OddDuckNash99 wrote:
Rascal77s wrote:
I have read that some people with ASD use peripheral vision differently the normal. Specifically I remember a piece about a young man who had unusual pinball skills and they attributed his skill to peripheral vision after some clinical tests.
I think I know what pinball kid you're talking about. I saw him on that savant show "Ingenious Minds." I think it was on Science Channel. I saw it just a few months back. I remember being stunned that most people DO move their eyes from side to side to take in a scene. I didn't think that my ability to "see everything" was all that unusual. I knew I could see MORE at once than most people, but I assumed everybody did it on a regular basis. It's one of those AS skills that is a double-edged sword, though. It's one reason I'm such a slow reader- my eyes often drift off the sentence I'm reading and scan the paragraphs below. Like, I'll be reading one line, but since I "see everything," if there's a particularly interesting word/fact in the sentence underneath, I'll start skimming ahead. It takes me forever to actually read each word in order; I always am seeing what comes next. Factor this in with how I'm also seeing everything happening around me in my peripheral vision AND how my OCD often has nonsense words/phrases/thoughts going on in the back of my mind AND how I cannot read if there are any other words/talking going on, and it's not hard to see why I'm so slow at reading.

Yep. I find that it's too much energy to try to scan the whole scene by moving my eyes. It almost hurts, and I don't get the detail that I get if I just take it all in without moving my eyes. Or, if I need to, I'll turn my head. Weird. Never noticed this before.
I once read in a book on riding horses to use "soft eyes" to focus more on your body's position while on the horse. It's supposed to help with balance. I found it rather easy. I also use it when driving because I can see all around me without having to turn my head. Incidentally, it wasn't something I had to be taught - just something I already did.
Oh, and OddDuckNash - the skimming thing - I do it too. I hate taking tests where the answers are at the bottom, upside down, because my eye gets the whole dang page - and the upside down words especially attract it.
We Aspies see EVERYTHING, I figure.
So, question for OP - do you think Aspies have an advantage with this test because of this supposed way of perceiving things, (i.e. - unusual focusing techniques)?