Category: autism

Special Autism

You are so special! Now you have “Autistic Joy” too!!!


Oh man, here we go again. I am noticing lots of online conversations, and now suddenly Youtube and blogs, suddenly even articles written about “Autistic Joy”.
I am not certain where this originated but the same people who promote “special interests” and “autism is a superpower”, “autism is a gift” are at it once more.

I have been scolded and prompted to respond to multiple queries about my “special interests”, my “superpowers”, my “Autistic Gifts”, and now my so called “Autistic Joy”.

The power of positive thinking is real, the ability to recognize and appreciate the good things in life is real, the sense of accomplishment or self we may obtain from recognizing positive traits in ourselves is healthy unless it is unrealistic or imagined.

I find these prompts to be condescending and actually the opposite of empowering. They all fall under that “special” label where we are constantly pointed at and labeled and “othered”.

These things may be well meaning and meant to encourage a positive outlook in children, but when some 20 year old lectures me about my “special abilities” and how I should be proud because I am autistic, I wonder what sort of BS they have been raised to believe.

Autism in childhood is hard enough, wait until they figure out they have been given a completely unrealistic evaluation of their abilities and their potential (you can be anything you want to be)

I am proud of my autism like I am proud of my diabetes or my high blood pressure. These things are what they are and I don’t go around like some PR person touting the “advantages” of these conditions and how important they make me.
I smell something bad when patronizing people praise and condescendingly (metaphorically) pat me on the head, telling me how wonderful I am.

There may be advantages to being autistic, but in all these years of living, I’m not sure I can name even one.

Most people experience positive traits, and can appreciate things about themselves, but that does not make them “special”. Yet folks are here all over the internet once again telling me how “special” I am.

Its perhaps mistakenly meant to be positive or encouraging, but I smell condescendingly shallow patronization and back-handedly once again pointing out that for an autistic person, I am doing so very well! For an autistic person, pretty good, (still not neurotypical though, too bad for you, your performance in one or two areas of life may meet or exceed neurotypical norms, good for you, you are so special! )

PS, even after almost 73 years of life on this planet I am unable to find “happiness” and as far as I am aware, have never experienced “joy”.
Your experience may be different, good for you, that’s not bad for an autistic person!!!
( sarcasm)

Disclosure of Autism Diagnosis?

Now you know you are autistic, should you tell others?

Disclosure of an autism diagnosis is a very personal thing. Be aware first that there is no such thing as “keeping it a secret”. If you tell one person, they may feel free to talk about your diagnosis with others, especially among family members or friends.

People choose not to disclose their autism if they feel it may bring on discrimination, stigma, or somehow affect social or professional standing.
Stigma is real, many people today do not understand what Autism Is and discriminate and make judgments automatically.
Some may want to avoid stigma and “instant judgement” that comes with what amounts to yet another label. That is certainly understandable.
Certain employers or individuals we meet may change the way they treat us because of our autism diagnosis. This may be true of family members or friends, too.



Others choose to disclose their diagnosis to obtain support on the job through accommodations, or to obtain government financial support or access through certain programs available to the handicapped.
Some, like me, disclose my autism because I write about what its like to be an old autistic individual in today’s society. Saying “I believe I am autistic, let me tell you about it” does not have the “authenticity” or “authority” that telling people I was diagnosed at this late age (68 at diagnosis, now in 2024 almost 73 years of age) and explain the experience and insights I have gained after diagnosis.

Disclosure for others may be a way of letting family and friends know that everything all those years ago was not, after all, all your fault, but that you have an actual neurological condition which causes you struggles you never suspected for most of your life. Disclosing diagnosis explains to others your quirks, your brilliance, your odd little things that seemed until now inexplicable to others.

Expect reactions to vary in each individual. You might be surprised at who is accepting and supportive, and who scoffs or mocks or refuses to learn about it all.
Be aware that once you do disclose, there is not putting the rabbit back in the hat. That news is out there and even if you refuse to discuss your diagnosis, others will! ( often behind your back). (but maybe they do that anyways).

