Page 26 - SEN106 SEN Magazine May-June 2020

A key characteristic of autism is the great variability we see between different individuals. This means that although all autistic people generally show a similar pattern of behaviour – difficulties with social interaction and repetitive and restricted behaviours and/or interests – these behaviours can manifest very differently from one person to another. For a large proportion of autistic people, their behavioural differences are strikingly clear to those around them. From childhood, they may stand out next to their neurotypical peers – to parents, teachers and doctors – and as such receive a timely autism diagnosis as a child or young adolescent. However, there also appears to be a subgroup of autistic people who, at least in certain contexts, show very few autistic features. They may make good eye contact, demonstrate neurotypical-like social reciprocity and do not express obvious special interests. They are often told by others, including professionals, that they simply don’t “look” autistic. Because of this apparent non-autistic presentation, these individuals may not receive a necessary autism diagnosis until adulthood. It is this latter group that mine and Professor Francesca Happé’s research together has focused upon. Hidden characteristics How is it then that “neurotypical-presenting” autistic people exist? The simplest explanation would be that these individuals are simply experiencing a milder form of autism; they show fewer autistic behaviours because they are less autistic. However, our research so far has showed this is unlikely to be the case. We investigated autistic adolescents and measured their observable autistic behaviours, as well as their internal mental processing using computerised tasks. In particular, we measured their theory of mind – the ability to understand other people’s minds – which is often found to be affected in autism. We found that a subgroup of individuals, despite profound difficulties in theory of mind, actually showed few autistic social difficulties when interacting with the experimenter. These individuals also showed other typical autistic characteristics, Autistic people who compensate are nevertheless autistic Dr Lucy Anne Livingston examines the trials and personal costs facing many autistic people as they struggle to appear “normal” Autism: Are compensatory strategies a double- edged sword? 26 SEN 106 senmagazine.co.uk Autism