Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder. In people with ASD, information processing in the brain proceeds differently. Sensory information is perceived, but lacks coherence: similar to individual particles, without meaningful context.

This makes the world look a lot more confusing! This sometimes makes it difficult to cope with changes or to properly assess social situations. This can be limiting and cause problems in everyday life.

Yet this different way of processing information also has many good sides: someone with ASD often has a strong (visual) memory, is very detail-oriented, creative, honest, analytical and extremely focused. Autism manifests itself differently in everyone, although we can distinguish some common characteristics.

Social situations are complicated

Most people with ASD have difficulty understanding and sensing other people properly. For example, because they make little eye contact, fail to notice tone and cannot interpret figurative language or non-verbal communication.

This makes it more difficult to have conversations and to assess what behaviour is expected of them. This often results in an awkward or inappropriate response. Some experience difficulty sharing their interests with others. The interests they have are often deep: people with autism can be obsessive about certain topics or hobbies.

Need for predictability

Because many people with ASD have trouble keeping track of things and are unable to distinguish between main and secondary issues, they often need fixed patterns and predictability. They stick to certain routines and habits and maintain fixed sequences in actions.

Ideally, they want everything to stay as it is. Even a small change can cause anxiety or tension. They sometimes develop rigid thinking patterns to protect themselves from too many stimuli. Under- or oversensitivity to sensory stimuli is also often seen in people with autism.