Essentials Magazine Essentials Fall 2018 | Page 31

Special Needs
Sensory perception issues
and autism
The sensory perception issues that
affect autistic individuals have a direct
impact on their performance in the
classroom. They affect the way an autis-
tic individual processes information and
learns. With respect to how the brain of
an autistic individual works in relation to
learning, there are three basic catego-
ries in which those with autism can be
learning process very difficult for the
children because they have to be in an
environment in which they feel safe and
that they understand.
Problems with perceptual issues of-
ten determine the style of learning that
will be most effective. A child with poor
auditory perception may hear sounds
poorly and perceive the sounds coming
in and out like poor phone reception.
This child is more likely to learn best
with visually presented information.
Some individuals may be able to
receive information, but have trouble
organizing it or making sense of the
information. Some individuals may be
hearing words correctly, but not under-
standing them. Problems with organiz-
ing information affect a child’s ability to
form categories that are the foundation
for later concept formation. Difficulties
that people on the spectrum have with
multi-tasking would also fall into this
category. These difficulties are highly
Spaces should flow as seamlessly as possible from one activity to the next and should be organized in accordance
to their sensory quality rather than the typical architectural approach of functional zoning.
grouped into in: sensory oversensitivity,
perceptual problems, and difficulties
organizing information.
Sensory oversensitivity varies from
child to child. It can range from mild
(slight anxiety when the environment
is too loud, too bright, or too chaotic)
to severe, with an individual going into
a screaming tantrum every time he or
she is in a place such as a large, noisy
supermarket. Some individuals on the
spectrum are attracted to objects that
move rapidly and others will avoid them.
When senses are disordered, the atten-
tion and concentration that learning
requires becomes difficult and in some
cases, impossible. Children who spend
their days fearful of people and places
who, through past experience, have
been overwhelmed by their senses, have
little chance to relax enough to take no-
tice of the learning opportunities being
presented. This makes the teaching and
On the other hand, a child with visual
perception problems may learn best
through the auditory channel as auditory
information will be easier for them to
process. Some nonverbal individuals
have both visual and auditory processing
problems. They may learn best through
their sense of touch and smell. For in-
stance, to learn to dress they may need
to be hand-over-hand “walked” through
putting on socks or pouring cereal. They
may learn letters and numbers best
when they can touch them, and trace
their shape with their hands or fingers.
Representative objects rather than visu-
al charts can be useful in helping these
individuals know when it is time to tran-
sition to a new activity. Schools need to
be adaptable in order to teach students
with all degrees of perception issues and
be able to adapt the environment to a
student’s specific needs.
variable and range from mild to severe
depending on which brain circuits con-
nected and which ones did not.
An autistic student’s ability to learn in
a traditional classroom is often com-
promised because of the difficulties
previously described. The schools which
are able to adapt to their students’ needs
and offer flexible learning methods and
learning environments are able to have
a much greater influence on the lives of
their students.
Principles of design
In order to design an appropri-
ate learning environment for autistic
students many factors need to be taken
into consideration. Special attention
needs to be placed on the stimulus lev-
el of spaces, when programing. Quiet
spaces, such as classrooms, should be
laid out far away from noisy areas such
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