General Autism Discussion

Harmon.

Ah.

Hey, not to intrude (or bother) but does anybody else deal with things like sensory overload

I have told this a lot of times, but nightclubs are —for me— like being in a Eldritch Location. I can stand be in loud locals (not enjoying it, but not hating it) for while but if it extends enought, then I start to suffer until I start screaming and begging to get out of there.

And Peruvian parties are very loud.

That sounds dreadful. Most of the time my senses bother me (sight, sound, and smell specifically) I'm either:

Outside and something like police sirens (I live in a place with a lot of shootings and drug problems) or firetrucks

In a large crowd (the noises they make don't bother me as much as seeing all those people cluttered together. Although, enough people making enough noise can bother me)

Or I smell something that smells particularly pungent (the drug that pervades my streets is referred to as boat or dippers. Which are essentially cigarettes dipped in embalming fluid). Or great (this is odd given that this kind of overload can feel very good or really bad depending on what the smell is and how long it is in the air. It is similar to the sound equivalent of it in which I like loud music but only when I am in control of it. (I can listen to things like Merzbow as long as I am assured I can turn the music/noise down) with something as sudden as a ambulance. Which I can't stop, I become increasingly irritable.).

Edited by KeironCioran on Sep 23rd 2018 at 9:14:35 AM

Music is weird. I can hear loud music fine, but if it sounds too much that I can't hear my own voice...then the suffering begins again.

I hate silence unless I'm sleeping, that sort of noise is actually relaxing to me. I blame spending a lot of time in busy pubs when young.

Pain to try and hold a conversation in them, though.

I listen to dubstep.

I think that says enough.

I'm wondering. Neither of us share the exact same symptoms. How much?

Like, I'm apparently pretty extreme in my emotion expression. Like, almost screaming when I get angry, without me realizing that I was being that loud until someone points it.

I listen to loud music as well (various flavours of Metal, to be more specific), but I still suffer from sensory overload in crowded rooms with far fewer decibels.

If I had to hazard a guess why (based also on my noticing that overloads me but the random 'tavern chatter' in RPG games doesn't) I'd say that for me it's not the level of 'noise', but the variation and unpredictability of the sound versus music (or said tavern chatter, which is basically the same few sound-bites semi-randomized and looped).

It's fairly well documented that people on the Autism Spectrum, in addition to being prone to overstimulation/sensory overload, frequently have some level of sensory irregularity, where things that bother alistics don't bother us or vice versa.

For me personally this was most noticeable when I still lived with my parents after getting out of college and I took over cooking diner. Of course, I usually just cooked what over here is considered a standard meal: Meat, vegetables and potatoes, with the occasional pasta. But occasionally I'd make what my mother termed as one of my 'weird soups', a soup, stew or pasta sauce that I'd use various spices to flavour until I considered it to be an absolutely delicious blend of flavours... And which eventually no one else in the house would touch because, to quote my father, it took two days for their taste buds to start working again.

You hit the nail on the head.

Had to share this.

From this.

Great essay. How did you come about this.

Someone on a Discord server pointed to this article, and I checked it out.

I have to say that, in large part because of what this article points out, I really do think that the severely disabling (and mega obvious) form of autism where the person can't (or can barely) talk, is stuck engaged in repetitive, simplistic activity for long periods of time, and has senses that are out of control, should be considered a separate condition from the Aspergers-style form of autism.

Grouping the two together and calling them the same thing results in the sorts of situation that article describes, such as autistic self-advocates and the parents of the severely autistic being on each other's case. Or where autistic self-advocates say things like "Autism isn't disabling; the way I'm treated for being different is," when the severely disabled are unable to say such a thing (or say anything at all), and likely would not agree.

I get that they're the same condition in the sense that an allergy that makes you sneeze and an allergy that makes your blood pressure plummet and your throat constrict, risking death, are technically the same condition - but they would be treated very differently.

Likewise, yes, there are similarities between having senses that are more sensitive such that you find tags on clothing very uncomfortable, and senses so sensitive that you can barely eat anything due to how much it hurts to eat. Or being stuck engaged in repetitive activity such as running rice through your fingers for hours on end, and simply being obsessed with a random TV show. Or being unable to talk or understand the absolute basics of social interaction, and knowing the basics and a lot of the intermediate stuff but failing badly at the complexities of making and keeping friends and even feeling an emotional connection to friends.

