A Speech on AS (part 3 of 4)

“The one thing that all of these have in common is that they induce an exaggerated state of STRESS in the autistic individual and it is this STRESS that evokes the majority of the observable, characteristic autistic behaviours. Autistic individuals are extremely sensitive to elevated stress levels and even a weak stimulus or multiple weak stimuli of different kinds can accumulate to produce dramatic effects if the individual is not removed from exposure to them.” This is when you’ll most notice that there’s something different about me, when I’m stressed. I become more sensitive to everything and I stim, I also tend to rock although not when anyone is looking. I have caught myself rocking when I’m deep in thought at work though.

“Autism can be distinguished most easily from other disorders – especially ADHD – when the child is relatively stress-free and relaxed. It is only then that the ‘true-face’ of autism can be seen.”

“The stress-free autistic child:…” Again, the bolds are things that apply to me, Italics are my comments

“· Is a happy and well-behaved child.

· Obeys all the rules to the letter.

· Is a deep thinker.

· Is hypercritical of his own behaviour. Automatically will assume that anything that goes wrong is his fault.

· Doesn’t deliberately lie, but may appear to lie by not understanding the relationship between cause and effect or by voicing what he wished had happened instead of what actually did happen.

· Will not deliberately harm others. If he accidentally causes harm then he will experience intense remorse for a long time after the event although often doesn’t show this response immediately. Even harm caused during panic or anxiety attacks will be regretted or produce conflict as the child struggles with the concept of who was to blame.

· If he causes harm or injury or recognises that he has done the wrong thing, then he will expect to be punished. If others won’t punish him then he will punish himself often resulting in self-injurious behaviours. This is one thing that I never realized was related to my AS. I still do this and will punish myself for any mistake I make, this is one thing I want to work on fixing

· Has a natural wit and humour beyond his/her years.

· Is intensely curious and eager to learn.

· Requires almost constant mental stimulation broken only by bouts of intense physical exercise to help calm the mind and release the mental energy when overly mentally stimulated by new knowledge or ideas. Intense physical exercise can also help to reduce stress of other occasions.

· If he doesn’t have an interest to occupy his mind, this mental energy can be converted quickly into mischievous acts. A mischievous twinkle in his eye will signal that he is either about to something or has just done it.

· Is a willing helper but needs to be specifically asked to help.

· Is very independent from an early age.

· Is very caring and protective of all life forms.

· Has only a literal interpretation of language. Not so much now, but as a child

· Has limited understanding of the social use of language or the pragmatic aspects of language. Again, more pronounced when I was younger

· Has only one way of talking to others and speaks to and treats everyone the same. This is often interpreted as being rude or cheeky.

· Needs a well-structured and predictable environment to avoid the fear-response.

· Has extensive fine-motor difficulties which makes holding and controlling a pencil extremely difficult.

· Is a night owl – preferring to sleep during the day especially if photophobic.

· May exhibit abnormal fear-responses to every day objects or people.

· May exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviours.

· May collect unusual objects.

· Likes to order and sort objects and facts. Plays with toys by lining them up or sorting them into categories. My crayons were always sorted into color categories and places darkest to lightest, playing with my stuffed animals involved lining them up and placing them so that everyone was visible, like you would with people for a photograph, I actually took pictures of them too when I got a camera, I still have the pics, I should post them.

· May be slow to develop self-help skills.

· May have difficulty initiating any new activity unless he knows precisely what is required or has a model to follow.

· Likes people and enjoys the companionship of others but only for short periods. Has no constant need to be around others and tends to prefer his/her own thoughts and interests for company.

· Is an observer rather than a participant in most social or sports activities. May like to participate but fears rejection from past experience.

· Constantly analysing input from the environment trying to make sense out of his/her observations whether of others or his/her own reactions.

· Shows no fear or panic in dangerous or traumatic situations where these would be expected.

· Perseverates or fixates on topics or objects he finds interesting.

· Has difficulty switching attention so may be slow to respond or fail to hear correctly any verbal requests when his concentration is monopolised by an object or topic.

· Has poor short-term memory retention or recall but excellent long-term memory skills although long-term memory recall may lack a temporal component.

· Regularly talks aloud to himself unaware that he is vocalising his thoughts or to assist him to think through a problem.

· Is non-competitive. If involved in sport it is usually an individual event where his focus is on improving his own performance rather than competing.

· Is highly original and creative in his thought processes.

That I am not alone in my assessment of AS people is supported by Tony Attwood and Carol Gray in their recent paper “The Discovery of Aspie Criteria”, http://www.tonyattwood.com/paper4.htm. This paper lists the qualities they have observed in AS adults and are based on the same behavioural criteria currently used to define the condition in adults but viewed from a different perspective – and assessment based on their ‘positive’ attributes rather than their ‘negative’ ones.”