There is no right or wrong decision, everything depends on what is right for you. Think it through thoroughly, don’t expect any person you tell to actually “keep it a secret”.
Do what is right for you.

Self Understanding and autism

How do you get to know yourself?

That question may sound funny to older folks, we have experienced so much in our lives, if we don’t know ourselves by now, will we ever?

One of the things that happens when we learn of our very late autism diagnosis is that absolutely everything is seen in a different perspective.

We suddenly understand a lot of “whys” from the past. We can see how our autism worked behind the scenes in so many ways to cause struggles and how autism may be working in us today. We learn we have been conditioned to hide our autism, to think of ourselves as inept, perhaps think of ourselves as a loser, a bad person, a problem or a trial to others. Many of us hide from every day life and sensory input that can be overwhelming.

Many of us force ourselves to do “normal” things in order to please others (and we suffer from stress, distress, exhaustion, and multiple anxieties and dismay with constant pressure to “do it right” “stop messing up” and constant criticism when we fail to perform as others expect us to.

Many people who are recently diagnosed have felt lost and confused when they obtained diagnosis. “now what”??? “how do I stop masking”??? “how do I find myself beneath these assumed traits (from a lifetime of trying to fit in). ???

Don’t feel pressured to “take off the mask”. Some articles and discussions in today’s media give the impression that we must openly and defiantly be bold in declaring our autism and putting a new bold front forward. That may be fine for some. But for others, the comfort of staying quietly on the sidelines can be a comfort and a refuge. Social masking is not done only by autistic people.
Much of society in general conforms to expected “norms” in every day life. To get a job or get things done anywhere we are in public, we wear a persona, dress in socially accepted “uniforms”, wear socially accepted or culturally accepted hair styles, makeup, shoes, jewelry, and do socially acceptable things… we learn how to use “inside voices”, we learn to be toilet trained, we learn basic hygiene, we use social manners, say please and thank you, wait for our turn in line, etc.

Masking is useful to everybody in most societies at some level.

You can find your own comfort level about how far you are willing to cross social boundaries with clothing, manners, self decoration, behavior, or if what you are doing currently or have been doing all your life is right for you. You don’t “have to” take off any more of your “mask” than you want to!

Many of us begin to have better self understanding and can see patterns we developed as self defense in very early childhood (once we learn of our autism). Many older people ( born before 1980) were brought up with corporal punishment or verbal abuse as part of our every day lives, essentially the “old fashioned” form of coercive therapy, where you are punished for stepping out of line and doing anything that displeases the “powers that be” whether it was parents, your minister, your boss, the neighbors, unknown others. We may have learned to fear displeasing others at physical or mental/ emotional cost to ourselves. WE may have learned to please and appease others at any cost to ourselves to assure ourselves of emotional or physical safety, sometimes even before we could speak (see also trauma and autism for better understanding) .

We may have become self protective through aggression, becoming oppositional, defiant, resistant, or we may have developed other techniques for emotional and physical survival and self defense. WE may not be at all aware of these behaviors or their root causes until we understand our autism and how it worked behind the scenes, altering our understanding and our responses to the demands of others and the demands of every day life.


We may have developed unhealthy habits or turned to over eating, drinking, drugs, or becoming compulsive in many ways to help us through our days .


Seeing through the eyes of being autistic, we begin to recognize so many things of the past can be adjusted and changed, that we can step by step make changes in our own lives to make every day living easier and better, healthier and more in tune with our own abilities and disabilities.

This is the best part of self discovery and self understanding. We are not tied to the ways we have lived most all of our lives. We can change things to help ourselves move forward once we have this new understanding of how our autism affected absolutely everything in our pasts and affects everything every day in our daily lives today. WE can find and use self accommodations to make our lives better.

There are so many ways we can adapt our lives to our autism once we learn about our own neurology.

We might be overwhelmed by sensory input, or we might seek sensory input (or both in different ways and different parts of our daily living). We might struggle with physical limitations such as problems with balance, depth perception, hearing, vision, or gait.
As we begin to understand how our neurology gives us extra struggles (and also strengths in many cases) we can stop trying to live up to other’s expectations for us.

