Post by momofautistic on Mar 18, 2005 1:19:25 GMT -5
What is autism like for those who have it?
The symptoms of autism can vary widely from one individual to the next. Autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder because it ranges in severity across a wide range of conditions, like the colors of a rainbow. In additions, some people may be affected more by one symptom, while others may be affected more strongly by a different symptom. Also, some of the symptoms may have variable manifestations.
Sensory Processing
Autistic people tend to have unusual sensory experiences. These experiences may involve a sense being too sensitive, less sensitive than normal, and/or difficulty interpreting a sense ("agnosia"). These experiences do not involve hallucinations; autistic people have sensory experience based on real experiences, like normal people, but the experience may feel or sound different, or the autistic person may have difficulty interpreting the experience. No two autistic people appear to have the exact same pattern of sensory problems.
It is not uncommon, for example, for an autistic person to avoid being touched. This is usually because of a heightened sense of touch — a gentle touch to most people may hurt or shock some autistic people. Others may experience confusion, due to difficulty interpreting the sensation or insufficient sensation reaching the brain to interpret. Another, not uncommon pattern is to have the strength of the sensation inverse from that of the stimulation, so that a gentle touch may feel like an electric shock, but firm contact may not be a problem. Some autistic people may be insensitive to pain, and fail to notice injuries.
Hearing may also be heightened, so that noises that don't bother others may hurt an autistic person's ears. Many autistic people have trouble making out what is said to them, as they have trouble processing sound.
Vision may also be affected. Some autistic people are prosopagnostic ("face-blind"), that is, have trouble recognizing people. This means that learning to recognize someone is hard, recognition may be slow, faces tend to be analyzed rather than recognized automatically, and many normal effects of seeing a person may be absent. The exact effects and severity may vary between people. Other autistic people may have their eyes hurt by bright light or certain flickering or vibrating frequencies.
One common effect of these heightened senses, is that autistic people are vulnerable to sensory overload with continued low-level bombardment. This may also result from too much emotional or social stimulation. Autistic people may become overloaded in situation that would not bother (or might even entertain) a normal person. When overloaded, autistic people have trouble concentrating, may feel tired or confused, and some may experience physical pain. Too much overload may lead to tantrums or emotional outburst. Another result of too much overload may be "shutdown," in which the person looses some or all of the person's normal functioning. Shutdown may feel different to different people, but is extremely unpleasant.
Misunderstanding
Autistic people have a great deal of trouble understanding things in the social environment. This includes both understanding of social cues and conventions, and understanding language. (The primary difference between Autistic Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome is that those with Aspergers are defined to have less severe communication problems and no speech delays.)
One aspect of autism is that it is like being in perpetual culture shock, no matter where the autistic person goes or how long the autistic person stays. They don't understand many of the basic social assumptions that others take for granted (often without even being consciously aware of them). In many situations, it's like being dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar play, and being the only one there who doesn't know the script, you're role, or even what play you're in! What's going on? What should I do? Why is X crying, Y happy, and Z sneaking around grumbling? Life — especially social life — can be very, very confusing! Autistic people generally don't know how to handle innuendoes, either.
Autistic people lack normal non-verbal communication and body language, and may thus seem more literal minded or unemotional than they actually are.
Autistic people also have trouble with verbal communication. This usually involves what is called a semantic-pragmatic component. This means that an autistic person may take a statement or question in a very literal or unusual way; like the comic character Amelia Bedelia2 from Peggy Parish's children's book series. This could include things like interpreting "I'd like coffee with my cereal" to mean cereal with coffee in it2. Another example could be innocently answering "what do you do when you get cut" with "bleed," instead of describing what should be done about the cut3.
Many autistic people have other communication difficulties, such as trouble remembering vocabulary, or trouble pronouncing words. Some may have Apraxia of Speech, meaning difficulty coordinating speech movements. Others have characteristics of speech disorders called aphasias. Some autistic people may be mute, or may occasionally lose the ability to speak. Some may have odd pronunciation, inflection, or vocal qualities. Many autistic people may pause and need extra time to process verbal comments or questions, and to formulate replies. Repeating things that have been heard (echolalia), is not uncommon, nor is repeating ones own words.
cont. below
The symptoms of autism can vary widely from one individual to the next. Autism is referred to as a spectrum disorder because it ranges in severity across a wide range of conditions, like the colors of a rainbow. In additions, some people may be affected more by one symptom, while others may be affected more strongly by a different symptom. Also, some of the symptoms may have variable manifestations.
