A New Approach To Treating The Sensory Problems Of Autism.

July 14, 2008 - PRLog -- If the average member of the public has heard of only one disability, it is more likely than not autism.  The question is, what can be done to treat the problems of this complex disorder? Snowdrop believe we may have part of the answer.

There are a range of symptoms, which can be attributed to autism.  Any one individual may display any combination of these symptoms, in differing degrees of severity.  Therefore an individual at one end of the autistic spectrum may seem very different to an individual at the other end of the spectrum. A common occurrence in many children with autism however, appears to be sensory processing difficulties. Such difficulties and the child's reaction to them can make life almost impossible for the families of such children, but what can be done to ease the situation?

Snowdrop has developed techniques to address the sensory processing difficulties, which many children with autism face.  We believe that the neurological systems which process and direct incoming sensory stimulation can be re-tuned by the provision of appropriate stimulation set within an adapted developmental environment.  In contrast to behavioural approaches, which focus upon changing the child's behaviour towards a stimulus, (this does not change the child's experience of the stimulus), our programme concentrates upon treating the cause of the abnormal behaviour, - the dysfunctional performance of the neurological subsystems.

In this way, it can be possible for a child who experience say, auditory over-sensitivity, who screams in anguish every time you switch on the vacuum, to have the responsible neurological systems re-tuned to more normal performance.

Of course, children with autism display a far greater range of difficulties than a theory, focused upon a malfunctioning sensory – attentional system could explain.  I am not attempting to claim that sensory problems on their own are an adequate explanation for every facet of autism, - that would be ridiculous!  This is merely a possible explanation of a range of issues experienced by some children who have autism, which could be produced or exacerbated by the child suffering distortions of sensory perception.  We believe that the problems faced by autistic children are not a unified, interconnected set of problems, but that each child has a unique 'pick and mix' set of symptoms with different neurological causes.  We believe our logical step by step approach at solving these problems holds great promise for children with autism.

Anyone requiring further information should go to http://www.snowdrop.cc or email info@snowdrop.cc

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Snowdrop provides programmes of neuro-cognitive stimulation for children who suffer developmental problems. Those problems may express themselves as more global difficulties such as cerebral palsy or autism, or more specific problems like dyslexia.