Autism: How Anxiety Affects Everything. Sarah Hendrickx. Mental Health in Autistic Individuals

Transcription

1 hendrickx associates training. consultancy. support. Autism: How Anxiety Affects Everything Sarah Hendrickx Mental Health in Autistic Individuals Individuals with ASC are reported to experience high levels of: Stress Anxiety Depression Feel different or odd The world is confusing/overwhelming Struggling to cope other people find life easier Feel like a failure negative exps & messages Socially excluded/isolated Frustration in communication No hope for future change 1

2 It is entirely to be expected that autistic people will be anxious - understanding and accepting this is the first step in providing the right sort of help Why aren t you anxious now? What makes you anxious? 2

3 CORE PROBLEMS PROCESSING INFORMATION ABOUT OTHERS Theory of mind Attending to and using social cues Receptive language pragmatics CORE PROBLEMS PROCESSING INFORMATION ABOUT SELF Emotion self-perception Sensory-motor perception and regulation CORE PROBLEMS PROCESSING NONSOCIAL INFORMATION Planning and goal setting Organising Shifting sets and/or attention flexibility Central Coherence BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES Social Skill Deficits Odd movements or mannerisms Expressive language pragmatics Rude by omission or commission PROBLEMS IN SELF-MANAGEMENT Activities of Daily Living Inefficient task management Procrastination/poor self-direction Poor basic problem solving SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES Ignored by others Rejected by others Ridiculed by others DAILY LIVING CONSEQUENCES Daily hassles Stressful events POOR SOCIAL SUPPORT CHRONIC STRESS ANXIETY DEPRESSION Taken from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Adult Asperger Syndrome, Gaus, VL You Make Sense Of It All You have lots of Global Stability (Beardon) Understanding what is going on fill in gaps if not full data Generalising from past similar events to predict future events Picking up signals seeing that other people are OK Asking for more information Identifying your feelings & articulating those feelings in an acceptable way Putting things into perspective/bigger picture no pain: no gain Filtering out irrelevant data and focusing on necessary aspects Confidence that you can work it out, whatever happens THESE ARE ALL IN THE DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR AUTISM 3

4 Global Stability (Beardon) What s the point (1)? Autism may: manifest as a mental health condition Anxiety response may: manifest as a physical health condition Do not presume extent of impact of autism or anxiety by external presentation or ability Autism and anxiety are NOT separate entities 4

5 Autism may: What s the point (2)? manifest as perceived challenging behaviour Anxiety response may: manifest as perceived challenging behaviour It s not challenging behaviour ; it s the only tool in my toolbox right now Pathway to Well-being Need to: Understanding individual impact of autism Negative and positive Triggers / soothers Capacity Support to identify feelings & needs Provide means to communicate feelings & needs Enough certainty and information Handle the basics of life with minimal stress Solve problems Support at your pace (not theirs) Understand the physiology of anxiety 5

6 Teach Social Context Autistic children tend to apply same solution to all problems Non-autistic children tend to adapt solution to individual circumstances Explicitly teach social understanding May not be learned intuitively Teach to generalise Supports prediction skills and decreased anxiety Teach to develop multiple responses to typical situations What could I do instead? Visual flowcharts easier than words Provide Enough Certainty Visual cues Images of people, places Timetables / schedules Prepare for change Manage expectations Unambiguous communication Take care with flippancy and jokes Do as you say you will Provide a Plan B Teach child to develop own Plan B 6

7 Anxiety Management Do not avoid situations which cause anxiety This teaches the brain that it is correct to be afraid Do not teach child to avoid anxiety Teach about anxiety Anxiety is normal and useful Just because you think it, doesn t mean its true Just because you feel it, doesn t mean its true Smoke alarm and toast Teach child to recognise signs and learn strategies Teach child to manage, minimise & live with anxiety Break the Cycle Increase support and understanding of effects of autism Better able to cope with anxiety & increased self-efficacy Decrease in anxiety response Decrease in stress-related health issues / behaviour 7