Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl
the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects,
then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and
observations.
Today's article talks about the ramifications of poor social skills, which you'll recognize as a major hallmark of autism. The research here shows that poor social skills are linked to poorer mental and physical health. Social skills are measured for this study as four different skills: the ability to provide emotional support to others, the ability to share personal information with others, the ability to stand up to unreasonable requests from others, and the ability to introduce yourself to others and get to know them. Speaking as someone with sub-par social skills, that seems like a reasonable set of measurements, at least if we're only measuring skills rather than emotional perceptiveness and responsiveness.
It's been known already that poor social skills were linked to poorer mental health, specifically depression and anxiety. This study is unusual in that it also links poorer physical health to the problem. The key to the worse physical health appears to be the associated loneliness and stress that comes with the poor social skills. Because people who don't interact as well or as successfully tend to experience more loneliness and more stress in their lives, the associated problems are also ramped up.
This is all patently obvious to me, and perhaps to you as well. Perhaps the major reason autism is comorbid (associated) with depression and anxiety is nothing more than this same effect, amped up because of how differently we experience the world. Fortunately for me, one of my saving graces that got me through high school and college seems to be that I can handle a great deal of stress. Or could, anyway. Bets are off now that we've been fuddling with my brain, I suppose.
The article candidly notes that most people with poor social skills don't know they have poor social skills, since social awareness is tied into those social skills. I like to think, at this point, that between my diagnosis and my oversensitivity to various things, that I at least have somewhat of an awareness of when I've messed up an interaction. Sometimes it's more than 15 minutes after the fact, but, y'know...
It's not all bad news, anyway. Social skills are skills, not innate talents. They can be learned. That's harder for people with autism, but it's still doable. You can have social skills classes, counseling/therapy, or even just attend group events to get lots of practice in. The head researcher strongly suggests that parents make sure to get their kids into such group events, like summer camps, sports programs, church groups, etc. I would add "public school" or "supportive and diverse private school" to that list, personally. My public school experiences were mostly uncaring and unhelpful, but what they did do was give me a lot of contact with people. Post-elementary school, that was a good thing, not a bad thing.
I recognize the necessity of home schooling for some kids on the spectrum, when the school environment literally can't be tailored to be a good place for the child to learn. If any amount of noise is enough to set your kid off, or the lights in the classroom drive them nuts and the bulbs can't be changed, or your kid learns in a way that is so far different from what the school system offers, then homeschooling is definitely your best way to go.
But that should be only done in those special cases, in my opinion. Schooling in the school system involves literal hours of contact with your peers, every day, that are just... gone, if you take away school. You can't balance that out with occasional after school activities and cute little groups that only meet for an hour per day, or less. You just can't.
I'd love to blame my weight problems on this loneliness/stress effect this study mentions, but I'm not sure I can. My social life is a bit limited, but I do have a spouse, and we haven't killed each other yet. I do think my stress level is still a lot higher than the average person's, so maybe that's part of the reason I can't seem to lose weight? But hopefully the days of that are numbered. I'm exercising at a full fledged gym two days a week now, and that means I can build more muscle and get longer quality exercise without annoying my neighbors with lots of jumping. Here's hoping!
Today's article talks about the ramifications of poor social skills, which you'll recognize as a major hallmark of autism. The research here shows that poor social skills are linked to poorer mental and physical health. Social skills are measured for this study as four different skills: the ability to provide emotional support to others, the ability to share personal information with others, the ability to stand up to unreasonable requests from others, and the ability to introduce yourself to others and get to know them. Speaking as someone with sub-par social skills, that seems like a reasonable set of measurements, at least if we're only measuring skills rather than emotional perceptiveness and responsiveness.
It's been known already that poor social skills were linked to poorer mental health, specifically depression and anxiety. This study is unusual in that it also links poorer physical health to the problem. The key to the worse physical health appears to be the associated loneliness and stress that comes with the poor social skills. Because people who don't interact as well or as successfully tend to experience more loneliness and more stress in their lives, the associated problems are also ramped up.
This is all patently obvious to me, and perhaps to you as well. Perhaps the major reason autism is comorbid (associated) with depression and anxiety is nothing more than this same effect, amped up because of how differently we experience the world. Fortunately for me, one of my saving graces that got me through high school and college seems to be that I can handle a great deal of stress. Or could, anyway. Bets are off now that we've been fuddling with my brain, I suppose.
The article candidly notes that most people with poor social skills don't know they have poor social skills, since social awareness is tied into those social skills. I like to think, at this point, that between my diagnosis and my oversensitivity to various things, that I at least have somewhat of an awareness of when I've messed up an interaction. Sometimes it's more than 15 minutes after the fact, but, y'know...
It's not all bad news, anyway. Social skills are skills, not innate talents. They can be learned. That's harder for people with autism, but it's still doable. You can have social skills classes, counseling/therapy, or even just attend group events to get lots of practice in. The head researcher strongly suggests that parents make sure to get their kids into such group events, like summer camps, sports programs, church groups, etc. I would add "public school" or "supportive and diverse private school" to that list, personally. My public school experiences were mostly uncaring and unhelpful, but what they did do was give me a lot of contact with people. Post-elementary school, that was a good thing, not a bad thing.
I recognize the necessity of home schooling for some kids on the spectrum, when the school environment literally can't be tailored to be a good place for the child to learn. If any amount of noise is enough to set your kid off, or the lights in the classroom drive them nuts and the bulbs can't be changed, or your kid learns in a way that is so far different from what the school system offers, then homeschooling is definitely your best way to go.
But that should be only done in those special cases, in my opinion. Schooling in the school system involves literal hours of contact with your peers, every day, that are just... gone, if you take away school. You can't balance that out with occasional after school activities and cute little groups that only meet for an hour per day, or less. You just can't.
I'd love to blame my weight problems on this loneliness/stress effect this study mentions, but I'm not sure I can. My social life is a bit limited, but I do have a spouse, and we haven't killed each other yet. I do think my stress level is still a lot higher than the average person's, so maybe that's part of the reason I can't seem to lose weight? But hopefully the days of that are numbered. I'm exercising at a full fledged gym two days a week now, and that means I can build more muscle and get longer quality exercise without annoying my neighbors with lots of jumping. Here's hoping!
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