 
Support Wrong Planet Awareness!
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
EvilEyeV36
Butterfly
Joined: May 26, 2008
Age: 18
Posts: 10
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:40 pm Post subject: Symptoms |
 |
|
Sup? I'm studying the autism spectrum and those affected are proabably the best sources of info. (Dont worry, my "Clinical Prick" writing style is only used when Im trying to figure something out)
Does being on the spectrum affect sensory input? IE You're really aware of detail and although you can process individual things more precisely than an NT, too much info on different things at once is sort of overwhelming?
I'm just sort of interested in human thought patterns, and I figure I can get the best input from those my own age. Also, meeting new people online is fun... peace. |
|
| Back to top |
|
zghost
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 29, 2007
Posts: 883
Location: Southeast Texas
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It's hard to tell, in a way. It's like asking a colorblind person how certain colors look to them. They don't know how you see it, so they can't really tell you how it's different.
People have commented that I notice things that other people don't. So maybe. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Willard
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 617
Location: Confederate States of America
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject: Re: Symptoms |
|
|
| EvilEyeV36 wrote: | | Sup? I'm studying the autism spectrum and those affected are proabably the best sources of info. (Dont worry, my "Clinical Prick" writing style is only used when Im trying to figure something out) |
Hmm, struck me more as "cocky lil s**t", but it's not as offensive as some I've seen round here...
| EvilEyeV36 wrote: | Does being on the spectrum affect sensory input? IE You're really aware of detail and although you can process individual things more precisely than an NT, too much info on different things at once is sort of overwhelming?
|
Okay, this is an interesting question, because those of us who experience AS 24/7, aren't often asked to describe what's it's like to live inside an Aspie head - we frequently discuss certain experiences and fall into "me, too" threads, so let's see how different individuals describe what clinicians seem to think sums up "being autistic".
Really Aware of Detail: I'm not sure specifically what that refers to. Aware of detail in things I'm interested in, yes. Compelled to dissect a subject obsessively in order to fully comprehend it in it's every aspect, yes. Aware of an ant crawling along the baseboard across the room by the sound of it's head turning side to side as it scouts for food? C'mon, I'm not some super Ninja.
Now I DO notice details that NTs do not (and I've seen many posts on this, so it's not uncommon), in that certain very slight or tiny sounds stand out from the background noise to me when NTs don't hear them unless I point them out (sometimes not then). My wife and I were in a store last week and I mentioned a fluorescent light that was making a godawfully harsh grating buzz (like it was about to explode) and she couldn't hear it even after I walked her over to it and pointed out the culprit in question. (Oddly, put me in a crowded space with plenty of normal noise - dishes clinking, multiple conversations, Muzak - and I'll have a hard time understanding a word you say to me. What? What?)
Same with some visual phenomena, they way light glints off an object, or patterns in the shadows, or the spackle on the wall, as if it were a series of Rorschach ink blots. Kids do this with clouds - I do it with everything.
Now to the 'overwhelming' part of your question. This is the antithesis of the 'detail' issue and one of the real paradoxes of this end of the autistic spectrum, at least for me. I don't do spontaneity. Ever. It's like my mind constantly waves a cane in front of me the way a blind man does, feeling my way by testing each step, to make sure I know what obstacles are there and can navigate them safely. Ask me to change my expected path or routine, and it's like you snatched the cane from my hand and shoved me forward in the dark. Hell, yes, I panic - for all I know there may be a stairwell or an elevator shaft dead ahead. This is the meltdown stage - control has slipped from my grasp and it feels like the rollercoaster has jumped the track.
I recently achieved a goal I'd been working toward for FIVE YEARS. When the opportunity finally came through, I was told I had to accomplish two major tasks in three days, reschedule another event I'd had planned for two months, and clean up several other loose ends I'd procrastinated over because I thought I had plenty of time. ::Whew!:: Of course, I couldn't say no, I'd been pursuing this goal for FIVE YEARS - but it set off a tsunami of a panic attack, because it required so much plan-changing and rushing about, that I thought my head would explode. Thankfully, the next day, it turned out I was given a couple extra weeks to get everything done, else trying to process so much so fast would have made me an emotional basket case (translation: minor nervous breakdown).
I guess this is the same thing as the 'hearing a conversation in a crowded room' problem. When my processor chip gets logjammed by too much input, it can't decide which sensory input to let through first, so it shuts down entirely and refuses to process anything until the environment becomes calmer.
Hope all that makes some sense.
_________________
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel - but I am, so that's how it comes out."
- Bill Hicks |
|
| Back to top |
|
EvilEyeV36
Butterfly
Joined: May 26, 2008
Age: 18
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Thank you for the replies... I guess I forgot to take the "asking a colorblind person..." thing into consideration, and I apologize for the "cocky little sh**" thing... for future reference, how can I avoid that? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Willard
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 24, 2008
Posts: 617
Location: Confederate States of America
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| EvilEyeV36 wrote: | | Thank you for the replies... I guess I forgot to take the "asking a colorblind person..." thing into consideration, and I apologize for the "cocky little sh**" thing... for future reference, how can I avoid that? |
Just razzing you, don't sweat it...
_________________
"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel - but I am, so that's how it comes out."
- Bill Hicks |
|
| Back to top |
|
EvilEyeV36
Butterfly
Joined: May 26, 2008
Age: 18
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| OH! WAIT!!! I get the "cocky little sh**" thing now... Sorry bout how I worded the question... I'm not trying to pinhole a lot of different perspectives with my question, or tell people how they think... I guess the question is just sort of a catalyst for input (agree/disagree+comments) I can see how it may have seemed patronizing, though, and I apologize. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