We can forgive ourselves for failing to meet others’ demands and find ways of doing things to help ourselves live better lives. We can stop forcing ourselves to suffer “every day” experiences that cause us distress just to please others.

For example it is almost impossible for me to watch tv, go to the movies, watch a ball game, go to a concert, go to the mall, ride a train or a bus, participate in anything where there are large groups of people gathered.
I used to try to do these things to appease and please others who enjoyed those experiences, but for me it was struggle ending in shutdowns, being sick to my stomach, headaches and deep anxiety. It was anything but enjoyable but I forced myself to endure sensory overwhelm in so many ways before I learned of my autism.

I have been able to find other activities and experiences more congenial to me and my autism, substituting dinner out at a restaurant for carry out to be eaten at a quiet location somewhere else. I can go to a museum instead of an art fair, I can go for a hike in the woods or at the lake shore instead of participating in a mass event such as a 5K run or a swim meet, a bike rally, etc. You get the point.
There are thousands of ways we can adapt our activities and our surroundings, the choices we make in our lifestyles and our clothing and “personal style”, and many small things we can do for ourselves daily to help us be more comfortable on every level. One small change at a time as problems, distress, discomfort, etc can become over a while, a new and better, more comfortable and peaceful way to move forward in your life.

Learn about your own worst struggles instead of forcing yourself to accommodate the demands of others no matter the cost in suffering for yourself. Find ways to change the things that give you the worst problems, learn about your own neurology and give yourself a break. Make self care a priority. If you need rest, find a way to get it! Adjust anything in your daily life that you can to make every day healthier and easier as time goes on.
If you find it a struggle and distressing or overwhelming, find “work arounds” to use instead.



Recently Diagnosed adults

Autism diagnosis throws everything into a different perspective

As well a writing the blog, I also attend online forums and even am administrator of an information sharing group and a moderator for a couple of social support groups.
Many of the recently diagnosed adults who report their diagnosis for the first time follow up with an emotional response. I am so angry I missed so much because nobody noticed, I am so sad for all the things I lost because I am autistic, I am furious with my parents, teachers, doctors, or others because they dismissed my struggles.

I am so sad, so angry, so frustrated, so relieved, so validated.

Getting a diagnosis of autism after a long life time of struggles in so many ways can be all of these things. Almost all of us go through whirlwinds of emotions as we begin to adjust to the vast and important life change our diagnosis means for us. We suddenly have answers for so many of our struggles, from social failures, problems on the job or in the home, difficulties with perception, balance and motion, problems understanding things that go on around us and have gone on all of our lives. Now with our new understanding that it has been our uneven neurological development that has played havoc with our lives all this time (and nobody knew!) we can forgive ourselves for our failing to live up to others’ expectations. Blame and shame surrounding our performance ( or non-performance) in almost all parts of our lives has led us to feeling guilty, believing we are somehow bad people and that we are failures due to lack of character, inner strength, willpower, laziness, ineptitude, stupidity or moral failure.

Finally, we can see how our unevenly developed neurology has given us struggles that “normal” (neurotypical ) people simply don’t have.

We can understand why we were blamed, punished, shamed, bullied, etc. Nobody knew!

We can finally forgive ourselves for all those struggles and years of disappointing results. It was not “all our fault” after all. Now we know WHY!!!!

Don’t be surprised if you feel completely at odds within yourself. It is going to take a while to look at just everything in your past and in everything around your every day life today and see how autism has had its workings in it all, even though we may never have suspected.

Its likely pretty normal to have these emotional responses. Our world has been turned completely upside down and now we suddenly have this new perspective that shows us things we may never have understood before. Of course it is unsettling!

Do your very best self care as you begin the journey to your new life with this new understanding.

You will have loads of questions, old memories seen in new ways, and you will begin learning new ways to live your life using new every day tools in thought processes, behavior, self accommodation and more.

I promise you things will start settling down as you find your way little by little and begin to experience those marvelous “aha” moments when something confusing, painful, frustrating, exciting suddenly makes sense.

