Autism and Learning Disability: Impact, Causes, and Strategies

This report discusses the impact and causes of autism and learning disability among children in the UK. It covers the concept, effects, and strategies to reduce their impact and improve acceptance in society. The report also highlights the challenges faced by autistic children in schools and provides tips to help them overcome these challenges.

Autism and learning
disability

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY 1..........................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Autism is defined as the learning disability which may impact the children and their development
in the term of learning. In addition, it is well analysed that the autism and learning disability is
common nowadays which may impact the learning factor of the various of children. The report
usually covers the concept, cause and their impact on the children within the UK. Therefore,
study also used to provide the brief context which may develop the level of factor which is
analyse with the help of ways and intervention.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of autism and learning disability among the children in the UK.
Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurological and developmental
disorder characterized by a severe learning disability. Autism causes reduced ability to
understand complex information and impairs cognitive intelligence. ASD is a condition which
starts before adulthood and has a very long lasting effect on the life of the patient. It is called a
developmental disorder because its symptoms appear in the first two years of life. People
affected with autism have special health needs and are more likely to experience mental illness
along with the risk of chronic health conditions such as epilepsy and sensory disabilities
(Chapman ,2020). Autism affects communication and behaviours of the individual making it
difficult to have effective social interaction. High functioning autism is called Asperger's
syndrome characterized by social awkwardness, rigid and repetitive behaviours. It is burdensome
to manage everyday tasks like brushing teeth, bathing, getting dressed or cleaning up. Not all
suffering from ASD show extreme symptoms but some of the most commonly observed
symptoms are:
 very little or no eye contact
 minimal social interaction
 having difficulties initiating or ending a conversation
 display of uncanny expressions
 talking or playing with imaginary friends
 sensitive to any change
 repetition of unusual behaviours or echolalia
 conscious of environmental changes such as light, temperature etc.
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Autism effects verbal and nonverbal communication affecting both children and adults
where symptoms can range from mild to very extreme. Patients with autism have a notable
trouble with concentrating on the activities that are beyond their range of interests. They are
easily distracted by a minor change in stimulus. Social anxiety is the most common problem
associated with autism as patients have an extreme fear of meeting new people and varied social
situations. In some cases, it becomes impossible for them to control their anxiety that has been
triggered. The first signs of autism are identified by delayed speech and distorted language skills,
many of which come natural to the general population. Many autistic children can develop
language and developmental delays at a different rate than others. Sometimes people with autism
are exceptionally skilled in extreme ranges of interests such as mathematics or music but narrow
interests seem difficult to engage in. Cognitive impairment leads to problems regulating and
controlling their extreme behaviours, difficulty appreciating another person's thoughts and
enhanced sensitivity to minor changes (Adamou and et. al., 2018). Lack of resources,
organizational structures and difficulties in communication are the main barriers for students
with autism. Several patients need special care dealing with ASD while others do not. A better
understanding towards autism can help address the challenges faced by the patients and can
positively impact the approach of teaching strategies towards autistic children.
Effect and causes of autism and learning disability among the children in the UK.
There are various causes and effects of autism and they include: Autism spectrum disorder
(ASD) is a difficulty that affect's a child's nervous system and growth and evolution of that child.
A child with ASD chiefly has trouble in communicating with others. They may have hassle
processing social skills and sharing their ideas and opinion. Genes may play a role in ASD.
Many children on the autism array need help in learning how to act in contrasting types of social
activities and different situations. They may often have the tendency to interact with others, but
may not know how to prosecute friends or may be overpowered by the thought of the new ideas
and cognitive content (Fuller and et. al., 2020).
Because autism is a biological process difference, masses with autism can often find it
difficult to learn and manage everyday tasks like taking shower, getting dressed, brushing their
teeth and wadding their school bags; or daily chores like producting their bed; or setting the table
or arranging books and notebooks for tomorrow's morning. Social interaction, verbal and
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nonverbal human activity and the presence of repetitive and restricted patterns of behaviour,
interests and activities.
Difficulty forming and keeping friendly relationship is other main effect of autism.
Difficulties associating and fellow feeling with other people. Some may have difficulty severally
while others are able to live and work on their own. Sleeping problems
Deterioration in social functioning is a cardinal feature of ASD. Typical social skills deficits
include: initiation of interactions; responding to the initiations of others; maintaining eye contact
while talking; sharing every enjoyment; reading the nonverbal cues of others, taking another
person's perspectives. Autistic children often study having a lower quality of life than the non-
autistic children do, a trend driven in part by social separation and a weakened belief in their own
culpableness, according to a study published earlier this year (Fuller and et. al., 2020).
Some children with autism have severe cognitive delays, behavioural challenges, or
physical stims (rocking or flapping) that make it obviously that something is wrong. But many
autistic children have few or mild delays, challenges, or stims. When that's the case
developmental delays may be hard to spot. Children with autism have many of the cognitive
trouble seen in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study
suggests. In particular, these children battle with executive function- a set of intellectual skills