Yes, both of these are autism. But one wrecks you totally and basically has you relying on care for the rest of your life, and the other one is more a matter of navigating a society that thinks you're weird and possibly even creepy simply because you walk funny, don't make the "right" facial expressions, and don't engage socially in the "correct" ways, and socially rejects you as a result.

Careful about making g neralizations there. There are a lot of “low functioning” Autistic Self Advocates, and I don’t think anyone is saying that it’s not a disability.

The Neurodiversity movement comes from the perspective that neurodiversity is just another part of human diversity and is more about reframing the narrative around disability, from the more narrow medical model, to a more inclusive social model. Basically how can we make sure that everyone, including people with severe disabilities live better and more fulfilling lives, instead of trying to make them “indistigishable from their peers”.

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 29th 2018 at 9:34:19 AM

I don't think it's helped that the terminology has been changed to focus on it being a spectrum. Yes, that is more accurate scientifically, but talk about potential misunderstandings...

An article about how workplaces can accept autism, and why they should.

If the vast majority of people are bad at something that a small minority are gifted at, the minority is called smart or talented; the majority is merely called normal. If the vast majority are good at something that a small minority are bad at, the minority is called disabled or dumb.

When I was in elementary school, there were times I thought all the other kids in my class were stupid for missing things that were totally obvious to me, or not getting things that were dead simple to me and easy to grasp. At the same time, conversely, the other kids thought I was stupid for missing things that were totally obvious to them (generally social things or common sense). You get the idea.

At one point, a speaker talks about the difference between equality and equity. They're not the same. To wit:

In short, treating everyone the same assumes that they are the same. Which they're not. Which, ultimately, is unfair.

I agree. It sucks, but I've seen that very argument used other times; if no-one intentionally hires the strange weirdo who sucks at job interviews but has excellent talents that your company needs, then not only does that person remain unemployed and on welfare (and hating it the whole time), but the company misses out on that person's skills. Microsoft is hiring autistics intentionally, and it ain't to be charitable.

There was a lot of other good stuff here too, like the importance of having autistic people involved directly in research about autism, and how communities that are more accepting benefit everyone (it said there's actual research on this, which was said to be too dense to quickly quote). Also, one of the speakers is on the board of Autism Speaks, but he was, well, very much on the side of autistics. The author of this piece expressed hope that he may be influencing Autism Speaks with his presence there.

I found this advice column, where a grandmother with an autistic 7-year-old granddaughter is very aware of how the autistic granddaughter is excluded by her cousins due to her social weirdness. She wants to know how to explain to kids what autism is and help them be more accepting of her.

Here's part of the response:

Yes, that's certainly true. I had a coworker who seemed creeped out by me, and not exactly hiding it with the way she acted. Then, randomly, she became warm and friendly and stayed that way forever. It sucks that autism must be labeled and explained for people to accept someone who looks a little awkward or stiff or waddles or whatever when walking, and comes across as harmlessly "off", but what the hell.

In this girl's case, though, it's not "she looks a little weird sitting at her desk" or "she walks funny", but her genuine social behavior that's creeping out her relatives. Yeah, kids definitely notice difference. I wonder how it'll be explained to kids. I gotta think of a way to explain it to my 10-year-old nephew and kid cousin, and soon.

Something I was noticing.

A lot of autistics seem to connect best not just with other autistics, but also with people who have mild learning disabilities, or conditions such as ADHD or schizophrenia.

I say that because it's something I've seen happen online. I'd see people who are a little eccentric on sites like Deviant Art, or other places, and many but not all of them would have autism (it would be mentioned on their profile somewhere), or some other condition (also mentioned somewhere in their profile or a comment they'd given).

It's as if eccentric or "different" people tend to attract eccentric or "different" people. Like, an autistic wouldn't be as likely to be included in a neurotypical friend group, but in an eccentric friend group, you got autistics, ADHD people, etc.

Anyone else notice that? As autistics, who do you seem to connect to or get along with the most?

ADHD isn't mutually exclusive, is one thing also worth remembering.

In fact it's significantly co-morbid with Autism.

I try not to "connect" with people so much these days

I’ve certainly always had an easier time connecting with others who are also neuro-diverse, be it others with autism, people with developmental delay, ADHD (though I myself also have ADD), dispraxia or dyslexia (though again I am also diagnosed with dyslexia) or other similar conditions.

Oh btw, I just learned about this yesterday. The Disney Channel is making a comedy about an autistic girl. Someone in the comments section claims that the lead actress is autistic herself, but internet searches for proof of that turned up empty.

I don't like any part of that sentence.