Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

Autism is a neurological difference that affects how an individual processes sensory information and ‘makes sense’ of the world. This, in turn, influences how the person responds to input, particularly in relation to:

Verbal language processing (meaning of speech)

Non-verbal language processing (facial expressions, body language)

Abstract concepts (hidden agendas, reading between the lines, decision-making, contextual thinking)

Social understanding (picking up signals and cues)

Sensory environmental difficulties (noise, touch etc.)

Autistic people have a wide range of skills and abilities.These can, however, mask the extent of the difficulties people may face causing any challenges to become invisible, often only becoming evident when the individual is under great stress and their usual coping mechanisms fail them.

Throughout their lives, Autistic people learn that their natural behaviour is often deemed unacceptable and that they must ‘work out’ how to get on with people and life in general in a different way, usually as a result of negative feedback. This results in people working hard to ‘mask’ their differences and hide their challenges. The impact on the individual is significant and exhausting, even though others may be unaware of the work done to mask and cope.Often as a result of this masking and managing, Autistic people experience high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, exhaustion and mental health problems.

Dyslexia Unlocked offers support, training and advice to individuals and organisations to address the barriers and challenges faced by people with neuro-diverse conditions in order to unlock skills and abilities.