adult education curriculum and instruction
Expression, whether verbal or non-verbal, is by far, the most social universal language of the World. Through a facial expression we can see sadness, contentment, fear, and love. Through the course of our development we have learned cues and tags that enable us to read facial expressions, and body language. Without these cues and tags the majority of our conversation would be left to our interpretation, which is a combination of previous knowledge and the ability to infer what comes next.
Expression with meaning, relays feeling. Expressions are the symbolic translation of words. They can be the communication of your beliefs; the aura of your personality and your uniqueness.
Expression is what people look for to understand your innuendos, your comments, your unspoken words. There is a "socially acceptable" pattern of unspoken expressions which have symbolic meaning to the majority of people. No matter what race, creed, or gender, the facial expression of fear can be understood by the majority.
I chose "socially inappropriate" emotions and expressions as my first area to bring to discussion. Without the ability to understand visual cues; the concept of feelings and emotions; the way to communicate with eye contact; or have an understanding of how to respond to the tone of another's voice; you take away the ability to blend in and communicate with the people around you.
When I think of the autistic child, never really picking the developmental stages of communication, I understand how they may feel lost in their own world. Not being able to verbally communicate makes it even harder to express themselves.
When we are angry we have choices. We can yell, throw things, speak our mind or stay quiet. When we want to be part of a group; we smile, introduce ourselves and give our first impression based on our expressions. The autistic child only knows to react with a physical response that may or may not produce a result. The response may be the same for excitement and it is for fear. They cannot always distinguish the difference. When they react with a "socially inappropriate" gesture or expression, they begin to become isolated from those who don't understand. Without the verbal skills, or the relationships made between words and symbols, the autistic child cannot express their needs. With little or no affect, those around them cannot understand their needs. Communication becomes a stagnant environment where the autistic child cannot make choices, chose the proper responses, or be able to interact with other people around them.
Social functioning develops over time as people learn by social cues, sharing, understanding humor, expressing sympathy, and teaching each other. They connect their responses by understanding their safety; and their surroundings. People learn trust though something as simple as eye-contact.
When I watch children with autism I see how the world around them is over stimulating. I am beginning to understand how complicated simple shopping for groceries can be for the "non-autistic person". I could only imagine what it is like for the autistic person.
When a person goes into the market, they immediately can see where things are located; who is in the store; and what the sales are for the day. All markets are set up similarly everywhere. You know you will find apples with oranges, and not in the fish department. You may make eye-contact with many people, and they can perceive your mood, by how fast you are walking, or and how friendly you may be to them. Sometimes words are conveyed without sound. Smiles are a shared hello. Just by walking around the store another person choosing a different brand of ice cream may begin a conversation and before you know it, you have a new recipe and have shared new knowledge. You are greeted by the cashier and you watch the coupons add up. Your expressions are visible the entire time you are in the store. Your body language speaks to others around you. While all of this is going on, you are also planning dinner in your head and food needed for the week. You are making sure that you get everything needed for a recipe, and maybe even taking time to compare brands. A severely autistic child is overwhelmed when they walk through the door! No wonder why their reaction is to tantrum or shut down.
As we look at the spectrum disorders we see the similar pattern of not being "socially norm". From the tantrum non-verbal child to the savant child; "different than the standard" is the telling social characteristic. Expression is universal. How lost would we feel if we couldn't understand the world around us? How much would you miss in a lifetime without an understanding of how to communicate? How would we cope with bright lights, sounds, people talking, registers clicking while we are only able to focus on one thing at a time?
Can you even imagine?
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