Triad of Impairments

This is the term that describes the difficulties that people with autism experience in differing degrees. Because all people are different, the way autism affects them is also different. The term was first used by Lorna Wing

Impired Soacial Interaction - Getting on with other people

Symptoms in this area include:

• Ritualistic, compulsive and obsessional type behaviours.
• Self stimulating and repetitive behaviours. 
• Compulsive ritualistic use of language
• Lack of concept of self and others as beings with feelings and individual thoughts.

Difficulties range from indifference and aloofness to wanting desperately to make friends but not understanding social rules and other people’s behaviour and feelings well enough to do so successfully. Some people with autism find social situations very challenging and may avoid interaction altogether. A child with autism may not be able to respond to his or her own name and can avoid looking at other people. Interpreting tone of voice or facial expressions could be problematic for an autistic person as can responding to others' emotions appropriately. Autism causes children and adults appear oblivious to the negative impact that their behavior has on others.

Problems with Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

• Talking and understanding
• Speech may be present but not used for spontaneous communication
• Maybe seen as un-cooperative or unresponsive
• Tantrums or severe episodes of distress
• Development of language can be concrete and literal
• Inability to read facial expression, gesture, body language and posture.
• Impairment of the understanding meaning – semantic and pragmatic.

Language difficulties range from no speech at all to fluent speech that can be repetitive and focused on their own areas of interest, rather than true conversation.

Limited Imagination and Rigid Thought Processes

• Thinking and Behaviour
• Skills learnt in isolation and not transferred or generalised
• Preoccupation with sameness
• Difficulty with change
• Inability to learn successfully by mistake, trial or error
• Poor play skills and difficulty in developing imaginative play
• Difficulties in manipulating objects appropriately
• Seeming impairment of curiosity of the direct world
• Repetitive activities
• Inability to differentiate between fantasy and reality

The deficits in imaginative and conceptual skills and difficulties in making sense of the world can lead to a rigid way of thinking and doing things, repetitive activity and narrow interests. Changes of routine cause anxiety and distress.