autism+scenario-rosemary

Matthew is a seven year old boy currently in grade 2 who attends a local mainstream school. Matthew fails to interact with other students, teachers and reportedly his family. To be more particular, it is quite clear that he has limited verbal and non-verbal communication skills, poor language development and a distinct inability to see beyond the literal meaning of instructions. His understanding of others emotions is very limited. He displays few emotional facial expressions. Matthew spends most of his time in class working on maths activities on the computer. Beyond this, he shows little interest in learning and during free play or unstructured class time, he does not engage with his peers. Although Matthew is the best chess player in the class, he regularly throws the chess board on the ground. The other children express anger towards him at the speed in which he beats them and his lack of humility in doing so. When Fred, the class rabbit, was taken to the vet sick, Matthew was the only child in the class that showed no notable signs of distress. This was also the case when the class goldfish was discovered floating upside down dead on a Monday morning. Recently, the class went on an excursion into the city. All the children were excited and waved happily to their mothers and carers as the bus departed the school grounds. It was noted by the accompanying teachers that Matthew did not participate in the waving, nor did he show any outward signs of excitement, sitting silently as the bus moved away. During lunch time, Matthew is often observed obsessively collecting rubbish and debris. If he is restricted from doing so, he “lashes out” physically throwing or hitting objects. He also frequently visits the library at lunchtime, seeking out a computer and hence, avoiding social interactions with his peers.