Fall 2019

WHAT IS AUTISM? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual- 5th edition (DSM-5), [1] defines Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as “a pervasive neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication deficits and stereotyped and repetitive patterns of behavior that manifests in early childhood and persist throughout one’s lifespan.” ASD also includes sensory abnormalities, such as hyper (over)- or hypo (lack) of sensitivity. The diagnosis of ASD, may also include the further descriptors “with or without intellectual impairment” and “with or without language impairment”. ASD is usually associated with significant limitations in adaptive functioning, in other words, how well a person can manage common daily tasks in comparison to others of a similar age. The DSM-5 refers to three levels of “severity” – the perceived level of support an individual will require. Level 1 – requiring support; Level 2 – requiring substantial support; and Level 3 – requiring very substantial support. The required level of support is determined on the extent of social communication impairments, and patterns of behaviour.

Imagine that you are printing a large document at work. You pick up the freshly printed paper at the printer and realize that you have printed 40 pages of the wrong document. Do you berate yourself for wasting paper and resources and tell yourself that no one else makes such mistakes? Or do you acknowledge that although this was an unfortunate mistake, people make mistakes at times? Now imagine that you completely forgot about an important appointment and have missed the appointment. Do you harshly scold yourself for being unorganized or call yourself names? Or do you acknowledge that although it is really disappointing that you missed the appointment, you understand that your very busy schedule this week may have contributed to forgetting and then you think of strategies to help you remember the next appointment? There are different ways that we can treat ourselves after we make a mistake or experience something difficult. Sometimes people have a tendency to be very critical towards themselves and to treat themselves less kindly than how they treat others. Self-criticism has been associated with mental health difficulties such as depression and anxiety. 1,2 One way of combating this criticism could be through the use of self-compassion. Dr. Kristen Neff, who is one of the experts on self-compassion, describes self-compassion to consist of three main components: viewing one’s experiences as part of the human experience and something that other people are going through rather than feeling alone, being kind to oneself rather than being critical or judgmental, and accepting one’s experiences rather than continuously thinking about or becoming absorbed by negative thoughts and emotions. 3, 4, 5 There are many benefits to treating ourselves with more compassion. Higher self-compassion has been related to fewer mental health challenges6 and various other positive outcomes. 7 Is self-compassion the same as self-esteem? No. Although selfcompassion and self-esteem both consist of a positive view of oneself, there are differences. 4 Having high self-esteem refers to viewing oneself positively and this is often related to comparing oneself to others and feeling superior. However, comparing oneself to others may not always result in feeling good. 4 Self-compassion on the other hand, does not depend on how we measure up to others. Selfcompassion consists of acknowledging both our weaknesses and our strengths while helping us to feel secure. 4 In this sense, it has been argued that self-compassion is more sustainable and advantageous in achieving a positive view of oneself. 4 If I am compassionate toward myself, does that mean that I won’t be motivated to make changes or that I will be unrealistically optimistic? No. In fact, research suggests that if we treat ourselves compassionately after we make a mistake, then we may be more motivated to improve.8 For example, experiments have been conducted where undergraduate students identified their greatest weakness and then they were assigned to conditions where they either wrote a paragraph to themselves about the weakness from a compassionate perspective, talked to themselves about the weakness by focusing on their positive qualities, or did not reflect on the weakness.