Decoding an Autism Mystery:Why do Autistic Children Withdraw

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I have an autistic friend that describes himself as an extrovert and acts as one, and he was non-verbal for 6 years, in his own world most of the time etc. He loves many social occasions, and is more socially successful than I am. I describe myself as an introverted extrovert, and I could have an ASD, though ultimately I'm not diagnosed. Depending on who I'm with, and where, and what happens determines whether or not I feel energized or exhausted. It's a very vague area and I find the extent to which labels (not just introversion/extroversion) seem to staple individuals into restricted personality traits incredibly disturbing and flawed.

Introverts that don't have ASD are common, and they don't need social interaction to stimulate their brains. Extroverts with ASD are slightly less common than introverts with ASD, and based on the theories/labels, logically they apparently do require social interaction to stimulate their brains. How does this make any sense? I find all this research highly contradicting and shockingly inconclusive, unless there's something I'm missing.

What constitutes being in 'one's own world' anyway? Are there any margins that define where that ends? It says that the 42% greater activity is present in children with autism. Does this mean that it often disappears as an autistic ages? Is the 42% 'extra thinking' even effective and/or efficient, and what does it consist of? How does all this fit in to those that are extroverted and have ASD? How does the intense world theory fit in to it?

The intense world theory seems to imply that autistics withdraw to escape the pain of an overly intense world.
I am saying I think it's possible that it is just normal for an autistic child to withdraw because of the intense activity in the brain, rather than withdrawing to escape the world.
I don't know why a child who is withdrawn and nonverbal would eventually become an extravert who would require the stimulation of social interaction. Obviously some people prefer social interaction. Everybody's different.
The research found that the brains of autistic children are more active in resting state. What this means in terms of behavior is only speculation but it is a step closer to understanding.
From some of the things I've read on this site, I would say that the 42% extra thinking is effective and efficient, but that's just my opinion.
I suppose what constitutes being in ones own world could only be defined by one who has been there.
When we know everything, then everything will be specific and precise.

I think my replies were a bit hasty. I can explain better what own world is for me.
It is a shift from outward focus to inward focus.
It's kind of like stimming in that you slip into own world without being aware of it.
You may be reading something or doing an activity and then you realize you have stopped doing the activity and have been staring at a spot on the wall or pacing and have lost track of time just thinking instead of doing.
It's being constantly inside your mind instead of interacting with the rest of the world.

Norny, what do you think about when you're alone?
I find this 42% very effective for me, as it shortens the amount of time I experience writer's block.
I once came up for the plot and a large amount of material, including ending, for six novels one night.
When I watch science documentaries my brain is working overtime to come up with a theory to a problem the scientists are describing faster than they reach it in the show, and I still get surprised how right or close I am.

Intense world syndrome is about shutting down over being overloaded by stimuli, feeling too much of everything and this causes us to withdraw and focus deeply on narrow interests. The 42% may well be about how much extra we process.

Extroverts get a lot of energy from socialising, so autistic people may want to do it but they still have social deficits. They probably don't think too much about their differences or notice them compared to autistic introverts so they have more confidence. Introverts analyze everything.

Non-autistic introverts just get drained by socializing like we do. They do have better social skills though.

One's world is a mental sanctuary from the chaos of the world.

Temple Grandin says the autistic brain never stops growing and it never fully matures.

Yes I do that too, but I always assumed that it was day-dreaming. Also my reply was slightly hasty too, ironically because I've got a lot on my mind.



I think of a variety of things when I'm alone. Most of the time I'm researching or talking to my autistic and other best friend on Skype, so usually it relates to one of those. Most of the day I'll be thinking about ASDs if I'm away from my computer, in present times. When I'm going to sleep, I'll still be thinking about ASDs and how they relate to myself or something like that. I can't comprehend 'not thinking' being possible, nor 42% extra effective/efficient thinking based purely on having autism. I believe anyone is capable of the same amount of effective/efficient thinking. For example, what stops a 'Neurotypical' from thinking of a plot and a large amount of material for six novels in one night?

When you say introverts analyze everything, my first thought is that you are implying that extroverts don't. Personally, I think that is an oversimplification of labels, and even if that isn't the meaning you intended to project it's how I interpreted it. I'm definitely at least partially extroverted (screw labels, really) and I've always over analyzed everything, and while trying not to seem too self-assured I think that's evident based on what I'm writing right now.

I experience a similar thing when watching science documentaries to you. It's similar in that I don't create a whole theory in my mind, but rather a list of sorts of potential outcomes.. factual/educated assumptions and questions perhaps. I can't know something for sure purely from one source, so I naturally refrain from fully making sense of something until I have a better understanding.

Temple Grandin says the autistic brain never stops growing, nor does it fully mature, but does anyone's? How do I find that out? Why would an autistic brain be different in that respect? It's these things that I don't know that often occupy my mind.. the seemingly hidden details and intricacies of what I learn. I want to know everything, I dislike unspecific and incomplete information, information such as this Temple Grandin quote that implies it's only the autistic brain that never stops growing, when I've learned elsewhere that everyone's brain grows with use etc.

