understanding autism , adhd , speech delay and behaviour in goal directed cognitive perspective, to improve sitting, attention, learning and speech.
dr kondekars way of understanding autism as a sensory cp with failure to be aware of the living andnon living world, and eventually not being able to connect communicate understand the living world, humanity and social communication age appropriately and hence resulting in poor non verbal or verbal communication, which is the root cause of uncontrolled sensory and behavioural manifestations out of anxiety frustration confuse and headless chaotic response and coordination of sense and actions due to loss of internal semsory integrative control, allof which can bemodified when we turn a kid to sit look listen receptive and make connect listen understand and copy human human feelings emotions behaviour knowledge and actions ahead of complex executive functions
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Dr. Kondekar’s Sensory-Integrative Understanding of Autism
Introduction
Dr. Kondekar’s understanding of autism proposes a fundamentally sensory-based model of the condition, reframing autism not primarily as a disorder of intelligence, language, or behavior, but as a disorder of sensory awareness, integration, and regulation. In this framework, autism is conceptualized as analogous to a sensory form of cerebral palsy, where the core difficulty lies in the brain’s capacity to receive, organize, interpret, and integrate sensory information in a meaningful and coordinated way.
According to this view, when sensory awareness and integration fail to develop appropriately, the child is unable to form a stable, coherent relationship with both the non-living environment (objects, space, sounds, textures) and the living world (people, emotions, social cues, shared attention). Over time, this disruption in sensory connection cascades into difficulties in communication, behavior, emotional regulation, and social participation.
Crucially, this model emphasizes that many outward features of autism—such as repetitive behaviors, emotional dysregulation, communication delays, and social withdrawal—are secondary manifestations, not the root cause. The root problem is proposed to be a loss of internal sensory integrative control, leading to confusion, anxiety, frustration, and chaotic responses to the environment.
Autism as a Sensory Condition
In this model, autism begins at the level of sensory processing, not cognition. Sensory input from vision, hearing, touch, proprioception, vestibular sense, smell, and interoception must be integrated internally to create a stable sense of self, body, space, and meaning. When this integration is intact, a child naturally becomes aware of the world, explores it, and learns from it.
Dr. Kondekar’s perspective suggests that in autism, this basic sensory awareness does not organize properly. Sensory signals may be fragmented, overwhelming, under-registered, or poorly coordinated. As a result, the child does not experience the world as a coherent, predictable, or meaningful whole.
This sensory disorganization affects:
Awareness of one’s own body
Awareness of space and objects
Awareness of cause and effect
Awareness of people as intentional, emotional beings
Without this foundational awareness, higher developmental processes struggle to emerge.
Failure of Awareness of the Living and Non-Living World
A key concept in this framework is the failure to become aware of both the non-living and living world in an integrated way.
Non-Living World
Awareness of the non-living world includes understanding objects, their properties, their functions, and their relationship to space and movement. When sensory integration is impaired:
Objects may be perceived as fragments rather than wholes
Spatial relationships may feel unstable
Sounds and visual stimuli may feel intrusive or meaningless
This creates an environment that feels confusing and unsafe, making exploration difficult.
Living World
More critically, the child struggles to recognize and understand the living world, especially humans. Human beings are complex sensory stimuli: faces, voices, gestures, emotions, and intentions all change rapidly and require integrated sensory interpretation.
In this model, the child does not instinctively perceive humans as emotionally meaningful or socially engaging. Facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice, and gestures may not register as coherent signals. Consequently, the child may fail to:
Recognize emotions in others
Understand social intent
Experience shared attention
This is not due to a lack of interest or empathy, but due to insufficient sensory access to social meaning.
Impact on Social Communication and Development
As development progresses, the child is expected to naturally acquire social communication skills by observing, imitating, and emotionally resonating with others. However, in Dr. Kondekar’s model, sensory disconnection disrupts this process at its foundation.
Because the child cannot reliably:
Attend to faces
Interpret gestures
Process tone of voice
Integrate verbal and non-verbal signals
Social communication fails to develop in an age-appropriate manner.
Verbal Communication
Language acquisition depends heavily on sensory integration:
Hearing sounds accurately
Watching mouth movements
Associating sounds with meaning
Understanding intent and emotional context
When these processes are fragmented, speech may be delayed, absent, or functionally limited. Words may be repeated without understanding, used inconsistently, or avoided altogether.
Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication—eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, posture—is even more dependent on sensory awareness. In this framework, poor non-verbal communication reflects an inability to:
Perceive social signals clearly
Coordinate sensory input with motor output
Understand communicative intent
Thus, deficits in communication are seen as downstream effects, not primary deficits.
Loss of Internal Sensory Integrative Control
At the core of this model is the concept of internal sensory integrative control. This refers to the brain’s ability to regulate, prioritize, and coordinate sensory inputs so that the individual can respond appropriately and adaptively.
When this control is lost or underdeveloped:
Sensory input becomes overwhelming or chaotic
The child cannot filter relevant from irrelevant stimuli
Responses become disorganized
This loss of control leads directly to emotional and behavioral dysregulation.
Emotional Consequences: Anxiety, Frustration, and Confusion
Living in a world that feels unpredictable and overwhelming produces intense emotional consequences.
Anxiety
Without sensory predictability, the environment feels unsafe. Sounds, movements, or social interactions may trigger distress. Anxiety becomes a constant background state, not because the child fears the world cognitively, but because the nervous system cannot regulate sensory input.
Frustration
The child wants to engage, communicate, or express needs but lacks the sensory tools to do so effectively. This mismatch between intention and ability leads to frustration.
Confusion
Poor sensory integration creates confusion about cause and effect, social expectations, and bodily responses. The child may not understand why certain things happen or how to respond appropriately.
Behavioral Manifestations as Coping Responses
In this framework, behaviors often labeled as “problematic” are understood as coping mechanisms, not deliberate misbehavior.
These may include:
Repetitive movements
Self-stimulatory behaviors
Aggression or withdrawal
Emotional outbursts
Such behaviors are interpreted as attempts to:
Regulate sensory input
Create predictability
Reduce internal chaos
They represent headless, chaotic responses, not intentional defiance.
Coordination of Senses and Actions
Effective interaction with the world requires coordination between sensory input and motor output. When sensory integration is impaired:
Movements may be poorly timed
Actions may not match intent
Responses may appear clumsy or inappropriate
This further limits the child’s ability to learn through interaction, reinforcing developmental delays.
Therapeutic Principle: Modifiability
A central and optimistic claim of Dr. Kondekar’s model is that these difficulties are modifiable, not fixed.
Because the issue is framed as sensory and experiential rather than structural or purely genetic, intervention focuses on rebuilding sensory awareness and integration through guided human interaction.
Establishing Receptivity: Sit, Look, Listen
The first therapeutic goal is not academic learning or behavior correction, but receptivity.
The child is guided to:
Sit calmly
Look intentionally
Listen attentively
These actions are not forced compliance but are seen as foundational states that allow sensory integration to begin.
Receptivity enables the child to:
Attend to external input
Reduce sensory chaos
Begin organizing experience
Human-to-Human Connection as the Foundation
Once receptivity is established, the child is guided into human connection. Humans are considered the most meaningful sensory input because they provide emotion, intention, and social meaning.
The child is encouraged to:
Observe human faces
Attend to voices
Notice emotional expressions
Through repeated exposure, the child begins to:
Recognize emotions
Understand intent
Associate actions with meaning
Learning Through Imitation
Imitation is central in this model. The child learns by:
Watching human behavior
Copying actions
Reproducing sounds and gestures
Imitation is seen as the bridge between sensory awareness and meaningful communication. Through imitation, the child internalizes:
Emotional expressions
Social norms
Functional behaviors
Emotional and Social Understanding Before Executive Functions
A critical principle of this model is developmental sequencing. Emotional and sensory integration must come before higher cognitive demands.
Attempting to teach:
Abstract concepts
Executive planning
Academic skills
without first establishing sensory and emotional grounding is seen as ineffective or counterproductive.
Once the child understands:
Human emotions
Social intent
Cause-and-effect relationships
more complex executive functions can develop naturally.
Conclusion
Dr. Kondekar’s understanding of autism reframes the condition as a sensory-integrative disorder rooted in impaired awareness of the living and non-living world. Communication deficits, behavioral challenges, and emotional dysregulation are viewed not as primary defects but as adaptive responses to sensory chaos and disconnection.
By focusing on receptivity, sensory integration, human connection, and imitation, this model proposes that meaningful change is possible. The emphasis is not on suppressing behaviors or accelerating cognition, but on restoring the child’s capacity to experience, understand, and connect with the human world.
In this view, when sensory integration and emotional connection are rebuilt, communication, behavior, and learning emerge as natural consequences—rather than forced outcomes.
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