**1. Introduction**

#### **1.1 History of autism spectrum disorder, definitions and symptoms**

Until the middle of the twentieth century, there was no name for the disorder that is now known as autism spectrum disorder, and Henry Moseley was the first psychiatrist who, in 1867, seriously treated children with severe mental disorders and delays. A development was investigated and studied, and it was observed that these children are different from other children with mental disorders; but in the middle of the twentieth century, i.e. 1943, Dr. Leo Connor studied a group of 11 children at Hopkins Hospital who had characteristics such as loneliness, developmental delays, difficulty in learning cognitive concepts, repetition or echo of pronoun inversion. Using the third person singular pronoun instead of the first person singular or "I") monotony of speech and voice, parrot-like and normal memory, restrictions on all kinds of spontaneous movements, behaviors and formal expressions, insisting on the uniformity of the environment and preventing changes in it, contact eyes, weak, unnatural relationship with others, inanimate images and objects, and isolationism. Although for years, Leshukani has diagnosed these children with autism or isolation, which in some books and sources is called Canary autism or classical autism, but until 1980, some experts in the field of psychology and psychiatry thought that autism,

mental retardation and childhood schizophrenia are one and the same, and autism was not considered a separate disorder [1, 2]. Since the 1980s and at the same time as the third revision and diagnostic version of mental disorders, the disorders of autism, mental retardation and childhood schizophrenia were distinguished from each other and it was believed that although these disorders are separate from each other, a child with autism can to some extent suffering from mental retardation and schizophrenia; but a schizophrenic or mentally retarded child is not necessarily autistic. According to the latest studies, today children with autism spectrum disorder are considered to be a group of children with developmental disorders who are observed until the age of 3 with two sets of symptoms and qualitative defects in social interactions and communication skills, as well as the presence of stereotyped behaviors, movements and interests. These symptoms have adverse and negative effects on communication, speech and language, cognitive, perceptual, emotional, behavioral, motor and social functions and create disturbances, and sometimes the symptoms start after three years of age [2, 3].

In the past and in the 1990s, when the fourth diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders entered the market, pervasive developmental disorders or autism were classified into five groups, which included classic autism (conner autism), Asperger's syndrome (Asperger's syndrome), Ret's syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and autistic disorder not otherwise specified; but today, all the sufferers of these disorders are called autism spectrum disorder, and perhaps the goal is to try to reduce the set of signs and symptoms of the disorder instead of demarcations, and increase the communication, behavioral, learning, speech, and cognitive functions of these children [1, 4].

These disorders are common in the set of special symptoms such as quality impairment in social interactions, verbal communication skills, limited, weak, complex and strange, as well as the lack of variety and uniformity in behaviors, movements and interests, or in other words stereotypical interests and movements, but these symptoms are common in them. It has strength and weakness from the same source despite the studies and research conducted in the field of autism and the disorders involved in this area, the main and definitive causes and factors of this disorder are not yet known as it should be, but experts have identified a set of biological, genetic, social and psychological causes and factors. Cognitive is considered to be effective in the occurrence of this disorder [2, 5].

About 75% of children with autism spectrum disorder have some degree of mental retardation, although this mental retardation sometimes causes these children to be confused with children with intellectual disabilities [6].

Autism is originally a Greek word. The literal meaning of autism is selfishness. The word autism is a compound word that is the result of the combination of the two words auto and ism. Autism is a type of personality and mental disorder in which a person becomes more introverted and distanced from the environment and people around him, even his or her families. Autism appears mostly in childhood, and most of the time, its symptoms appear before the age of 3. It is interesting to know that the main cause of autism has not been discovered yet [7].

In general, children with autism spectrum disorder do not show their disabilities and abnormalities at the same time, that is a child may show weakness in verbal and writing skills at the age of 8, and another child may be slower or faster in perceptual processes. In general, these differences become more apparent in kindergarten and academy settings.! In different educational environments, students on the autism spectrum usually have selective attention when doing their homeworks, that is

#### *Autism Spectrum Disorder: Learning Environments DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113751*

they pay more attention to details than generalities and sometimes get distracted. And they cannot concentrate enough in doing academic activities, and this factor causes them to be sometimes labeled as (attention deficiency hyperactivity disorder, ADHD). In a word, they pay more attention to some sensory stimuli and less to some other stimuli. In addition, people with autism spectrum disorder consider changes in their living and working environment unpleasant. In academic environments, teachers may complain about the performance of these people, but it is important to consider the conditions of these students. Now, with the knowledge that teachers must acquire in this field and the presence of psychologists in academic environments such as schools is considered necessary, we should not ignore the fact that some of them (autism) show extraordinary abilities such a parrot-like memory in memorizing poems, (without paying attention to its meaning and meaning), or quick calculations in division and multiplication, which are considered some of their learning abilities and skills that should be paid attention to in order to develop in the right way**.** Autism symptoms can be recognized in most children from the age of two. If the symptoms are more severe, this disorder can be diagnosed even earlier. Anyway, early detection of autism symptoms is critical. Because it allows the parents and the child to access the necessary therapy and services on time. This also helps the child grow up healthier. Because the use of services such as behavioral therapy can greatly reduce the symptoms of autism [8, 9].

Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder include difficulty maintaining eye contact, carrying on a conversation, making friends, interpreting jokes or sarcasm, and understanding other people's emotions. People with autism spectrum disorder have many repetitive behaviors. For example, specific hand movements and interest in having a specific structure and routine are examples of repetitive behaviors. Also, a person may show interest in a certain subject, such as math, and talk about it constantly or practice it hard. People with autism spectrum disorder may also be distracted by certain sounds, images, or textures. Because the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are milder in some people, they are sometimes difficult to detect.

#### **1.2 Brain structure in autism spectrum disorder**

The causes of autism spectrum disorder are generally unknown, and many theories have been proposed in this field. Current theories and research testify to abnormalities in the structure of the brain, which can be a factor in causing this disorder and disabilities in the mind and overall performance.

Today, with the advances in radiological imaging, it is possible to study the brain: computed tomography (CT), tomography by sending positrons (PET), tomography by sending photons (spect), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a method that can be used to examine the brain structure of people with abnormal brain disorders, including autism spectrum disorder [8, 9] anyway the neuropsychological studies and researchers the brains function in an autistic child can be strange the both hemispheres may work different from each other for example: a child with autism spectrum disorder may have a lot of potentials in musical learning and it means that his or her left hemisphere works well, but this child cannot write or draw well because the problems in visual perceptual skills related to the right occipital lobe. According to the neuropsychological studies, the autistic child's brain can be similar to islands and the function of the brains parts will be different. Some of the children with autism spectrum disorder can do the logical operation due to the parietal lobe function or can learn a lot of musical instruments as soon as possible or can learn lots of numerical

and telephone numbers. It means that the information processing can be done rapidly. According to the researches and studies, the memory processing is different in children with autism spectrum disorder and also the visual memory is better [1, 2, 10]. In addition some evidence states that it is due to biological reasons and genetic patterns.

In a large study conducted on twins, the concordance rate in monozygotic twins was 92% [1, 3]. To say more, relatives in families that have more than one person in them show more social and communication deficiencies [1, 3]. Also, abnormalities in chromosome 7, 15, 16 have caused a disorder in the brain structure of people with autism spectrum [11].

One of the most important causes of autism spectrum disorder is due to neuroanatomical factors. MRI studies of people in the study show an increase in the total volume of their brains, and the largest increase in size is related the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes of these people. There is no difference in the frontal lobes, the reason for the increase in brain volume can be found in three possible reasons:

1.possible increase in non-neuronal tissue,

2.decrease in neuron death,

3.increase in neurogenesis [1, 2].

#### **1.3 Environment and learning in autism spectrum disorder**

In addition to educational environments, including schools, preschools, academic environments, or also other environments, such as: streets, stores where these people are present, which have potential effects on the experiences and learning of these people with autism spectrum disorder, especially the home and family environments. In family environments, with the modernization of lifestyles, children interact with their mothers most of the time in the family environment, and this issue makes the conditions of mothers or in general, any person who interacts with these people challenging.

The problems and conditions of these children sometimes challenge many aspects of the lives of parents and other family members and even cause differences between couples [1, 12, 13].

Anyway, academic learning needs reinforcement in the areas such as: cognitive, perceptual, emotional, motional, languages and communicational skills, in which all of the children can be perfected. This kind of skills are different in children with autism spectrum disorder cognition skills such as; reasoning, judgment, insight, abstract, thinking, attention, concentration and memory or orientation are strange and also the visual and auditory perceptual skills that are necessary for learning are not same like other normal children. The children with autism spectrum disorder cannot show their emotional in normal ways instead of they show stereotypical behaviors and habits. Stereotypical patterns can be observed in their motional patterns. Another big problems in these children can be the language of communicational skills problems in which can lead to impairments in the social skill training the children with autism spectrum disorder have problems in body language, body gesture, posture, sensory integration processing and eye contact that can have negative effects in their communication with their teacher [2, 4] beside the routine education, the children with autistic spectrum disorder can benefit from interventions such as ABA (applied behavioral analysis), art therapy, sensory integration and massage techniques,

### *Autism Spectrum Disorder: Learning Environments DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113751*

vestibular system techniques, PECS (picture exchange communication system), teach and etc. In addition, these interventions are the scientific applied interventions can have an important roles in facilitation. According to the classroom rules and occupational therapist, speech therapist, exceptional children psychologists, social workers and also the parents should be as the team members in interventional learning process. Because the dynamic association and collaboration of these practitioners and parents can lead to family-based programmers that are necessary in the children with autism spectrum disorder learning process.

And one of the suitable solutions for parents to cope with the conditions and compromise with these people with emotional problems, learning problems and problems in the perception of these people, families should participate in a series of intervention activities and educational solutions. Because the education of families and the family-centeredness of rehabilitative educational programs and interventions, and in better words, the active participation of families, increases the learning performance of these people with autism spectrum disorder. The **Figures 1** and **2** show art therapy classroom for these children in which I have tried for training of theatre techniques to them. In this environment, we applied sensory integration techniques and familybased art therapy program for better learning.
