Author(s): Olga Bogdashina

Aspergers & Autism

The ability to perceive accurately stimuli in the environment is basic to many areas of academic, communicative and social functioning. Although people with autism live in the same physical world and deal with the same 'raw material' their perceptual world turns out strikingly different from that of non-autistic people. It is widely reported that autistic people have 'unusual' sensory perceptual experiences that may involve hypo- and hypersensitivity, fluctuation between different 'volumes' of perception and difficulty interpreting a sense. In this book, Olga Bogdashina attempts to define the role of sensory perceptual problems in autism identified by autistic individuals themselves. Often ignored by many professionals, this is one of the main problems highlighted by autistic individuals. This book singles out possible patterns of sensory experiences in autism and the cognitive differences caused by them. The final chapters are devoted to assessment and intervention issues with practical recommendations for selecting appropriate methods and techniques to eliminate the problems and enhance the strengths.