Davis Autism International
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet Ron Davis
    • What is Autism?
    • Non Verbal Autism
    • What is Aspergers?
    • FAQ's
  • Programs
    • Davis Autism Approach
    • Davis Stepping Stones
    • Davis Stepping Stones 2
    • Davis Concepts for Life
    • Find a Facilitator
  • Workshops
    • Davis Concepts for Life – Early Years Workshop
    • Davis Life Concepts for Autism
    • Davis Stepping Stones
    • Davis Concepts for Life
    • Workshop Schedule
  • Training
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Languages
    • Greek
    • French
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet Ron Davis
    • What is Autism?
    • Non Verbal Autism
    • What is Aspergers?
    • FAQ's
  • Programs
    • Davis Autism Approach
    • Davis Stepping Stones
    • Davis Stepping Stones 2
    • Davis Concepts for Life
    • Find a Facilitator
  • Workshops
    • Davis Concepts for Life – Early Years Workshop
    • Davis Life Concepts for Autism
    • Davis Stepping Stones
    • Davis Concepts for Life
    • Workshop Schedule
  • Training
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Languages
    • Greek
    • French

What is Autism?

It is widely accepted that people on the autistic spectrum - although vastly different - will share three main areas of difficulty in varying degrees.

The "Triad of Impairments"

Difficulty with social communication 
Individuals on the autism spectrum may have difficulties with both verbal and non-verbal language and take a very literal response to what people say. 
  • not fully understanding the meaning of common gestures, facial expressions or tone of voice 
  • unusual patterns of verbal communication 
  • Echolalia (repetition of what has been said to a person) 
  • making up words 
  • difficulty with ‘I’ and ‘you’ 
  • inappropriate tone of voice 
  • a lack of facial expressions and gestures. 
autism social communication

Difficulties with social interaction 
Individuals on the autistic spectrum may have great difficulty interpreting other people’s emotions and feelings and are often challenged when expressing their own. 
  • not paying attention to others 
  • being aloof, distant and uninterested 
  • being alone and withdrawn 
  • a lack of social skills 
  • inappropriate social behaviour 
  • a lack of understanding about friendship or strangers 
  • difficulties in making and sustaining friendships 
autism social interaction

Difficulty with social imagination 
Social imagination is what allows us to understand and predict other people’s behavior, to make sense of abstract ideas, and to imagine situations outside our daily routines.   ​For the non-autistic child these skills evolve naturally through the normal childhood development process. It is widely agreed that individuals on the autistic spectrum do not undergo childhood development at the same harmonious rate that their non-autistic counterparts do. They may be extraordinarily developed in one particular area whilst considerably challenged in another.  ​​
  • difficulty in understanding how others think, feel and react 
  • problems with imagination 
  • difficulty in the development of imaginative play 
  • having a literal understanding of language, for example having difficulties with expressions like “it’s raining cats and dogs” or “pull your socks up” 
  • problems with predicting events or actions
autism social imagination
Find a Facilitator
Contact Us
"From the outset, Ron’s work in autism made sense of our observations of Shey. As unique as his insights were, his work sat in perfect harmony with our educational backgrounds. It provided the missing puzzle pieces and provided a way out of the labyrinth. Since having worked through the Davis Autism Approach, Shey has blossomed, and as his confidence over life has developed, ours for his future has too."
Guy & Suzanne , Christchurch, New Zealand 

CONTACT:

admin@rdautismfoundation.org

Find your nearest facilitator
Picture
Subscribe to our mailing lists:
Subscribe as a family member
Subscribe as Personal
Subscribe as a Practitioner
Davis® and Davis Autism Approach® are trademarks of Ronald D. Davis. Commercial use of these trademarks to identify educational, instructional, or therapeutic services requires licensing by the trademark owner.  Materials on this site copyright ©2016 by Davis Autism International and Ronald D. Davis. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy