Autism/Aspergers Statistics

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Does anyone know if there are any formal/official statistics regarding the traits that come with an ASD?

For example:

+ The percentage of those that have auditory sensitivity to the point where it distorts and causes overload quite frequently
+ The percentage of those that 'don't get' things like jokes and sarcasm
+ The percentage of those that have major sleeping problems
+ The percentage of those that don't have strict rituals

Of course having the opposite statistic is helpful as well, such as not having auditory sensitivity. I find contradicting statistics all over the internet and it's really inconvenient in my research.

Also I'll read things like 'People on the autism spectrum will always have difficulty with metaphors' and it really annoys me because I then go on to read that only some (or the majority) do and can't make any reasonable conclusions based on this.

I'm interested in this too. A survey like this has to exist.

I dont know where to find those statistics your looking for, but I can give some information. That always having trouble with metaphores thing is false. Becouse I and every autistic person I know with an elementry education understands what a metaphore is. Though in the broader community some may have difficulty with metaphores, it at best would be a minority, and doubtfully much higher than it is in the general human population.

Knowing what a metaphor is and having difficulty with them are different things though.

I know what a metaphor is. I even use them in my writing. I still have difficulty with them. Last week, someone in an IRC room I as in used some metaphor about hands scampering in opposite directions to describe the room and I was so confused about there being disembodied hands in the chatroom. In real time, while not putting all my attention onto social communication suddenly, these metaphors were instead taken literally, made no sense, and I had difficulty with them.

The fact that I knew that people use metaphors, didn't change what happens in real time communication.

Keep in mind that most, if not all of these things will vary widely depending on the age of the autistics you are polling, so you would have to poll separately for different age groups to get anything resembling accurate results.

The DSM criteria are designed for diagnosing AS/HFA in children. Most figure out things like sarcasm by adolescence. Sleeping problems may not present as frequently in children as in adults. The need for strict adherence to routines (not rituals) can vary depending on current circumstances in the life of an individual.

In my experience, the hypersensitivity that leads to overload is not just aural, but an overall oppressiveness of sensory phenomena in general. Things aren't too LOUD, in the sense of simple sound - they are TOO INTENSE - and that includes sound, as well as physical sensation like the air pressure, the intensity of the light, etc.

What causes overload is that these hypersensitivities are present all the time, but if I'm left alone, without social or emotional pressures added to them, I can cope and more or less ignore the intensity. When thrown into a situation in which I find myself having to interact with other people and try to understand what they want and/or expect from me, the tension of juggling that with the already heightened physical sensations, increases my stress with each other human being added to the mix.