Question
What is central coherence?
Answer
It is a focus on details. In other words, those with autism often focus so intensely on details that they can't see the whole or the bigger picture. You've likely heard the phrase, "they can't see the forest for the trees." An autistic person, when looking at a bunch of trees, doesn't see a forest. They see an oak, a maple, a pine tree, and a fallen stump. They notice all these details at a level most people don't, but they miss the bigger picture and the invisible relationships between these details.
What does this look like in real life? In conversation, these individuals struggle to get to the point. They share detail after detail without connections or a clear end result. Academically, these students excel in short-term recall questions but struggle with main ideas, inference, or prediction.
To me, central coherence—this ability to see things in incredibly detailed ways—is our calling. I am convinced that students who can perceive this level of detail, which others cannot, are the ones who might find cures for diseases like cancer. They see details that most can't even begin to fathom. However, if we, as a collective team, don't teach them collaboration and communication skills, we won't get the answers we're seeking.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course Assessment of Autism: Differentiation Consideration presented by Angie Neal, MS, CCC-SLP.
