By Anita Lesko, BSN, RN, MS, CRNA, CAS (and proudly autistic)
Communicating with autistic individuals can be a constant challenge for healthcare providers and therapists, even if they don’t always know how big of a challenge it is.
Lack of specific training and knowledge in the healthcare field is constantly leading to autistic people not being diagnosed or treated properly as well as often avoidable situations that impede timely or effective care. It is called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for a very good reason. There are individuals at one end of the spectrum who cannot speak, or need total assistance with activities of daily living, and at the other end of the spectrum are highly gifted people who are brilliant and need no assistance at all. There is a wide range of symptoms, severity of those symptoms, skills, and level of disability.
The Very Important Missing Pieces of Communication for Many with ASD
Autistic Individuals also face challenges understanding body language, as well as the nuances of vocal tones. Body language is the second form of communication that humans use to express their thoughts, emotions, and desires. Those with ASD typically have difficulty at best, but usually no skills at deciphering what a person is saying with facial expressions or body language. There is also the lack of the ASD person of making eye contact. Many in fact will describe trying to look someone in the eye as literally being painful.
While the often-cited numbers from Professor Mehrabian of 55 percent of messaging being body language, 38 percent being tone and 7 percent being the actual verbal message itself may be in some doubt, regardless of what the exact numbers are anyone who does not understand these communication nuances is very clearly at a distinct disadvantage in understanding their world and the messages of the people in it.
This is why it is all the more important that healthcare and therapy providers are aware that they need to express as much as possible of their message in ways that will be most easily understandable by that individual, which is not always the same. Learning how to adapt to each client is important to optimize outcomes for providers and clients alike.
Now that you have an overview of the communication difficulties of autistic individuals, you are wondering exactly how are you going to be able to effectively interact with your next autistic client, wherever they may be on the spectrum. The autistic individual may appear not to hear what you say to them, they may not respond to their name, or they may appear indifferent to any attempts you make at communicating with them.
