Project Description

yvonne

by Yvonne Crowhurst
Head of Autism in Practice

When we train people in autism awareness, we tell them to leave their neurotypical brains outside the door and divorce themselves from almost everything they’ve ever learned about communication. Autism is like nothing else. It is unique!

FOR example, if I was to ask you a question, as a neurotypical person you would probably answer right away. (If you didn’t, I would think either you didn’t hear me or you were ignoring me or you were too engrossed in what you were doing – TV football game watchers take note.)  But if you were on the autistic spectrum and you didn’t respond, it may not be for any of these reasons.

It may have taken you a while to realise I have spoken to you (I may not have said your name to start with so you were unaware that I was addressing you) but also you may have to take extra time to process the question and to figure out a response.   This is what we call a delay in processing and that delay could be for seconds, minutes, months, days or years. We believe that one of our services users, Tommy, could still be responding now, as an adult, to an instruction he was given as a child to ‘sit down boy’.

It can be hard to wait quietly whilst someone responds.  It isn’t natural for us to do this. To reinforce this point we ask our trainees to take part in our 17 second test.  (There’s nothing scientific about this particular length of time – it’s just a simple illustration.)

If we suspect someone has a processing delay, we don’t hurry them. We find that a reasonable test of whether the person is understanding what you are trying to say is to wait………….for a reasonable amount of time (see below) and then repeat the same question in exactly the same way………  up to three times, each time leaving a lengthy gap between.  To hurry the person could be a bit like jabbing at a computer keyboard.  The computer faithfully responds to each button you’ve pressed, in the order you’ve pressed it. It tries its best, but if you overload it, it crashes.  It is even harder for a person with autism, as they may not understand your language or your change of tack. They may get confused and upset. They will certainly need to start their process for understanding each time you say something new, or the same thing too quickly after the first time. Patience is an even bigger virtue in supporting someone with a processing delay than even in general support.

It can be hard to wait quietly whilst someone responds.  It isn’t natural for us to do this. To reinforce this point we ask our trainees to take part in our 17 second test.  (There’s nothing scientific about this particular length of time – it’s just a simple illustration.)

We ask everyone in the room to stand up and then to sit down when they think the 17 seconds is up.  Most people sit down far too early – some way past the time (29 seconds is the current record).  They just can’t help themselves. Time is such an abstract concept that it is seen and experienced differently in all of us not just those on the spectrum. The illustration helps them appreciate how  easy it would be to chivvy along a person with autism in the same way as you would someone neurotypical when, actually, that could be counter-productive.

You could try this exercise yourself.  Leave a lengthy pause before you respond to a question: watch the impact this has on your friend or colleague.  Do they calmly repeat the question or do they begin to express exasperation, worry, confusion or even irritation?  Now put yourself into the shoes of someone with autism who has to deal with this 24/7, 365 days a year. Now it hits home doesn’t it? They can’t walk away from this. They need your support and understanding.

Yvonne Crowhurst is head of Autism Together’s training arm, Autism in Practice.  In 2015 Yvonne was awarded the title ‘Care Trainer of the Year’ in the Great British Care Awards.
You can find out more about Autism in Practice here.