If you feel like you don't know much about autism, you are not alone. Autism is regularly misunderstood. As a historic first, the Office for Autism has been established to work towards improved outcomes for Autistic and autism communities. A great place to start is to build knowledge and understanding and we welcome you no matter where you are on your journey towards autism inclusion.
Respectful Curiosity
Learning is enriched by asking questions but sometimes we’re afraid of asking questions because we don’t want to offend or be unhelpful. Respectful curiosity acknowledges questions and conversations as a valuable way of learning about autism, from Autistic people.
Respectful curiosity acknowledges that knowledge and understanding is a lifelong journey and it’s never too late to make a meaningful start.
What is respectful curiosity for non-Autistic people?
Respectful curiosity means you ask questions for genuine reasons, listen with compassion and non-judgement, in an effort to grow knowledge and understanding.
Sometimes Autistic people get ‘educator fatigue’ when they are regularly sharing their lived experience with non-Autistic people. To help with this you can better support Autistic people by undertaking evidence based training.
What is respectful curiosity for Autistic people?
You may encounter people who are at different stages in their journey of building knowledge and understanding about autism. Sometimes this means people may use outdated language or have heard myths about autism. Respectful curiosity is about encouraging questions to support non-Autistic people to build knowledge and understanding.
Sometimes Autistic people get ‘educator fatigue’ when they are regularly sharing their lived experience. It’s okay to redirect people to good sources of information to support their learning, or recommend they undertake training.
What is autism?
The Consultation Report published after engagement on the State's First Autism Strategy identified the preferred definition of autism in South Australia:
“Autism is a neurological developmental difference that changes the way an individual relates to the environment and people in it.
Autism changes the way that an individual sees, experiences and understands the world.
There is not one way that an Autistic individual experiences the world, this is why the term ‘spectrum’ is used - this is to reflect the fact that every individual’s lived experience of autism is different.
Individuals on the spectrum may have skills in particular areas, while finding other aspects of life particularly challenging. How skills develop across a life span varies as much as autism itself and can vary significantly from person to person.”
Things you may not know about autism
People are born Autistic and are Autistic for life. Some Autistic individuals are diagnosed in early childhood, while others may not be diagnosed until late adulthood nor at all.
Autism is experienced differently by everyone. Each individual has a unique set of strengths and support needs that vary across different areas of life and at different times throughout their life.
Every Autistic person is different, but common experiences and traits of autism may include:
- Differences in social communication and interaction
- Differences in brain activity and thinking patterns
- Strong interests, passions, subject matter expertise and focus
- Differences in the way we process sensory information through our externally experienced senses, and our 3 internally experienced systems:
- Hear (auditory system)
- Taste system (gustatory system)
- Smelling system (olfactory)
- Seeing system (visual)
- Touching (tactile)
- Sense of head movement in space (vestibular system)
- Sense of muscles, joints and awareness of our body in space (proprioceptive system)
- Sense of internal organs and physical sensations driven by emotions (interoceptive system).