Sensory Processing
Autistic people tend to have unusual sensory experiences. These experiences may involve a sense being too sensitive, less sensitive than normal, and/or difficulty interpreting a sense ("agnosia"). These experiences do not involve hallucinations; autistic people have sensory experience based on real experiences, like normal people, but the experience may feel or sound different, or the autistic person may have difficulty interpreting the experience. No two autistic people appear to have the exact same pattern of sensory problems.
It is not uncommon, for example, for an autistic person to avoid being touched. This is usually because of a heightened sense of touch — a gentle touch to most people may hurt or shock some autistic people. Others may experience confusion, due to difficulty interpreting the sensation or insufficient sensation reaching the brain to interpret. Another, not uncommon pattern is to have the strength of the sensation inverse from that of the stimulation, so that a gentle touch may feel like an electric shock, but firm contact may not be a problem. Some autistic people may be insensitive to pain, and fail to notice injuries.
Hearing may also be heightened, so that noises that don't bother others may hurt an autistic person's ears. Many autistic people have trouble making out what is said to them, as they have trouble processing sound.
Vision may also be affected. Some autistic people are prosopagnostic ("face-blind"), that is, have trouble recognizing people. This means that learning to recognize someone is hard, recognition may be slow, faces tend to be analyzed rather than recognized automatically, and many normal effects of seeing a person may be absent. The exact effects and severity may vary between people. Other autistic people may have their eyes hurt by bright light or certain flickering or vibrating frequencies.
One common effect of these heightened senses, is that autistic people are vulnerable to sensory overload with continued low-level bombardment. This may also result from too much emotional or social stimulation. Autistic people may become overloaded in situation that would not bother (or might even entertain) a normal person. When overloaded, autistic people have trouble concentrating, may feel tired or confused, and some may experience physical pain. Too much overload may lead to tantrums or emotional outburst. Another result of too much overload may be "shutdown," in which the person looses some or all of the person's normal functioning. Shutdown may feel different to different people, but is extremely unpleasant.
Misunderstanding
Autistic people have a great deal of trouble understanding things in the social environment. This includes both understanding of social cues and conventions, and understanding language. (The primary difference between Autistic Disorder and Aspergers Syndrome is that those with Aspergers are defined to have less severe communication problems and no speech delays.)
One aspect of autism is that it is like being in perpetual culture shock, no matter where the autistic person goes or how long the autistic person stays. They don't understand many of the basic social assumptions that others take for granted (often without even being consciously aware of them). In many situations, it's like being dropped into the middle of an unfamiliar play, and being the only one there who doesn't know the script, you're role, or even what play you're in! What's going on? What should I do? Why is X crying, Y happy, and Z sneaking around grumbling? Life — especially social life — can be very, very confusing! Autistic people generally don't know how to handle innuendoes, either.
Autistic people lack normal non-verbal communication and body language, and may thus seem more literal minded or unemotional than they actually are.
Autistic people also have trouble with verbal communication. This usually involves what is called a semantic-pragmatic component. This means that an autistic person may take a statement or question in a very literal or unusual way; like the comic character Amelia Bedelia2 from Peggy Parish's children's book series. This could include things like interpreting "I'd like coffee with my cereal" to mean cereal with coffee in it2. Another example could be innocently answering "what do you do when you get cut" with "bleed," instead of describing what should be done about the cut3.
Many autistic people have other communication difficulties, such as trouble remembering vocabulary, or trouble pronouncing words. Some may have Apraxia of Speech, meaning difficulty coordinating speech movements. Others have characteristics of speech disorders called aphasias. Some autistic people may be mute, or may occasionally lose the ability to speak. Some may have odd pronunciation, inflection, or vocal qualities. Many autistic people may pause and need extra time to process verbal comments or questions, and to formulate replies. Repeating things that have been heard (echolalia), is not uncommon, nor is repeating ones own words.
cont. below
