Autism strengths and challenges

Autism strengths and challenges

All neurodivergent individuals are different so autism can often look different in different people. You cannot always ‘see’ autism, so it is good to be curious about everyone’s differences. It is also really important to be aware of certain parts of autism which are often misunderstood or missed.

Behaviours can either be internalised or externalised. Internalised or ‘hidden’ behaviours are often the ones that get missed.

Pictures of icebergs can help us to think about actions and behaviours we see in others. The tip of the iceberg that we can see above the water, the smallest part, represents the most obvious and external behaviours we see. The biggest part of the iceberg is hidden under water, reflecting potential reasons for any behaviour. This may also reflect the internalised and hidden behaviours that we can’t see.

Below, we have created two different icebergs to help explain the internalised and externalised characteristics that may be experienced in autistic individuals.

The first iceberg focuses on the common strengths seen in autism. These are attributes that can give the individual significant strengths and unique qualities.

These are unfortunately not always associated with, or fully acknowledged in autistic individuals. This can also be downloaded here.

This second iceberg focuses on common challenges seen in autism. This model emphasises the internalised, ‘under the surface’ parts of autism. These hidden challenges can underlie a lot of the more obvious external behaviours.

These underlying, more subtle characteristics are often missed or misunderstood, compared to the more commonly noticed externalised parts of autism, above the water. This can also be downloaded here.

These are only examples of commonly seen characteristics seen in autistic individuals. Each autistic person may or may not identify with these challenges/strengths. The purpose of these illustrations is to increase the understanding of the less obvious behaviours and the underlying reasons for behaviours. We also want to increase the acknowledgement of the positive attributes autism can give and to celebrate these.