Ok so quick context here,
I really want to focus on the “explain like Im five part. ”
I’m already quite aware of what is autism.
But I have an autistic 9 yo son and I really struggle to explain the situation to him and other kids in simple understandable terms, suitable for their age, and ideally present him in a cool way that could preserve his self esteem.
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It depends on how autism shows. I explained autistic traits like this to my first graders
“Some kids have a brain that has a filter. Tim is talking, birds are chirping, there is a car in the distance, Suzy is clicking her pen. There are lots of tiny noises in the classroom. When I say something, the kids with the filter in their brain can just shut off these sounds and listen to me. They can choose what they want to listen to. But some kids don’t have this filter. They hear everything at once, so it’s hard for them to hear me. So if you talk, even if it’s silently, they will not be able to hear me because their brain cannot filter it out. Every brain is different”
From what I could tell, they seemed to understand that. Since I have the same trait due to ADHD, I could tell them that that’s how it works for me and why I need them to be extra quiet. Plus, I mentioned some kids in the classroom have the same brain function so we need to be aware of that (no names ofc). Worked like a charm for the listening practice.
Autism is such an extraordinarily large spectrum, it’s basically impossible to explain, I think. It’s much easier to explain certain traits an individual shows and show how they experience the world.
*I think I need to clarify something: the filter thing was just *one* example of *one* trait that *can* show that I drew from my practical experience. I would not explain a whole disorder that is as complex as autism to a 5-year old on a playground. I’d pick the trait that was being commented on and explain that by explaining it through the lense of the autistic kid, so the “every brain is different and here’s how they feel” route. So, autistic kid is rocking back and forth, kid wonders: explain stimming. Autistic kid screams at kid for touching them: explain sensory overload. Autistic kid is sorting the tools in the sandbox instead of playing with them and gets angry when you mess it up: explain the importance of routines. I find it hard to explain autism in a really short time as, again, it is so drastically complex and individual and personally, I’d try to avoid to accidently generalize it by trying to explain the whole disorder. “XY has a disorder that’s called autism and for them it means they do yx when you try because they yz…” is enough on the playground for a young kid
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