You are definitely not alone.

More and more older adults are finding diagnosis and changing their lives for the better as they go forward after recent diagnosis of autism.

After autism diagnosis

Now what?

The word is out! More “fully mature” adults (over 50 years of age) are learning about autism and asking themselves related questions.
Am I autistic?

Statistics show there are more autism diagnoses being made in adults of all ages.

We will spend a lot of time looking for qualified diagnosing professionals , struggling to find those with actual experience working with adults autistic individuals and who are willing to accept our insurance, set up a payment plan, give us an appointment some time in the future (up to 3 years waiting time sometimes in autism clinics especially for older adults).

We will spend a lot of money driving to appointments, staying in motels or camping near by, we will be stressed and distressed and struggle to find the right professionals in places we can reach and struggle through strange places to sleep and eat, new places to navigate, new heights of anxiety and distress .

If we make it as far as getting that precious appointment, we may find we are saddled with “other diagnoses” that explain our behavior and struggles because the diagnosing individual is not actually familiar with autism and the many ways it can show itself in mature adults who have coped and adapted on their own for so many years. We may give up in despair but still believe in our hearts that we are likely autism. Self identification of autism is accepted by many autistic groups for adults because we have experienced first hand how difficult it is to find competent professional diagnosis .


So after what is likely years of focus, struggle, many phone calls, emails, in person visits,referrals, failed leads, so many inquiries, searching for diagnosis, we finally find a rare medical professional who recognizes our autism and we have a name for our struggles and distress in all the years of our lives that came before.
Autism!

We know now that we are autistic. Autism has worked behind the scenes all our lives and most of us, although we were painfully aware of being “different” but had no idea why.

Autism answers so many “whys” of the past.

It explains physical struggles with balance and coordination, it explains our difficult social interactions with others. We can understand why we find so many experiences overwhelming. We can understand how our neurology fails us in things such as sensory input.

What we see, what we smell, what we hear, what we taste, how we move, how we process our emotions may all be influenced by the neurology we have been given, present from birth, and nobody knew.
Suddenly we can begin to understand how autism had its way with us all these years. We understand why we do many of the things we have done all this time to comfort ourselves, trying to find ways to cope with stress caused by events of every day living when we have many struggles that are not visible or understandable to others (let alone to ourselves, having been shamed, scolded, blamed and punished all this time for ways we have failed to live up to the expectations of others. Nobody knew!

Now we do know about our autism, we can begin to discover all the working of autism in our every day lives. We will experience a huge range of “roller coaster” emotions from anger and sadness, grief for our lost earlier lives and the pain of our childhood and early years, right through relief, a sense of release and anticipation, confusion, bewilderment, overwhelm; we are likely to experience it all.

Here’s where I am seeing so many posts and blogs and questions. We have established lives , we have coped and made adjustments, we have worked so hard for so long. How do we proceed from here? How do I do self care, self accommodations, how do I go on, now I know about my once hidden autism. What can I do for myself to make my life with autism easier, less distressing, less overwhelming?

First thing, understand that it took you all your life to get to this point. There are no miracle “autism treatments”, no “autism drugs” , no “autism therapy” waiting for us.

There will be lots of information to sort through, lots of people wanting your money to give you special diets, special schedules, special “therapies”, special supplements and making outrageous claims for their special programs.
It is easy to get lured down a path which promises miracles. Please keep an open mind, but do your homework. Research scientific reports carefully to see if results of any program have been proven and posted in reputable peer reviewed journals and repositories of such records.


Here is the truth. We can not change our autism, but we can change the way we face and cope with so many of the struggles we are presented with each day.

Learn about your own neurology. Read and understand what autism IS and IS NOT. Figure out what your best strengths and worst weaknesses are. This is where a report from your diagnosing professional can help. Usually there are tests given and results shown as part of the diagnosis and summary of the evaluation examinations.

