The Theory Of Weak Central Coherence

Autism is a developmental disorder, which is characterized by a dyad of difficulties in a) communication and social interaction and b) restricted interests and imagination (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals on the Autism Spectrum might find it challenging to understand what other people think or what the reasons for their behaviours are, as their ‘theory of mind’ may not be well developed (Schuwerk, Vuori & Sodian, 2015). It is possible that this is why they might behave in socially inappropriate ways, being unable to differentiate between different contexts, while they might also find it difficult to make friends. Moreover, it is likely that they are fond of routines, repetition and structure (Carnahan, Musti-Rao, & Bailey, 2009), as they might be nervous with unknown, new situations. In addition, some of them might not do eye contact with other people, whereas some others might not endure to be touched and might have a difficulty developing speech (Jordan, 2005). Individuals on the Autism Spectrum might sometimes be prohibited to initiate conversations and might struggle with finding different ways to play and behave, due to the possible deficit of imagination, which in some cases might result in them having a narrow sphere of interests. Nevertheless, it should be noted that this group of people is rather heterogeneous, as characteristics of autism may differ from one individual to another (Gwynette, 2013). Another point is that people with Autism

In the early 1900’s autism was a completely misunderstood concept and any child who was living with it was assumed to be living with “childhood schizophrenia” and developed much slower than children without autism. A four year study of Donald Triplett gave Dr. Kannar a better understanding of what autism was and what it caused certain people to do. The main question was, does it affect the child’s development? Living with autism can affect a child’s development due to the fact that they don’t have a long attention span, can cause them to have a repetitive behavior, along with trouble in social situations whether it be verbal or non verbal.

Autism is a rare disease that can be characterized by a “neurodevelopmental disorder categorized by the inability to relate to and perceive the environment in the realistic manner.” (Anthes, 1997) The signs of autism are mainly found in infants to young children usually between the ages of newborn to two years. The main symptoms that are discussed are “impairment in social interaction fixation of inanimate objects, inability to communicate normally, and resistance to changes in their daily routine.” (Anthes, 1997) Autism is a very understood disease but one thing most people do not know is that autism not only effects a child’s life mentally and physically, it also effects their social ability to have friends, play normally and even grow up

Autism is described by many struggles in behavior, social situations, verbal and nonverbal abilities and sensory difficulties (Rotatori et al. 2003). Children with this disorder often display abnormal enactments because of the troubles one have with returning to her environment. Behavior difficulties may perhaps arise as the effect of her amplified sensitivity to a noise, visual or what she felt.

Even as adults, sometimes we tend to question whether or not there is something more to us. In years past, and often still is, the subject of autism was unknown, and often misunderstood. Many times autistic tendencies are just dismissed as either bad behaviors or defiance. Many times the individual also has an underlying condition such as attention deficit disorder. This article sheds some light on that subject.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be portrayed toward critical impairments in social interaction. It also includes restricted repeated behaviors, interests and activities. (Mayo Clinic staff, 2014)

According to Kids Health (2014), “children with Autism have difference in the way their brains develop and process information”. For example, “language delay, trouble communicating with their brains, perform certain unusual or repetitive behaviors, or have difficulties learning in school” (p. 1).

Autism is the main form of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Autism is a developmental disorder that is manifested in problems with communication, impairment of social functioning, and repetitive behaviours. According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), ASD diagnoses must meet four different areas of criteria. There are three symptoms of "deficits in social communication and interaction across contexts," four symptoms of "restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities," "symptoms must be present in early childhood," and the symptoms must "together limit and impair everyday functioning" (Carpenter, 2013). There are many theoretical positions on the causes of autism spectrum disorders. Some of which have been discounted by empirical studies that have been researched and performed.

Readings: • The Autistic Spectrum • Chapter 4 • “First Causes” pg. 115125/Summary pg. 140-141 • Chapter 13  This week’s agenda: Unit 2!

Weak Central coherence theory describes inability to understand the context or to see the “big picture”. This could explain common autistic behaviours such as repetitiveness, focusing to parts of objects and persistence in behaviours related to details.

“Where could anybody be without organizing their own thoughts”(Slater 1)? Imagine living in a world where one could not communicate with anyone around them on a truly rational level, even though the individual is completely rational. Imagine feeling so frightened by life, that one escapes to an Alternate reality, where they become catatonic, or even take on forms of different personalities to deal with everyday situations. Try not being able to communicate through one’s own words, only repeating what others have said in order to get along in life. This is what living with Autism is like. Autism, through the book definition is a “complex developmental disability…that appears

The article I chose goes into detail about model known as ‘Cognitive Flexibility “and how it relates to the spectrum of autism. The article explains this as an individual’s ability to mentally be switch between two or more concepts, or in other words, be able to effectively end a task and start a new one. The topic is relevant to the lecture because we discussed brain activity in living and dead things, and what autism stems from. The writer asks the question of what causes autism, eventually stating that having a greater cognitive flexibility correlates with acquiring better reading skills as a child, which would make the adult life and advanced years into more of a quality lifestyle. They hope to benefit clinicians in designing more effective

Repetitive behaviors like head banging and repetitive routines are consistent for individuals with autism. If the routine is disturbed, he or she screams and throws a temper tantrum (Wing, 24). Like their need for consistency in routines, autistics also need and demand absolute consistency in their environment. Changes in their environment cause them to act negatively (“Autism”). And individual with autism has a different sensory system than normal people, the stimulations are affected differently. For example, they have oversensitivity to light and this oversensitivity may cause seizures (“Autism”). At least one quarter of children with autism have an epilectic seizure before they become an adult. Other behaviors that may occur are high levels or anxiety, odd fears (ex. of color or shape), and emotions that change from one extreme to the other (Wing 31+; Siegel 49).

The term ‘autism’ can be dated back to 1911, where it was first used to describe schizophrenia by Paul Bleuler (Khalid et al, 2014). However, more recent research has characterised autism as a lifelong, neurodevelopmental condition, with symptoms appearing as early as the age of three, and although the condition affects four times more females than males, evidence points to the disability affecting males more acutely (Germain et al, 2015). As a developmental disability, autism affects a number of things within an individual, to include, communication abilities, how to effectively relate to others, as well as affecting how to make sense of the world around them, all of which are attainments that would come naturally to neurotypical humans (Germain et al, 2015). Autism, therefore, has been described as being “characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and repetitive patterns of behaviour” (Brown and Elder, 2014, p. 219). In the UK, approximately 700,000 people are living with the disability and around 2.8 million people are affected by autism in their lives (The National Autistic Society, 2016). Because autism is a spectrum condition, those who are compounded by it will share certain traits; however, autism will affect them and their abilities in different ways, with individual differences in the patterns of development (Whitman, 2004). Although autism can affect many areas of a person’s life, my research is aimed at looking at one of the core

Autism is defined by the DSM-V as a brain disorder with a number of difficulties. For instance, people with autism are said to have central coherence (CC) that is weak in comparison to the general population. They are unable to extract meaningful (conceptual) and sensory information as a whole (perception). According to Frith (1989), central coherence is at the core of cognition and responsible for integration of conceptual and perceptual information. This essay will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the weak CC model to the understanding of autism using several key articles throughout the essay.