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Understanding Autism

Enrol to this free CPD-certified autistic course from the University of Kent to understand more about autistic people from autistic perspectives.

Duration

4 weeks

Weekly study

3 hours

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Autistic people experience the world in ways that are different from non-autistic people. This includes differences in communication and sensory experiences. These differences can often disadvantage autistic people as they navigate the non-autistic world. All autistic people will share these key differences but this may appear very differently in each person.

Around 700,000 people in the UK are autistic, 1 in every 100 people. There are no blood tests or brain scans that can tell us if a person is autistic - so what exactly are we talking about?

Image: Connor Sparrowhawk #JusticeforLB

Week 1
What is autism?
- What do we understand about autistic people?
  This first activity will introduce you to the course aims and your educators, and we'll start to think about our 'big question': What do we understand about autistic people?
- What is social communication?
  What is 'social communication', how does it develop, and how do we use it in everyday life?
- Social communication difficulties
  What happens if social communication doesn't develop as expected? And is social communication 'the whole story'?
Week 2
Strengths and challenges
- Sensory issues and repetitive behaviours
  Autistic people process sensory information - touch, sight, sounds, smells - differently. We also see a lot of repetitive behaviours or repetitive interests in autism.
- Sensory differences
  In this activity we focus on sensory sensitivities.
- Making use of strengths and minimising challenges
  In this activity we look at how to make use of the strengths and minimise the challenges associated with autism.
Week 3
The origins of autism, and co-existing conditions
- Where have our ideas about autism come from?
  Here we'll take a look at how our ideas about autism have developed, and consider the influence of both genetics and the environment.
- Co-existing conditions
  It's rare for autism to occur on its own: it is often associated with other things. Here we explore co-existing conditions, or 'co-morbidities'.
- One thing or many?
  Is autism a collection of co-existing conditions rather than a thing in itself?
Week 4
What do we understand about autistic people?
- Case studies
  In this activity we explore some case studies in autism, and you'll share your thoughts on these with other learners.
- Advantages and disadvantages of a diagnostic category of autism
  In this activity we think about autism as a 'category'. We'll consider the importance of the language used to talk about autism, and the advantages and disadvantages of having a diagnostic category of autism.
- Bringing it all together
  In this final activity we bring together all we've learned in the course, and look to answer our big question: What do we understand about autistic people?