Using a Music Therapy Collaborative Consultative Approach - World ...

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to give me any chance to prepare myself for them. Because of this I found pleasure and
comfort in doing the same thing over and over again” (p. 44).
2.2.2.4 Other Characteristics
Children with autism also frequently display an inconsistent response to sensory
information during their toddler or preschool years (Ermer & Dunn, 1998). Often, a
hypersensitivity to sounds, lights, certain texture of fabrics, and taste and smell of food are
observed. At other times, the same individual might respond differently or have a lack of
responsiveness to the same stimuli (Dawson & Watling, 2000). Grandin (in Grandin &
Scariano, 1996) gives the following example of an inconsistent pattern of sensory response
for hearing: “Sometimes I heard and understood, and other times sounds or speech reached
my brain like the unbearable noise of an onrushing freight train” (p.145). Additional, in
infants with autism an insensitivity to pain is more commonly seen than in typical infants or
infants with other special needs (Hoshino et al., 1982).
Children with autism often have cognitive deficits. Their cognitive abilities can vary
widely and often they do have uneven patterns of intellectual functioning. For example,
some aspects of development (such as visual memory and visual-spatial organization) might
be close to normal, while others (such as problem-solving and abstract thinking) might be
seriously delayed. Other cognitive characteristics such as difficulty with attention,
information processing and social-cognition, including focusing on irrelevant details,
difficulty with perceiving or understanding thoughts, feelings, or intentions of others,
inability to generalize, and problems in sequencing and organization, have been described in