In autism it is typical for us to have a few very strong features, even ranging into the level of being gifted in some way. It is also typical for us to have very difficult challenges in the way we are neurologically set up to “do life”.
Using my own diagnosis as an example, I learned I was gifted with words, comprehension and usage, but I had only 25th percentile visual processing and 35th percentile auditory processing.
Thinking back I realized why I have always used reading to get information, because what I see and hear in “real life” interactions is predominantly useless to me.
I may see well due to corrected vision ( I wear glasses) and my hearing tests at very high and low ranges, I can hear more than the average individual.
BUT what I see and hear is predominantly useless to me because it is never processed, never registers in my mind at all. What goes in does not stick or register in any meaningful way, only snatches of understanding are available to me in any “real time” interaction.

All my life I was told I was not paying attention, I was not trying, I was not applying myself, that I was lazy, thoughtless, and many other labels were given to me to explain my failures all those years.

Your neurology may be completely different, with different strengths, different struggles with sensory input of one kind or another.
Look for the best and worst performances in your test results. It will give you clues. If you don’t have test results, for weaknesses, think about the things that have been hardest for you in every day life, all your life. Find strengths by thinking of the things that give you enjoyment, pleasure, or a feeling of being competent.

Now I understand what was really going on, that I have actual neurological difficulties that make many common daily activities very hard for me to perform, I can find ways to substitute activities, support my weaknesses, adapt my life to new ways of doing things that will not put such pointless demands on my neurology.

This comes at a price that might make things very difficult for you and those around you.

Things have not been working so well for a long time, trying to make those things better will shake up our routines.
Those who live with us, work with us, and interact with us daily may find those changes less convenient, may resent that we no longer choose to force ourselves to do activities that cause us misery.
Others may not understand when we begin to make personal decisions about our lives to make things easier, less distressing, more comfortable from health, emotion and mental well being standpoints as well.
When I began to look for self accommodations I realized there is a huge lack of information about all the ways we can deliberately change our lives to make things more comfortable and easier every day.
There are so many changes we can make !
We can start by finding the worst struggles, eliminating or coping with triggers in new ways, figuring out “work arounds” to make our worst problems of every day living easier to cope with.

We can change not only physical surroundings, but also our routines, our jobs, our living circumstances, our clothing, our attitudes and outlooks. Its a lot to sort!

What is hardest for you, every single day?
Does it have to do with demands from others?
Does it have to do with sensory input that affects you in unusual ways?
Does it have to do with your own attitude, expecting yourself to perform as society says you “should” and giving yourself anxiety, depression, overwhelm , meltdowns, and conflict within your home, at work, in other areas of social interactions?


Have we developed bad habits to cope with our struggles, with alcohol, addictive behaviors, street drugs, maybe neglecting our health and not exercising, bathing, or maybe we over eat?

There are all sorts of things we can change. It might take courage to find new ways, to face family members and draw the line, refusing to participate in activities they may expect of you, but that cause you distress and misery. There are many substitute activities to suggest and to try “instead”.

Take the time to think about all the ways you struggle every day.
As individual struggles, what can you change to make things work better, go smoother, be easier on your senses, be less distressing or overwhelming?

Relief does not come overnight! Expect to have to work at sorting your own autism and maybe expect to try several things before you figure out what is right for you.
Over time with many small adjustments and maybe some large lifestyle changes, you will likely find the path is smoother, the struggle is less, the rewards greater.
Don’t be afraid to sort it out and try a few changes !
Your health, well being, and daily improvement to your quality of life will be observed over time.
Things will get better. You are worth it!!!

Nobody Knew!

A lifetime of shame and blame for sensory processing disorders.

Those of us who grew up before diagnosis and understanding of disabilities surrounding sensory processing, autism, adhd, learning disabilities such as dyslexia, were blamed for our struggles.


Were you told “you just don’t try”, “you are not paying attention” “you are lazy”, “You know very well what you have done”, “pull yourself together” “get with it” and other shaming and blaming comments, frequently with punishments according to the failure to perform as expected?? So many of us lived lives of misery trying to explain how hard we were trying and being punished for things we failed at which were beyond our neurological abilities. Nobody knew.

In the days when many of us grew up, failure to take personal responsibility and to perform as expected was considered mental weakness, moral weakness, or even worse, we were given labels “stupid” “idiot” “simpleton” … you can fill in the blanks.

