strong sense of right vs. wrong, leading them to follow their moral compass even when no one’s watching
The ability to express their thoughts directly and honestly
A knack for connecting with people of all ages
The ability to focus for long periods of time and gain expertise on a topic
Strong nonverbal reasoning skills

What Causes Autism?

Experts haven’t found a single cause of autism. It’s likely a combination of genetics and certain things related to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. You might see these things described as “environmental factors” or “prenatal events.” These factors all interact to lead to the brain differences we see in autism.

Specific things that may make autism more likely in your child include:

Becoming pregnant over age 35
Becoming pregnant within 12 months of having another baby
Having gestational diabetes
Having bleeding during pregnancy
Using certain medications, like valproate, while pregnant
Smaller-than-expected fetal size (intrauterine growth restriction)
Reduced oxygen to the fetus during pregnancy or delivery
Giving birth early

Is Autism Genetic?

Yes - but the genetic causes of autism are complicated. There’s not a single, specific gene variation that’s unique to autism. Instead, many gene variations are linked to autism. But there’s not always a clear genetic cause.

Diagnosing Autism

Diagnosing ASD can be difficult since there is no medical test, like a blood test, to diagnose the disorder. Doctors look at the child's behavior and development to make a diagnosis. ASD can sometimes be detected at 18 months of age or younger. By age 2 years, a diagnosis by an experienced professional can be considered reliable.1 However, many children do not receive a final diagnosis until they are much older. Some people are not diagnosed until they are adolescents or adults.

Diagnosing autism involves several steps. Often, the process begins at a routine well-check (annual physical). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends autism screenings at the 18-month and 24-month visits. If your pediatrician notices possible signs of autism, they’ll refer you to a provider who specializes in diagnosing autism.

Providers use the criteria listed in the DSM-5-TR. This diagnostic manual breaks down symptoms into the two main groups discussed earlier: how your child socializes and how they act.

Criteria for an autism diagnosis:

Your child must have difficulties in all three of the following social areas:

Social-emotional reciprocity: This is the back-and-forth nature of socializing. A common example is holding a conversation.
Nonverbal communication: These are the movements and subtle gestures that add meaning to the words we say. Eye contact and body language are examples.
Developing and maintaining relationships: This involves seeking people to spend time with. It also involves judging which behaviors are appropriate in different situations.

AND your child must do at least two of the following:

Engage in repetitive movements, use of objects or speech: This means doing or saying the same thing over and over, more than you might expect.
Insist on the same routine or ways of doing things: This means relying heavily on sameness and resisting change.
Have very intense or unusual interests: This is an interest in a certain object or topic that’s stronger or more consuming than you’d expect.
React more than expected to sights, sounds, and textures and/or seek out sensory experiences: This is when your child’s environment overwhelms or underwhelms them. If they need more sensory input, they might sniff or touch objects more than expected.

Understanding Learning Disabilities

The term “learning disability” is an umbrella term encompassing a number of different problems with learning - most often in reading, writing, math, and problem-solving. Learning disabilities cause people to struggle when making connections between different pieces of incoming information and when working to comprehend and organize that information, according to Understood.org.

A learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with how someone learns. It has nothing to do with intelligence, motivation, or poor parenting.

Types of Learning Disabilities

Dyslexia: A language-based learning disability. It mostly affects a person’s reading ability due to difficulties associating speech sounds with letters and words.
Dyscalculia: A number-based learning disability that affects an individual’s ability to understand and perform mathematical calculations.
Dysgraphia: A writing-based learning disability that affects a person’s ability to write.
Auditory or visual processing disorders: These cause problems in understanding language that is heard or seen. With auditory processing disorder, you may have difficulty distinguishing subtle differences in sounds and speaking individual sounds within words. With visual processing disorder you may miss subtle differences in shapes, such as interchanging m and n.
Nonverbal learning disorders (NLD): These cause problems in distinguishing nonverbal language, such as tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures, and body language. There also may be difficulty with motor coordination and memory recall.

Autism and Learning Disabilities: Overlap and Distinction

While autism is not a learning disability, ASD can share many traits with, or occur alongside learning disorders, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. The same is true of non-verbal learning disorders, which may affect a child’s academic and social skills. Autism Spectrum Disorder is not a learning disorder but those with autism can be impacted by a learning disorder.

