Seven points about autism:
1. Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference. Because of some characteristics of that difference, societal conditions, and a range of co-occurring conditions, it can be functionally disabling. (Note that no more than 30% of autists have learning disabilities.)
2. Autists (“people with autism”) have a higher than usual number of synaptic connections (see https://www.healthline.com/health/synaptic-pruning) between nerve cells than neurotypical people (everyone has too many at birth, but synaptic pruning reduces that number more effectively for neurotypical people [and people with conditions such as Parkinsons may have excessive synaptic pruning]). In my (non-medical) opinion, it can be useful, in terms of understanding the sensory sensitivities of autism, to think of this as magnifying the conveyance of sensory inputs compared to neurotypical people – it is like receiving a phone call simultaneously on multiple phones, rather than just one.
3. Just as neurotypical people have different sensory likes and dislikes, so too do autists. The circular profile (see https://www.apricott.com/resources/autism-spectrum-wheel) of autism traits (often giving a unique “spikiness” for each autist) is far more practically useful than thinking of autism as a linear spectrum, or as having distinct levels of support/recovery needs - such needs are unique to each autist, and may be deliberately masked (hidden) for safety & to prevent discrimination, which results in support/recovery being needed when out of the public eye. Those needs include the often profound exhaustion caused by masking, which can lead to extreme burnout.
4. In addition, much as around 10% of people become left
handed (~1% when being left handed was discriminated against - resulting in
~900% increase when discrimination ended) - which is described as an “asymmetrical bifurcation”, there is a point where some infants start to - in my words - assess information on its merits, without reference to source or in relation to others. This results in behaviours such as a focus on the requirements of
procedures as they are written, rather than modifying expectations to suit
social circumstances.
There is nothing unnatural about this - it is exactly as normal as people being either left or right handed, and, as with that, it is a smaller proportion of the population who have the variation.
This concept has been very well explored and explained in the paper at https://larivierre.substack.com/p/what-if-the-dsm-5-got-autism-wrong
5. Autists (and most neurodivergent people) feel and express empathy, but in ways that are different to the way neurotypical people do. This difference, often described as “the double empathy problem” ** , means each group tends to empathise in ways that are comprehensible within each group, but not to the other (this can be more pronounced if the neurodivergent person is experiencing a sensory overload or a meltdown – remembering the multiple extra synaptic connections conveying sensations multiple times). As neurotypical predominate, this can result in an incorrect, but predominating view, that autists lack empathy.
** See https://reframingautism.org.au/miltons-double-empathy-problem-a-summary-for-non-academics/, https://www.simplypsychology.org/autism-double-empathy-problem.html, and https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/double-empathy
6. Autists may use repeated movements and behaviour, known as ‘stimming’ (short for ‘self-stimulating behaviour’) to help stay calm (‘self-regulating’ emotions or ‘self-soothing’), or to express joy, or for sensory input and enjoyment. Most of this is beneficial for the autist and harmless, although some is to manage distress - which requires addressing the cause of the distress, NOT suppressing the stimming.
For more on this see https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/what-you-need-to-know-about-stimming-and-autism and https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/about-autism/repeated-movements-and-behaviour-stimming
7. Formal identification of autism is expensive, stressful, and subject to protracted delays. Self-identification, which does NOT allow any access to resources, is known to be a very strong indicator of formal identification, if that is subsequently sought. In any case, providing reasonable adaptations to such normal human variations is a part of normal human decency, much as is making allowance for left handedness, catering for food allergies, or accommodations for people with conditions such as arthritis.
For more on this see https://reframingautism.org.au/all-about-self-identification/, https://www.simplypsychology.org/autism-self-diagnosis.html, and https://embrace-autism.com/is-self-assessment-enough/
I will also start collecting some videos on this at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGpDPh01NoRn5pM8dTINchHpGYQi2u343&si=QRndLFcSgS1DPitW
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