2020-04-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

information,andself-regulatingemo-

tions.Itcanhavea significant impact

ontheirdailylife.”

BLENDINGIN

Autismawarenesshasbecomemore

widespreadthiscentury,andgreat-

ernumbersofchildrenwithsubtle

symptomsare nowdiagnosedat

youngages.Butdecadesago,doctors

rarelydiagnosedpeopletowardsthe

subtlerendofthespectrum.

“Fiftyyearsago,nobodywould

callautismwhatwecallautism

today– theywouldjustbeconsid-

eredquirky,”saysHens.“Weno

longerseeautismasthiskindofcon-

ditionwherechildrenarecompletely

locked up in themselves and haveno

inchildhood,withdiagnosisafter

theageoffour,onaverage.Doctors

usetheterm‘autismspectrumdis-

order’toencompasseveryonewho’s

beendiagnosed.Atoneendofthe

spectrum,symptomsaresosevere

thatpeoplewhodon’tgettheright

supportareunabletocommunicate,

andrequirelifelongassistance.At

theotherendofthespectrum,peo-

plehavesuchsubtlesymptomsthat

theymayfunctionlikeanyoneelse

(perhapswithsomeoddhabits),and

theirautismmaygoundetectedwell

intoadulthood.

Peoplewithautismmayfollow

strictroutinesandfocusontheirown

narrowinterests.Butthisisnottrue

foreveryonewiththecondition.

“Idon’tthinkyoucangeneralise

anythingwithregardstoautism,but

manyhavethisideaofhypersensi-

tivityandtheworldbeingtoomuch,”

saysautismresearcherKristienHens.

“Theworldistoofastandtheyhave

totakemoretimetoprocessthein-

formationthattheyreceive.”

Althougheveryonewithautism

experiencestheconditiondifferent-

ly,peoplemayhavecertaintraitsin

common.Many,forexample,have

troublemakingdecisions,arecon-

fusedbyfacialexpressions,andhave

troublenavigatingsocialsituations.

“Manyautisticpeoplehavedif-

ficultywithexecutivefunctioning,”

saysBaranger.“Theymayhavetrou-

blewithcertainskillssuchasplan-

ning, staying organised,sequencing

EngineerDiederikWeve:“Acceptingit

gave me a new perspective on life”

PHOTO: JOHANNES VAN ASSEM

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