Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD’s) impact normal development of the brain in the areas associated to social interaction and communication skills.

Usually, children and adults with autism have delays  in verbal and non verbal communication, in social interactions, and in leisure and play activities.

As a result, children and adults with autism, face challenges to make sense out of the information they receive through their senses, to organize themselves effectively, to understand and use language to communicate and socially relate to other people, which affect their development within the different environments and their progress with traditional teaching methods.   

Even when autism affects each child in a different way, the majority of children with autism do not have the mechanisms to learn in the same way as those children with age-appropriate development, that is, observing and imitating what they hear and see others do and say. Therefore, these children have to ‘learn to learn’: to communicate, to behave and to play.

Generally, the term ‘autism’ refers to a person with the most severe symptoms of this disorder; however, autism is a spectrum which covers a wide range of disorders which can go from the most severe forms such as classic autism, Rett Syndrome or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD), in such cases a highly specialized education approach is required, to the mildest forms such as High Functioning Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome or cases of Pervasive Developmental Disorders- not otherwise specified  (non typical autism or PDD-nos), where integration to standard schools may be achieved, with adequate support and early intervention.