It’s also worth noting that although autism and learning disabilities affect social skills and nonverbal communication, they have no effect on someone’s intelligence or motivation, nor are they caused by poor parenting skills.

Overlapping Symptoms

Despite being two unique conditions, the symptoms of ASD and learning disabilities often overlap. Certain learning disabilities like dyslexia also display similar symptoms to autism. For instance, people with dyslexia can experience visual and auditory difficulties. ASD, social communication disorder, ADHD, and receptive language learning disabilities may all include trouble reading non-verbal cues, including determining other people’s feelings based on facial expressions. ASD, ADHD, and sensory processing disorders all include sensory issues.

Because of these overlapping symptoms, a thorough evaluation and accurate diagnosis are both important. Strategies and interventions differ based on the condition. Some solutions that work well with learning disabilities may not work for autism, and vice versa according to Understood.org.

Nonverbal Learning Disabilities and ASD

As many as 1 in 25 children have a nonverbal learning disability (NVLD).[ix] Individuals with an NVLD typically have no problems with verbal expression. Instead, they struggle with visual-spacial abilities.[x] A nonverbal learning disability can cause challenges with social interaction by impacting a child’s understanding of nonverbal cues. They may have a hard time understanding ideas or how they relate to one another on a conceptual level.

Just like some individuals with autism, someone with an NVLD might struggle with motor skills, organization, and understanding nonverbal communication and social situations. There is considerable debate about how a nonverbal learning disability relates to ASD. While the two conditions can share signs, they are considered separate. Not everyone who is considered to have an NVLD meets the criteria for diagnosis with ASD.

ADHD and ASD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is not considered a learning disorder in and of itself. However, it can interact with learning disorders, presenting numerous obstacles to learning. It frequently occurs alongside autism. Studies have found that as many as 30 to 50 percent of children with ASD also show symptoms of ADHD.[xii] Some of these behavioral signs include hyperactivity, sensory processing issues, and difficulty with sustained attention and concentration. Recent research has also found that children with ASD who exhibit traits of ADHD have more issues with adaptive behavior. This can lead to more struggles with independence.[xiii] Like autism, ADHD also affects executive function.

Challenges Faced by Autistic Children in Traditional Classrooms

Autistic children face a number of challenges when they are learning in a traditional classroom. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) manifests in individuals uniquely and will vary from child to child. However, one of the common challenges is difficulty learning in a regular classroom setting.

Cognitive Abilities

Before delving into the unique challenges of autism in the classroom, it’s critical to acknowledge that autistic children don’t have difficulty due to a lack of cognitive ability. Autistic children tend to develop fascinations, obsessions, passions, or fixations on specific subjects, topics, objects, or interests. This means that they have a narrowly focused area of expertise, leading to a depth of knowledge that can be astounding. However, the narrowed focus can cause challenges when trying to teach them a diverse range of subjects and topics.

Social Cues and Communication

Autistic students can have difficulty understanding social cues and how to respond to others trying to teach or interact with them. This can impact the initial contact and interaction with others and can also make it hard for them to maintain any kind of social relationship. Processing and retaining new information is difficult for an autistic student, which presents challenges in a traditional classroom. Some autistic children use non-verbal communication, like sign language, picture exchange, or vocal approximations. Another common difficulty that arises is when allistic folks use figurative language (such as idioms and metaphors) or sarcasm, and assume that everybody listening will know what they mean.

Sensory Overload

Schools can be places of complete sensory overload. There are hall buzzers, yelling children, whistles, fluorescent lights, and much more.

Changes and Transitions

Every semester can bring something new to the school. This could be a new classroom, teacher, classmates, or new rules. One teacher might expect children to raise their hands, while another may expect children to come to their desks and talk to them. Change is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in school for ASD children.

Strategies for Supporting Autistic Children in the Classroom

Parents, caregivers, and therapists must start working together to prepare the child for the classroom environment.

Clear and Concise Instructions: Autistic children respond well to clear, concise instructions. Always use explicit, concrete language to explain things that other children might pick up intuitively. Demonstrate for them how they should set up for class and anything else that is expected of them.

Routines and Boundaries: Rules and routines make many autistic children more comfortable and that the world around them is a little more predictable. Explicitly set out a routine and boundaries and run through them as often as needed. However, it’s also important to implement small breaks in these routines every now and then.

