Qualification: NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Autism
Unit: Unit 04: Sensory processing, perception and cognition in individuals with autism
Learning outcome: 1 Understand how individuals with autism process sensory information
Assessment criteria: 1.1. Outline how differences in processing sensory information may affect each of the senses
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- Individuals with autism may process sensory information differently to individuals classed as neurotypical
- Sight:
- Periphery vision is sharp, whilst central vision is blurred or vice versa
- Distorted depth perception, which can lead to clumsiness
- Objects appear darkor lack detail
- Fragmented images
- Hypersensitivity to light
- Objects may appear to move
- Hearing:
- May not be able to process particular sounds
- Noise can heard louder
- Becoming overwhelmed by background noise/not being able to focus on particular sounds, such as a conversation
- May get pleasure from loud noises
- Taste:
- Pica – eating or craving the taste of things that are not food
- Enjoying very spicy food
- Only enjoying bland foods
- Only enjoying foods that have a particular texture
- Touch:
- Enjoys the feeling of pressure (e.g. a bag on their back, heavy blankets, tight grip on someones hand etc.)
- High pain thresholds
- May like to rip or break objects
- Gets pleasure from self-harming
- Touch may cause discomfort
- Certain clothes may be uncomfortable or painful (e.g. socks, shoes, gloves etc.)
- Certain clothing textures may be uncomfortable or painful
- Washing may feel uncomfortable or painful
- May find smearing pleasurable
- Smell:
- No sense of smell
- Heightened sense of smell that can be overpowering
- May lick things tocompensate for undersensitive sense of smell
- May dislke people that have strong pdours, such as overpowering perfume
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