Published on 12, July, 2020
This might be one for the Moderators to look into, but I wonder if others have insight on this.
I've had several conversations recently with professionals dealing with adults on the spectrum who've just spouted the triad of impairments, or who've said its all in the triad of impairments.
With all the literature on theories about autism and various interpretations, and approaches to treatment, I could quite understand professionals looking for the easiest synthesis to hand. But what is to hand? Is it just too easy to read up on the triad and related summaries? Or is there nothing else to hand for professionals to use.
The Triad of Impairments, as far as I can see, is of no more value than for diagnosing children. It has little relevance to the everyday lives and experiences of adults, and is hardly appropriate to helping professionals understand adult needs.
It doesn't explain a lot of issues facing adults.
But just what are the main texts used by professionals? And how useful are these texts for supporting adults?
I think the Triad of Impairments model is helpful to understand the areas of difficulty. As you say Longman, it doesn't tell the real life stories or difficulties adults with ASCs have. I think professionals would build up that picture from speaking to such adults during assessments and therapies. It would be an individual thing with each person's environment and situations as to how the condition affected them, also, we all have our own unique blend of the traits, so one person may have worse empathy than another for example.
Professionals aren't interested in the nitty-gritty of what we go through, all they care about is fitting things into boxes and anything they offer (or don't offer) is based around that.
I think it comforts them to place anything we say, into one of the triad and follow a train of thought that way, as to how to deal with it. If they didn't do that they would probably be floundering. All their training and experience is based on applying the individual's problems to a known model.
I once had a counsellor tell me she was out of her depth with me and didn't know how to help me. That was long before I had a diagnosis or had even heard of Asperger's.
Until they ask us what will help us, they will never get it right. Of course, there are things we need that they cannot change. You cannot change society, or the fact that we are in a minority.
One of the biggest things I think that needs to be changed is the type of housing that we need. I cannot bear living in housing that is so close to others, with all the noise and disturbance that brings. But as space in the UK is at a premium and they want to cram in as many houses as they can into each space I can't see that ever changing. Plus with immigrants swelling the population that puts even more pressure on housing stock.
I agree that it is important that the right information is sent out to authorities and frontline workers and people in key positions, but there is still this deliberate avoidance of asking us what we need. Authorities could survey autistic people to ask us, but they don't. Because asking us would involve money being spent. Or they sometimes do ask us, but then do nothing with that information. They just want to make it look like they are doing stuff in response to the Autism Act. Fast forward a few years and you will find the reports but the status quo remains.