2nd posting concerning the concept of categorization

            Life could seem like a continuous 3 ringed circus without the ability to categorize!                     

Describe the concept of categorization. Categorization reduces the demand on memory and allows an individual to focus on the important information and ignore what isn’t needed (Gastgeb & Minshew, 2006). This brings to mind the u-tube of Carly where she describes how when she looks at someone’s face her brain takes hundreds of pictures and that’s why people with autism don’t make eye contact. All of those pictures are overwhelming.

How are categorization skills impacted in people with autism? If a person with autism has difficulty categorizing information , it could significantly impact their ability to communicate, their behavior, and their social functions. Obviously, if a child is unable to organize, and make sense of their world they could easily become over stimulated and overwhelmed. This could be why we see children with ASD want a routine that they can predict or why they may withdraw from others. They may even not understand what others are communicating because they can’t seem to filter out what isn’t important and what is (Gastgeb & Minshew, 2006).

What are the implications of impairments in categorization upon cognitive and perceptual skills? When categorization is difficult, a task must be broken down. This will make it less complex and therefore easier to processing. Once a child is able to process a task they can then be successful in learning the information! In our treatment sessions as therapist, we do this by aiming to present activities that are “just right”. This means that we present activities that challenge the child but allow them to also be successful. We need to consider the activity and how it can be broken down as well as other information the child may be taking in. If the child becomes easily over stimulated by any of his other sensory systems this also needs to be addresses as not to overwhelm his capacity to process (Bertone,et,al 2005).
　Resources:
Gastgeb, H.,& Minshew, N., (2006). Do Individuals With Autism Process Categories Differently? The Effect of Typicality and Development. Child Development, 77:1717-1729.
Bertone,A., (2005). Enhanced and Diminished Visuo-spatial Information Processing in Autism Depends on Stimulus ComplexityOxford Journals,128:2430-2441.,

Information processing in autism

      

Question #1

 Information processing in autism?

Information processing in autism is obviously different than a neurotypical.  Several theories have been proposed to explain why this is.  They include:

·         The large brain size in autism suggests that not just one location in the brain but a pervasive abnormality affects the way the way information is processed (Herbert & Kenet,2007).  There are also several specific structures of the brain that affect the way information is processed in individuals with an ASD (ie. the frontal cortex, gyrus, temporal lobe, limbic system, cerebellum).

·         Frith (1989), coined the term weak central coherence (WCC).  This style of information processing suggests that neurotypicals use central coherence to process and interpret information in a global or gestalt approach.  Meanwhile individuals with ASD process information in a peripheral coherence and as a result have only separate pieces of unrelated information available to use when processing. 

·         Gomet (2005), used an fMRI study and demonstrated that as a processing load is placed on children with autism the breakdown increases.  This may explain why there is a tendency with autism to ignore novel stimuli and be resistant to change.

·         Research has shown differences in the way the nervous system processes and responds to information through neurotransmitters and neuromodulators of persons with ASD and neurotypicals.  This is an integral part of the communication system and can have a huge impact on arousal level, GABA (responsible for information processing), motor activity, motivation, cognition, and sensory processing,  (Miller-Kuhaneck, 2010).  These areas affected will all contribute to altered behavior which directly tie into a persons ability to process information.

                                                           References

Frith,U. (1989). Autism:Explaining the enigma. Oxford:Blackwell

Gomot,M.(2006).Change detection in children with autism: An auditory event-related fMRI study. NeuroImage 29 (2006).475-484.

Herbert,M.R.,& Kenet, T. (2007).  Brain abnormalities in language disorders and in autism. Pediatric Clinics of north America,54(3),563-583.