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Autism Behavior Resources: Insights, Strategies, and Support
Autistic behaviors are as diverse and unique as the individuals themselves, reflecting a wide range of ways people on the spectrum experience and respond to the world. Understanding these behaviors—such as stimming, routines, sensory sensitivities, and communication styles—can help foster empathy and create more supportive environments. These resources explores the nuances of autistic behaviors, providing insights into their meanings, the science behind them, and strategies for understanding and embracing these expressions. Whether you're a caregiver, therapist, or simply curious, these resources aims to deepen your knowledge and appreciation of the autistic experience.
Recent Articles
Mastering Executive Functioning in Autism: Strategies for Success
Executive functioning refers to a set of cognitive skills that enable us to manage everyday life effectively. This includes planning, organizing, starting tasks, staying focused and regulating emotions. Think of executive functioning as the brain’s management system. For autistic adults, executive functioning can be both a major challenge and an area of opportunity for growth and support. Research suggests that up to 70% of autistic people struggle with executive functioning. However, some autistic people may also have particular strengths in certain areas of executive functioning.
Executive functioning impacts things like paying bills on time, remembering appointments, shifting between tasks and coping with stress. Autism often brings unique patterns of executive function differences—not deficits in intelligence or motivation. Understanding these patterns can help autistic adults and those who support them develop more effective strategies and create environments that align with how their brains function most effectively.
While not every autistic person struggles with executive functioning, many do experience difficulties in areas like cognitive flexibility, working memory and self-regulation. These challenges can be supported with the right tools, techniques and understanding.
Navigating Autism and Communication Differences in Adults: Strategies for Success
To be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, an individual must have social and communication differences compared to those without autism, and those differences must impact their daily life. The severity varies from one individual to the next. However, communication differences are a core characteristic of autism.
Common challenges faced by autistic people include:
- Difficulty interpreting or understanding body language
- Difficulty modulating tone, volume or speed of speech
- Trouble understanding idioms, figurative language or other instances of non-literal speech
- Uncertainty during social interaction
- Using more direct language or more formal and technical language, which is sometimes mistakenly interpreted as “bluntness” or “rudeness”
- Using repeated words or phrases (or echolalia)
- Having a flat affect or appearing uninterested during conversations, even if they are engaged
Differences in communication between autistic individuals and non autistic individuals often lead to difficulties for the autistic population. These difficulties include:
- Facing judgment during social situations or bullying from peers
- Finding it hard to make or maintain friendships
- Developing anxiety around social situations
- Feeling fatigued after a social interaction
- Increased risk of isolation or loneliness
- Low self-esteem or negative self-image
- Engaging in masking behaviors, which can lead to burnout
When communication style differences are judged instead of accommodated, it leads to negative outcomes for autistic individuals. Support and resources can help autistic individuals become more effective communicators, but that’s only one piece of the puzzle. It’s also important that we learn to not only understand autistic communication but also accept and embrace it.
How to Manage PDA: A Guide for Autistic Adults
Does the thought of day-to-day chores make you feel paralyzed? Does your phone pile up with unread emails and unanswered texts you can’t make yourself respond to? There are many reasons why people might struggle to meet the demands of daily living, but for those who identify with the experiences associated with pathological demand avoidance, all demands can feel oppressive and anxiety-inducing.
Sometimes called pervasive drive for autonomy, PDA is a behavioral profile most commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PDA is said to be different from simply disliking certain tasks or being asked to do something. It’s natural for people to put off or avoid certain demands—however, some individuals experience a more intense and pervasive drive for agency and resistance to demands, which can impact their daily lives and mental health.
PDA was first proposed as a unique subtype of autism spectrum disorder, but is now most often understood as a possible profile of autism, meaning a pattern of behaviors and traits present in some autistic people. To date, researchers have yet to reach a consensus on how to categorize PDA or on its definition, characteristics and support strategies. PDA advocacy, however, has grown as a field, and advocates have advanced many recommendations for support based on PDA individuals’ lived experiences.
If the proposed PDA autism behavioral profile resonates with you, read on for tips to manage it.
