What the SPECTRUM means to me, and where I fit

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I think of autism as a spectrum, not as "types". Different people have different factors in varying amounts. I think a lot of people discount how much just personality traits and natural inclinations are enmeshed in the whole thing, too. I'm very much against the idea of autism as separate from the person. If I had to think of things I consider factors, it would be something like this.

-sensory impairment
Sensory impairment is one of those issues that most people with autism experience to one degree or another, yet is strangely absent from diagnostic criteria. Most of the DX points deal with factors that are more of a "problem" for the people who are in contact with the autistic person, rather than the autistic person themselves. My sensory problems are more severe than most people diagnosed with Asperger's that I am acquainted with. I am hypersensitive to touch, smell, sound, and sight. I also have synaesthesia and other sensory "processing" disorders.

-social impairment
Everything from being totally nonverbal to not knowing when it's your turn to talk. Being unable to read facial expression or body language. Having trouble with empathy or reaching understanding with others. There is difference in the amount that autistic people are able to perceive. I can tell if someone is smiling or not, but I can't tell the difference between smiles. Apparently some smiles are "sincere" and some are "mean". For others, it's like if you asked if a couch was smiling. And there are yet other autistic people who can tell the difference between a real and a fake smile.

-intelligence
It's perfectly possible to learn social "rules" like people learn math, or in some cases, like deaf people learn how to talk. I can't tell most people apart or remember their names, and yet I can pass as neurotypical via pattern recognition, probabilities, and process of elimination while I buy time spouting innocuous phrases that will do in just about any and every situation. Most NTs see what they expect to see, and will go to great lengths to do so. If you show them even 25% of what they EXPECT, they will fill in the other 75% on their own. In practice: I run into a professor at a grocery store. I blather memorized phrases at them while I use process of elimination, combined with clues in what they say (such as something about the college), to eliminate all the people that this is NOT. They expect that I DO recognize them, so unless I tell them, they don't know that I don't. This is a herculean mental effort, and I have to admit is a large part of the reason I choose to stay at home much of the time.

-personality factors
An important thing that is often discounted or ignored is the person with autism's motivation and inclination to communicate or form connections with other people. I have known people who were considered more impaired socially who were very interested in having friends, and others who were considered less impaired who had no interest in other people. A person whose interests lie in directions other than socializing I believe will be considered "more autistic" than a person interested in making friends, but lacking the social skills to do so. I believe the desire for friends is independent of autism.

-cognitive impairment
Here I mostly refer to executive dysfunction and inability to cope with changes in routine or adherence to stereotyped behaviors. The comfort I derive from lining up objects and having things in their place, or the hysteria and rage I feel at someone showing up unexpectedly at my house are things I think a lot of those on the spectrum can identify with. I can follow steps A through Z, so to speak, but if "W" is removed, my metaphorical car will drive off the road. It's very difficult for me to recover from changes in planned actions. Even something that would be considered by many people to be a "nice surprise" can be met with anger and even tears on my part, just because I wasn't expecting it. For example, my fiancee showing up at my job to pick me up instead of my usual ride, with plans to go out to dinner.

-environmental factors
If you put someone in an institution and forget about them, they have no reason to reach out. If you change a person's situation, their behavior will change. A highly impaired person with a supportive or stimulating environment will do much better than a relatively less impaired person without one. Say what you will about psychology being a "soft" science, it is based on observable factors and changes, and results are reproducible.

-cultural expectations
The notorious preoccupation with eye contact that haunts autism diagnostic criteria becomes meaningless in a culture where making direct eye contact is considered rude or undesirable. The lack of scholarly research on a cross-cultural perspective on autism is nigh unforgivable. We know that there are autistic people all over the world, but it seems there is almost no willingness to change our perspective on how autistic people are viewed. In the united states, it seems like autism is unfailingly medicalized. In other cultures, it is seen as having to do with spirits, benign or malignant, or as a result of environmental factors. I have heard of instances where autistic people are seen as valued and often talented members of their society, with the community moving to embrace that member, rather than the autistic person being expected to be the only one to adapt. I do believe that the onus for being autistic rests much too heavily on autistic individuals, but it makes my heart quail to see so many of us succumbing to bitterness and despair. Call me an idealist, but I think we all have something irreplaceable to offer.


Aaaanyway, opinions? Do you disagree on my factors? Where do you feel you fall in the spectrum?

Yeah I totally agree that its one big continuum, and even the most NT person will have an autistic trait, and even the most AS person will have an NT trait. Even at ideological points of view, a holistic inclusive paradigm will benefit both types, as diversity adds strength, like a varied diet.

Look at cultures that attacked its autistics and see where they are now

Its odd that black and white thinking tends to be symptomatic of AS

NT's do pretty much the same most of the time

I'm HFA comorbid with ADHD, I always felt a bit different

I agree that Autism is a spectrum, too! Honestly, I believe it's a BROAD spectrum! Meaning that, as has been told here, before: if you have met one Autistic, then you have met one Autistic, indeed!
There are so many different combinations of symptoms out there that even two people with exactly the same diagnosis are in no way the same. We are all made differently, inside, so we are all different. We are all Autistic (on the spectrum), but there are definately no clones here!

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An Asperger's man who has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 1- mild, with a sprinkling of Synesthesia.

I also see autism as a broad spectrum. I don't see autism in catagories. To me, there isn't such a thing as a type of autism.

I think you make excellent points. I fall into the "high functioning" zone, but where within in that zone I fall is somewhat dependent on context.

very well thought out and interesting

Thank you.
It just irks the crap out of me that people discount so many factors, especially personality and culture. I'm acquainted with quite a few other autistic people in my area, and we're all very, very different from each other. I'm offended at the idea that autistic people are all the same. I'm also tired of the idea that there's this huge chasm between Kanner and Asperger.

I'd love to see a pictorial representation of autistic traits. Does such a thing exist, I wonder?

An individual could broken down into a multitude of components, some might be at the low end and some at the high end. I think I would be considered high functioning and I don't have problems reading expressions and recognising people (I've done several tests and score close to perfect). But there are a few areas in which my functioning is low.

Furthermore, my husband is NT, but has problems recognising familiar faces and monologues, among a few other traits. In these particular areas, his functioning is very low, but overall, he's so high functioning that he's NT. It's all very intriguing.