http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2019/02/starting-points-for-understanding-autism.html
This piece details something of what it's like to be autistic in the world, from the "this is how incoming information is handled" side of things. I was interested to note that there is no discussion of how other people handle being around us, or their treatment of autistic people in general. Also curiously absent, sensory sensitivities and overloads, beyond the context of filtering.
All six of the points in this piece are or have been relevant to my life. Of the six points, I found the last couple most comment-worthy. I would say I tended to get caught up in loops (point 5) more as a child than I do as an adult, save for bad interpersonal interactions that are likely to reoccur.
There were two incidents of poor communication and hurt feelings around Christmas of last year, and neither of them would leave my poor brain alone until they were somewhat settled. It was highly unpleasant, but I didn't think it wise to try to shelve the incidents entirely due to needing to see those people in the next year or so.
The more positive version of this, getting looped into a hobby, hasn't happened to me for quite a while. I'm kind of sad about that, but I guess it probably allows me to manage all aspects of my life better than I would otherwise? I used to kind of zone out while thinking about things when I was younger, to the point that kids in school would notice I wasn't in the present and start making comments about it. In my adult life, such occurrences are quite rare, and the social awkwardness usually breaks me out of such thought-trances before someone even opens their mouth to comment.
Related to the opposite phenomenon, needing reminders (point 6)... I have a To Do app on my phone/support tablet that helps me track things I need to remember to do. This includes things like washing the bedding, handling tooth care, and following up on health care appointments... but it also includes reminders to contact certain people and try to set up a get-togethers... because I literally don't remember to do that if not reminded. Whatever brain circuits do that for neurotypical people, I'm missing them.
This piece details something of what it's like to be autistic in the world, from the "this is how incoming information is handled" side of things. I was interested to note that there is no discussion of how other people handle being around us, or their treatment of autistic people in general. Also curiously absent, sensory sensitivities and overloads, beyond the context of filtering.
All six of the points in this piece are or have been relevant to my life. Of the six points, I found the last couple most comment-worthy. I would say I tended to get caught up in loops (point 5) more as a child than I do as an adult, save for bad interpersonal interactions that are likely to reoccur.
There were two incidents of poor communication and hurt feelings around Christmas of last year, and neither of them would leave my poor brain alone until they were somewhat settled. It was highly unpleasant, but I didn't think it wise to try to shelve the incidents entirely due to needing to see those people in the next year or so.
The more positive version of this, getting looped into a hobby, hasn't happened to me for quite a while. I'm kind of sad about that, but I guess it probably allows me to manage all aspects of my life better than I would otherwise? I used to kind of zone out while thinking about things when I was younger, to the point that kids in school would notice I wasn't in the present and start making comments about it. In my adult life, such occurrences are quite rare, and the social awkwardness usually breaks me out of such thought-trances before someone even opens their mouth to comment.
Related to the opposite phenomenon, needing reminders (point 6)... I have a To Do app on my phone/support tablet that helps me track things I need to remember to do. This includes things like washing the bedding, handling tooth care, and following up on health care appointments... but it also includes reminders to contact certain people and try to set up a get-togethers... because I literally don't remember to do that if not reminded. Whatever brain circuits do that for neurotypical people, I'm missing them.
No comments:
Post a Comment