( Everyday Life with Autism )

In a child development class I learned that a newborn’s brain has a huge number of connections between the cells (neurons). Imagine these connections forming a network. If some connections are more used than others (due to a heavy traffic on these communication lines), these pathways become well-established. The connections that are less used, get automatically pruned over time.

This is simply how our brains turn to be the way they are when we are grown ups. Depending on what connections have been put at work since we were babies, decides for the kind of brain we’ll live with later on. Below is an illustration of a neuron.

The more the brain is engaged in different activities, the higher the potential/capacity of cognitive skills.

Anecdote

A mother had to take her autistic son to the doctor after his insisting and urging demands. The boy didn’t want to tell his mother about the reason of the visit to see the doctor. When he went to the doctor he asked him to change his brain wiring, so he can be like a regular person. Regardless of what the doctor said, the boy had a point here.

One of the ways we actually describe autism is: “different brain wiring”.

Doctors recommend to older people to stay sharp by doing diverse physical and mental activities. This would help the network between the brain cells we talked about in the beginning, stay vivid and strong.

Tip

Engage your child since a very young age in a multitude of activities to keep these channels of communication open and stronger. Try all kinds of activities: playing in a park, playing with pets, singing, listening to the music, talking to people, trying new foods, go to new places,…

The more activities done the more neurons are activated and connected to each other. Consequently, the brain will enjoy a larger network of communication.

Early intervention is key to your child’s success.

Read here for more details.

Illustrations: Children by John W. Santrock, sixth edition, pages 142 and 143

nadia shanab

Tags: autism, communication, diagnosis, early intervention, flexibility, neuron, neuroscientist, organization, parenting, research, social interaction