Autism Differences in School

Autistic Spectrum Disorder has many distinct features that differentiate the disorder from other common neurodevelopmental disorders. The most common of those features is the obvious differences in social communication and interaction, especially in settings where engaging with other peers is the main objective at hand. One specific place where this characteristic could affect the quality of life is in a school setting. While in schools, there are a multitude of instances where communication and collaboration between pupils is the norm and even required to facilitate the learning process. Evidence that ASD pupils may underachieve academically and have higher rates of exclusion in school suggests that they may be at a disadvantage due to the disorder.

Additionally, in a random sample at a school, around 50% of the students are unhappy with their situation, feeling that more needs to be done to better support them with their daily challenges. Researchers have hypothesized that differences in sensory functioning are behind the social difficulties, which are often neglected in educational contexts in multiple ASD studies. 

The term sensory processing refers to how the central nervous system, which includes your brain and the spinal cord running down your back, transforms outside signals such as touch and responds to that disruption through particular behaviors. The Dunn model exemplifies one way this is us to create a mental profile based on the degree of sensory processing within an individual. The model implies that individuals can either be hypersensitive or hyposensitive to sensory input and profile as a sensory seeker or sensory avoider, respectively. When using this model, it appears that ASD students have more differences with regard to sensitivity than non-ASD individuals, but the extent of sensitivity fluctuates across individuals. Therefore, this confirms the long-standing theory that there is no trend regarding ASD pupils concerning sensory processing that can be pinpointed as characteristic of the disorder.

Another model, called the Nordic Relational Model of Disability, focuses more on how different contexts can be responsible for the different levels of sensitivity to stimuli. Accordingly, the term disability is redefined as a mismatch between the environment and the traits of the individual. In this case, that would be the different levels of sensory processing in ASD individuals. This means that ASD pills with hypersensitivity might be disadvantaged in a classroom where bright lights and random sound might affect their concentration, and vice versa. 

In terms of academic achievement, while for non-ASD individuals, IQ was the most significant predictor, ASD students also had to factor in other factors such as hyposensitivity. While there definitely is often a mismatch between the sensory functioning of the individual and the classroom environment, the specific surrounding this dilemma is being debated.

Increasing research suggests that with auditory differences being the most disruptive, followed by touch and smell capabilities, the ASD pupils have a lower ability to concentrate, which could contribute to increasing anxiety. Indeed, while many studies have proved the role that hypersensitivity plays in increasing anxiety, hyposensitivity has often been ignored, even though increasing research also signifies how this factor may be equally significant. Hypo-sensitivity is often associated with emotional dysregulation, which is a crucial aspect of one’s internal physiology that impacts the encounter with a school environment, as this could be responsible for peculiar classroom behaviors. However, this is harder to track, since people with hypersensitivity aren't aware when they missed an external signal. Therefore, we need a multimodal approach to fully develop better treatments for ASD individuals to do better in school.