Core Challenges in Autism. Teaching dynamic thinking

Abstract

Bill Nason, an American clinical psychologist who has been working with autistic people for more than 30 years has undergone his own evolution from a strict behavioral approach to humanism. In his two books «The Autism Discussion Page» he successively describes the difficulties people on the spectrum have to face. Bill Nason seems to be speaking on behalf of them: what they feel, experience, see, sense when the external world is pressing them with all its speed and chaos and their loved ones are constantly trying to modify their behavior in accordance to social norms. In the part below Bill Nason offers advice on how to help autistic people who experience problems with so-called dynamic thinking which requires fast evaluation of the changing situation and effective dealing with it. By practicing this technique we strengthen weak neuropathways. The author suggests talking through situations that have different options of resolving, making a worksheet, keeping a journal — doing everything to make our intuitive behavior to become clear as a chain of sequential acts for an autistic child.

Keywords

• autism
• autistic spectrum
• dynamic thinking
• neuropathways