The CATCH approach to autism takes a decidely different a=
An Outdated Paradigm
Autism has historically been defined as a set of behavioral excesses and deficits, with the focus of research placed upon the external manifestations of the condition. When deciding how to address the classic, observable traits of autism – repetitive actions, self-stimulatory actions, insistence to sameness, social withdrawal – the consensus among professionals was to focus on designing programs that modify these behaviors to make the child appear more ‘normal’ to their parents and peers. The result has been a proliferation of behavioral-based interventions that rely upon highly repetitive drills designed to develop rote behaviors that make the individual more visually acceptable to the neurotypical world.
But what if there is more to the Story? What if instead of focusing on the external symptoms of autism, we looked deeper to find out what causes these symptoms? What if the behavioral approach simply isn’t enough?
A New Perspective on Autism
A great deal of research has been devoted over the past two decades to better understanding autism. Current research now holds that at its core, autism is a chronic, bio-psycho-social condition that results in an ‘under connectivity’ of the brain, a breakdown in the ability to network between the various brain systems. The brain centers of people with ASD do not form collaborative relationships as they develop, but instead unconnected, discrete processing centers are strengthened. In contrast, as the brains of neuro-typical children develop, they form the ability for flexible collaboration (‘connectivity’) between different brain centers. This neural collaboration provides the opportunity for flexible, original and integrated responses to the environment.
In short, ASD brains become more static over time. As neuro-typical brains develop, the greater neural collaboration allows for rapid, innovative responses to complex, novel problems and settings. In contrast, ASD brain development leads to over-reliance on previously learned rules and procedures, which leads to an inability to cope with a world that insists on behaving in a very messy and unpredictable manner. The fear and anxiety caused by this unpredictability can often lead to the individual’s withdrawal from the world as a way of coping.