AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (15:41): I rise to speak today about autism spectrum disorder, and to pay my respect to the Army of Autism Awareness Angels for the work they are doing to raise awareness about it. Today I will refer to the autism spectrum disorder as 'autism', recognising that this is not medically precise, and that the full spectrum encompasses a very wide range of experiences for the people with this diagnosis.

Some children experience developmental delay, some do not. Some adults go on to work in mainstream workplaces, and often their colleagues will not know that they have a particular and recognised disorder. Others lead lives constantly in the care of their families or professions. They are all members of our community and they all deserve respect and understanding. Common features within the spectrum include an intolerance of noise and confusion, repetitive behaviours, a literal approach to language, and difficulty decoding social signals.

Acknowledging the wide range of experience for the purpose of speaking today, I will use the shorthand 'autism'. There is a perception—and perhaps a reality—that autism is increasing. Certainly, the diagnosis is being made more frequently. Whether that is a function of better awareness amongst parents, medical practitioners and early childhood carers, or whether there is a material increase in autism is not yet clear.

Of overriding importance is that everyone needs to understand what it means to have autism. You may be the parent or grandparent of a child with autism. You may have a family member with autism. You may simply meet a child or adult with autism in the shops, at a social event or in your workplace. Being sensitive to the needs of that person will make their lives easier, and is the hallmark of an inclusive community; the more we understand, the more we care for each other, the happier we all are.

This is where I run into difficulty of speaking about a broad range of experiences using only one term, but there are a number of features that are reasonably consistent, and that all of us being sensitive to will make a big difference to the lives of people with autism and their families. One feature is that some people have a lot of difficulty deciphering vague information that draws on socially understood meaning. For example, 'In a few minutes,' is imprecise and relies on context to be meaningful. For some people with autism, it is far more helpful to state precisely how many minutes.

Being sensitive and watching for children and adults with autism being distressed by an overly loud environment is also important. For some children, going to a school sports day is traumatic because it is so intense, loud and at times confusing. School teachers are increasingly extremely sensitive to those students who need a more structured and quieter environment.

Dealing with children and adults who might find eye contact difficult, or who simply do not read social signals easily, is so much easier if we all take the time to understand what the challenges are, and to think through how to make people who we are talking to comfortable and not threatened or confused. Parents, family members and people who regularly work with children and adults with autism deserve not just our respect, but also our support and understanding.

As I said earlier, I would also like to pay my respect to the Army of Autism Awareness Angels, the delightfully energetic and caring group raising awareness of autism in Adelaide. They are by no means alone; there are many groups that have been set up by parents and other carers, but I was fortunate to spend some time with the Angels recently, and they impressed me with their very creative approaches to raising awareness.

Not only have they staged a flash mob in the city to raise awareness, they have a rap tune selling on iTunes dedicated to them and about their work, and they recently had flags about autism flying all over Port Adelaide. Everything they do is about supporting families who are experiencing autism, and educating others about how to be more sensitive; that is the least we can do.