I don't know whether I'm 'Neurotypical' or an individual with Asperger's, or something else entirely. What I do know and have learned to hate is that no matter what I am, I'm going to be stereotyped/restricted based on information such as this research paper. Labels to me honestly feel like some type of discrimination tool at times, and I really dislike it.

Norny, this study suggests that the increased brain activity or hyper-functioning neural circuitry is the result of underlying structural differences in the brain.
It's unclear what any of this has to do with labels such as introversion/extroversion.

Mostly in replying to posts in this thread when I talk about introverts and extroverts. Extroverts apparently need external stimulation, and there are people that are both on the spectrum and extroverted. If they need external stimulation, then that seems to contradict the information presented by the research paper. I don't really see how hypo-sensitivities fit into it either.

Introversion and extroversion do not exist completely separate from each other. They can co-exist to different degrees within the same individual.
I suppose an autistic person with hyper-functioning neural circuitry that creates more information at rest could be an extravert.
Or at least their behavior could mimic that of an extrovert.

Last edited by Marybird on 10 Feb 2014, 2:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

Considering that it is the very definition of autism, I think it should just be a given that nothing really causes withdrawal, but that it just manifests as part of the syndrome.

Yeah that's sort of what I was saying.

Anyway, what does this 42% 'extra activity' involve anyway? I'm really not sure how someone can be thinking 42% more when resting. This vagueness research confuses me. >.>

What it is like for this autistic child, is interaction with others is like leaving the safety zone and plugging into the Matrix. When I am alone in my room, it is like being away from it all in my real world. Where i get to do whatever i want. I can rock and stim to my hearts content, I can talk to myself, i can suck my thumb (yes i still do that) and can read and browse the internet completely unobserved and uninterrupted.

But when i step out that door, it is always like stepping into another would. A would where i can not do anything i want. Where others are always asking e things and telling me things. It is a world that is too bright, to noisy and too nosy. Even when things are going good and i am having a good time, it is like a thousand pound weight lifted when I can finally get back in my room and close my door to all of it. When I am in it, I cant help but put up barriers and wrap myself in a cocoon i.e. act withdrawn and distant. I even wear dark glasses when I am in the 'real world' Matrix to shield myself.

I think this is slightly off thread, but something similar happened when I was studying psychology, including a thoroughly "abnormal" power in the theta (4-7hz) band. I spent a week in the library failing to convincingly explain the data.

I eventually got an A on the paper, but the tutor publicly (in class) implied I'd been smoking too much weed and this was the cause of the result. If that had been the case, half the class would have got a similar result.

I digress. It's taken me a few years to finally obtain the data that would have got me an A+. More recently, a couple of papers have been published showing variation in power and coherence between autistics and allistic controls, especially in the theta band. Leaving aside the "deficit" language, you might find these useful for your class paper.
http://www.jneurodevdisorders.com/content/5/1/24
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18331812

HTH

This is true for me. I prefer to be in my own little world. I don't feel "trapped" there, it's my natural state, and it's infinite. What goes on in my mind is definitely more interesting than interacting with most people. It's not that I don't want to interact with other people, but what I really want is for someone to share that inner world with me, rather than me having to come out of myself to interact with them. All I ever wanted is to be in my own world WITH someone else who wants to be there too.

I have read most of the responses and the article. I withdrawal for most of the same reasons, yet I am very selective. For Example, I do not withdrawal while driving. This is why ,I can create my ship models and my own SC-FI game. Everyone should read Tony Attwood's book "The Complete Guide To Asperger's Syndrome." Attwood examines this and other items of interest.

I didn't withdraw. I just ignored people and pursued my own activities.

I've been telling people that my brain just won't shut up for a couple decades or more and I came up with the 'intense world theory' as an explaination for autism on my own over a decade ago.
Good to finally have some serious research backed validation of that stuff, although I knew it to be the truth long ago.
Just goes to show you that the scientists should have been listening to us all along rather than merely studying us like lab rats.

I like that the article points out that it's literally impossible for NTs to really comprehend the reality we live with every day because their brains just don't work that way so they have no way to truly understand what it's like for us, even if they can understand intellectually.
I've tried to explain this to friends, family, employers, and co-workers with very limited success.
Apparently it's extremely difficult for most non-autistic people to accept on a visceral level that our brains just don't work like theirs and that our perceptions of the world are fundamentally different as a result.
It took years to convince my best friend of this, and even then most of the time she forgets about it.

I've even been slightly envious of more obviously autistic people at times because at least people don't forget they're different most of the time, or call them liars when they say they're autistic.
I suppose that's a difficult burden to bear as well, of course.
The grass always looks a little greener on the other side in some ways I suppose.

I wish we could make an announcement like
"Attention allistic/NT world: We may look like you, and even act like you at times, but our brains and thus minds are fundamentally different from yours in ways you'll never truly be able to understand. We're here, we're weird, get used to it!"