that underlie planning, self-control, short term memory and decision making.
Ways and strategies used to reduce the impact of autism and learning disability among the
children in the UK.
As the autism is disease, in which people suffering from these diseases have facing the problem
in communication and interaction with others people and learning disabilities. Autistic people
can see, hear and feel the world in different ways.
In UK, approx. seven hundred thousand adults are facing these problems therefore it is necessary
to reduce the impact of autism and learning disabilities of children in UK (Azad, et, al., 2021).
That strategies are following:
 improve the acceptance of autistic children in the society.
 Increase the acceptance of autism in the society.
 Improve or trained the autistic children from their childhood to education.
 Supporting those autistic people for positive transition from their childhood.
 Supporting the autistic children into his schools.
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 Removing the heath and care inequalities for autistic children.
 Providing the right support in the community.
 Supporting those children in patient care.
 Within the criminal and justice system improve the support for the autistic children.
 Provide the support for to reduce the impact of autism or disabilities (Mallrat, and
Sumner, 2014).
Based on the these approached or ways in UK impact of autism and learning disabilities can
be reduced.
Autism is a chronic development disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and
interact to others. It is a complicated disorder includes problem with communication and
behaviour. It also affects how people perceive. About three million of people in UK are living
with autism. The way to see the world is very different for autistic patient (Thomeer et. al.,
2019).
Strategies:
 Encourage autistic children to get education
 Bring equality in health and care for autistic children
 Improve acceptance of autistic children in society
 provide therapies
 provide medications
 teach autistic children time management
 calming strategies (Robillard, Roy-Charland, and Cazabon, 2018)
 improve understanding of autism within society
 practice transitions
 teach coping skills to autistic people
 positive behaviour towards autistic patients
Ways to reduce impact of autism:
 Reward good behaviour
 fun game activities
 paying attention to children sensory activities
 create safe zone
 be consistent
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DISCUSSION
Children suffer with autism face many difficulties in focusing on information that is outside
their subject of interest. Autistic children develop language skills in a different order and with
different speed. It means that they are not good with following the instructions. Autism affects
child's nervous system, growth and development. Such children face difficulty in creating and
maintaining bonds socially. Learning disability also contributes at a great extent to the chances of
developing mental health needs, if they are not supported appropriately by society. Children
suffer with autism and learning abilities generally have lower rates of attendance in school which
get widens from primary level to secondary level. Some tips to help children challenged with
autism include; treat students as individual and directly teach them social skills, visuals should be
used in classroom like; pictures, videos and modelling serve as reminders. Main learning barrier
face by autistic children is difficulty in understanding autistic perspectives and difficulty in
communication with them (Lipka, and et. al., 2019). Some of common challenges in autistic
children are: Always in worry, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, avoidance behaviour and
self-injurious behaviour. And challenging school activities for autistic students are: social
interactions, noisy environment, changes in expected routine, etc. Many children also face
difficulties in expressing their behaviour when present in a social situation. They often have the
desire to interact with friends and people around them but they are not good with the attitude of
initiating conversations and making gestures. Health complications attach to autism are: immune
disorders such as allergy, asthma, metabolic disorders (Tsermentseli and Kouklari, 2021).
CONCLUSION
As per the above discussion, it is well analysing that the autism shows the aspect which is
related with the concept of the learning disability which may provide the aspect which is
showing the issue with the learning disability. In addition, they also show the effect and causes
which may impact the health of the children. It also used to create learning difficulties with the
children.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adamou and et. al., 2018. Autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS) scores in males and
females diagnosed with autism: A naturalistic study. Advances in Autism.
Azad, G.F., et.al., 2021. Partners in school: An implementation strategy to promote alignment of
evidence-based practices across home and school for children with autism spectrum
disorder. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services
Research, 48(2), pp.266-278.
Chapman, R., 2020. The reality of autism: On the metaphysics of disorder and
diversity. Philosophical Psychology, 33(6), pp.799-819.
Fuller, E.A., Oliver, K., Vejnoska, S.F. and Rogers, S.J., 2020. The effects of the Early Start
Denver Model for children with autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analysis. Brain
Sciences, 10(6), p.368.
Lipka, O., Forkosh Baruch, A. and Meer, Y., 2019. Academic support model for post-secondary
school students with learning disabilities: student and instructor perceptions. International
Journal of Inclusive Education, 23(2), pp.142-157.
Maloret, P. and Sumner, K., 2014. Understanding autism spectrum conditions. Learning
Disability Practice, 17(6).
Robillard, Roy-Charland, and Cazabon, 2018. The role of cognition on navigational skills of
children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and
Hearing Research, 61(7), pp.1579-1590.
Thomeer et. al., 2019. High-functioning autism spectrum disorder: A framework for evidence-
based practice. School Mental Health, 11(1), pp.29-39.
Tsermentseli, S. and Kouklari, E.C., 2021. Impact of child factors on parenting stress of mothers
of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability: A UK school-based
study. Early Child Development and Care, 191(10), pp.1555-1566.
Vernhet, C., Dellapiazza, F., Blanc, N., Cousson-Gélie, F., Miot, S., Roeyers, H. and Baghdadli,
A., 2019. Coping strategies of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: A
systematic review. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 28(6), pp.747-758.
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