Difficulties with Processing Information: Help for Asperger's and HFA Kids
"Does the autistic brain have significant problems processing sensory and emotional information? If so, are here ways to assist a child with this deficit?" Young people with Asperger’s (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) often have problems processing information from one or more of their seven sensory systems (i.e., sight, balance, touch, movement, smell, taste, and hearing). These processes take place at an unconscious level, and they work together to help with attention and learning. Each system has specific receptors that pick up information that is relayed to the brain. The sensory characteristics of kids with AS and HFA is often responsible for their processing difficulties, negative behaviors, and unpleasant emotions. The sensory systems are also involved in what we call “emotional processing.” People use their emotions as a sensory system. Kids, too, use their emotions as sensory antennae. But kids with AS and HFA vary in their ability to process information