qawer wrote:
As an example on the point of my "theory":
If an autistic sees a remote control for a tv lying on a table he might think:
"That's a remote control. It can be used to turn on the tv and change channels (and that's it)"
If a non-autistic sees a remote control for a tv lying on a table he might think:
"If I want to see tv I'll use that remote control to turn on the tv. Well actually, I want to see some tv right now (grabs the remote control and turns on the tv)"
Extend this setting to all aspects of life and a problem for autistics is clear: Thinking instead of acting. Because of not relating their surroundings to their own life, but instead merely observing them and concluding about their properties. If all you do is thinking you end up living in your own world. These are of course extreme cases. It's not like aspies don't relate things in the world to their own lives at all.
I know this doesn't explain sensory issues etc., but at least it explains the "being trapped in your own world" phenomenon. I think the sensory part can be seen in the same light, however. When you perceive details instead of whole concepts everything gets magnified including sensory experiences. The root of all this is the perception of details instead of whole concepts. Perceiving whole concepts corresponds to relating things in the world to your own life. Perceiving details correponds to observing things in the world without relating them to your own life.
So autistics do connect to the world (and maybe even more than most other people!), but they don't relate that connection to their own lives. I think that's how autism basically affects us (and is why we are considered different/weird by many).
This also sheds a light on how serious of a handicap autism can be: the ability to act (and only carry out "rational" actions) is impaired permanently!! ! It requires conscious thinking on a continuous basis to counteract it!! That's why one as an autistic can feel like one has to participate in the world in a "conscious" way.
It never hurts anyone to participate more consciously, but I get it: You are saying you do not know what to do, so you have to think about it, and that slows you down and keeps you from making connections. How do you know you didn't learn how to make certain connections as a child not just because of genetics but also possibly because of environmental factors such as the way you were parented? Maybe someone didn't help you connect outwardly, so you began closing yourself off from processing material comprehensively. If so, to face that would be sad.
The beginning of a solution is to see what is, simply see it, so being comprehensive to yourself, which is not the same as analyzing yourself. If the function of a style of thinking is protective, it will not and cannot lead to a solution. Did you ever consider that all of this thinking about what is autism is skewed by being autistic, so therefore this kind of thinking will always lead you off? Nobody's ability to think (at least nobody on this thread) is impaired permanently. The brain is very flexible. There may be a psychological factor whose hidden function is to protect yourself by encapsulating. Will explain more about this some other time, as imo it is the key to understanding autism..
Re not having a comprehensive mind, that is true of many people if not even most. You should not be comparing your mind to the minds of other people. That does not really yield good fruit, and is just a form of self cherishing.
15 Apr 2013, 12:25 pm