Sensory Considerations: Identify what sensory triggers the child has and work out how you can reduce them.

Tone of Voice: Autistic children have difficulties with social cues. So, it’s important that you watch your tone when addressing them. Try to keep a calm, steady tone of voice, particularly when giving them feedback.

Smooth Transitions: Establish a team of staff across the different departments that can help create a smooth transition for children moving to the next grade, getting a new teacher, or starting a new subject.

Classroom Accommodations: Where classroom accommodations for autism, like noise-canceling headphones, dim lights, peer mentors, and extra time, are sufficient, an inclusive classroom can benefit all of those involved.

Treatment and Therapies

Current treatments for ASD seek to reduce symptoms that interfere with daily functioning and quality of life. There are many different therapies available to support children with autism. These therapies help your child manage any challenges they face and build on their strengths. Some therapies teach you and other family members ways to support your child.

The earlier such support begins - ideally, before age 3 - the more it can benefit your child in the long run.

Speech-Language Pathologists

If a doctor suspects a child has ASD or another developmental disability, he or she usually will refer the child to a variety of specialists, including a speech-language pathologist. This is a health professional trained to treat individuals with voice, speech, and language disorders. The speech-language pathologist will perform a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s ability to communicate and will design an appropriate treatment program.

Teaching children with ASD to improve their communication skills is essential for helping them reach their full potential. There are many different approaches, but the best treatment program begins early, during the preschool years, and is tailored to the child’s age and interests. It should address both the child’s behavior and communication skills and offer regular reinforcement of positive actions. Most children with ASD respond well to highly structured, specialized programs.

Communication Training

For some younger children with ASD, improving speech and language skills is a realistic goal of treatment. Parents and caregivers can increase a child’s chance of reaching this goal by paying attention to his or her language development early on. Just as toddlers learn to crawl before they walk, children first develop pre-language skills before they begin to use words. These skills include using eye contact, gestures, body movements, imitation, and babbling and other vocalizations to help them communicate.

For slightly older children with ASD, communication training teaches basic speech and language skills, such as single words and phrases. Some children with ASD may never develop oral speech and language skills. For these children, the goal may be learning to communicate using gestures, such as sign language. For others, the goal may be to communicate by means of a symbol system in which pictures are used to convey thoughts.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

Programs like Lighthouse Fusion ABA therapy play a key role in ensuring that autistic children are prepared for the classroom and continue to be supported there. At LAC, therapists work alongside you and your child to help prepare them for their future. They ensure that they have the right practice and support for the school transition and will provide support and autism resources for their general education teachers while they are there. They will devise techniques and accommodations particular to the class they will enter and what is expected of them.

Treatment for Co-Occurring Conditions

Some autistic kids have other conditions that need support or treatment. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can share many traits with, or occur alongside learning disorders, such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. The same is true of non-verbal learning disorders, which may affect a child’s academic and social skills. Co-occurring autism and learning disorders can also lead to serious mental health issues. It is common for people with learning disorders to experience anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues.

Treatment for the intersection of autism and learning disorders needs to begin with the proper diagnosis and understanding of a child’s difficulties. It is important to consult a medical professional, such as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, who can differentiate between conditions, understand how they interact, and identify areas of focus for intervention. Treatment modalities depend on the conditions and unique challenges a child faces but may include various forms of therapy, such as Applied Behavior Analysis. Multiple treatment interventions may be used in conjunction with one another to address specific needs. These can include learning aids and accommodations that take into account individual circumstances.

Early Detection and Intervention

Early detection of autism and learning disabilities can be beneficial for several reasons. For starters, it allows for early intervention. This typically involves a range of treatments and therapies, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, and behavioral therapy. Early detection can also allow for the implementation of accommodations and support. Examples include extra time on tests or the use of assistive technology.

You can do several things to help people with autism deal with learning disabilities. For example, people dealing with both conditions benefit from early detection. Accommodations like extra time on tests or the use of assistive technology can help people dealing with autism and learning disabilities. Examples include keeping up with their peers and managing their lives. Providing a supportive environment like a welcoming and inclusive classroom or workplace can help a person with a learning disability feel more comfortable. Joining an intellectual disability register can benefit people with learning disabilities in several ways. Being on an intellectual disability register can also help improve the coordination of care for people with learning disabilities. Besides that, it can also provide a way for individuals to advocate for their rights and needs.

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