Many of us carry the scars of well meaning “correction”, emotional or physical, or both, testimony to the concern of parents, educators, religious leaders, and others “back then” who were advocates of punishment as the way to correct and control any failure of children right through adulthood, beginning in some cases before the child could even speak.

Today we know so much more about autism and the neurology of so many ways we struggle to perform.

This is such a relief and vindication for so many of us born before 1980, when autism was first diagnosed, when understanding of neurological function struggles was just being discovered.

We have come such a long way from those roots of scientific searches to explain why so many of us failed to thrive, failed to perform, failed to live up to expectations or to fit into society and its mandates. But many of us carry scars in our minds, hearts, souls as well as our bodies.

It was such a relief to finally understand the lifetime of failures I had lived before I got that diagnosis . “Autism” explained so much. “Autism ” answered almost all the “whys” of a long and painful life of struggles.

I never understood that I had struggles which most other people did not. What a relief! It is never too late to find new understanding .

It is wonderful to me that so many adults today are learning about autism and how it worked behind the scenes all our lives without knowing or understanding, our own or that of others.
Now we can make our own lives better through self understanding and self accommodation. We have the answers and the means to discover new tools to help us every day.

Nobody knew!



Detecting Autism

from physical clues in the Retina.

Is there a likely physical marker for autism being researched right now?

Recent studies are being summarized and new large number studies are being done to see if the results from “small number” trial studies can be duplicated and information refined.

A year or two ago an optometrist wondered if examination of the retina might be a way to distinguish autistic individuals and to be non intrusive ( no biopsies, blood samples, hair, DNA etc taken) and used as a diagnostic tool to discover autism as early as in newborn babies.


Studies have been done (and more are coming) and the results seem to show a few interesting points. (so far!)

Subsequent studies seem to prove that when children diagnosed as autistic are examined, the vast majority of them have thicker retinas and thicker coverings where the optic nerve joins at the retina than “average” or “normal” individuals.

More studies are being done to see if there are other criteria that can be gleaned.

Studies done on “autistic like” mice which have been engineered to carry several genes associated with autism also seem to show this characteristic (thicker tissue at retina and the base of the optic nerve).


Many scientific reports in journals and the news, etc. are reporting this as “fact.”

It is exciting to think science may have found an autism “tell” but here is why I would urge readers to be cautious in jumping on the “hooray we can detect autism now” band wagon.

There are many genetic conditions which frequently include autism in their symptoms. Fragile X, Ehler Danlos, Williams Syndrome, and many other known genetic syndromes/conditions have specific genetics associated with them as well.

What science may be in the process of discovering is another as yet unknown genetic condition associated with autism. As with the associated conditions referred to above, not all autistic individuals may have the genes that are present in the condition that causes thickened retinal and optic nerve tissues.

(see the genes included and known to exist in the engineered “autistic” mice and compare to the genes in the DNA of individuals included in the studies who show thickened tissue, for example.)

This does not mean that ALL autistic individuals might be diagnosed by using the retina test, only those with the specific genes which might also include signs of autism as part of the characteristics of that specific genetic condition.

Much more research is needed to make sure that somebody does not decide that if the retinas of individuals do not reflect this particular feature of development, that individual must NOT BE autistic.


Arbitrary statements in diagnosing autism abounded and were mistakenly perpetuated for years, and still are in some places today.

Today’s understanding of autism is that it is usually genetic, and that autism is caused by uneven development of one’s neurology even before we are born.

So far there are over 100 specific genes associated strongly with autism.

I hope there is much more critical research done before somebody arbitrarily decides that this potential new physical “marker” applies to ALL autistic individuals.

Watching for more reports and studies results as science moves on.
Hoping for scientific methods to be formed to ask and answer this question.
“Does this new test apply to every single individual who might have autism”???
Developments will be reported here.

Still learning, looking, trying to understand my own autism as I age. Trying to report what I am learning so you can find it here, “all in one place” rather than have to search all over the internet for clues.
It is all pretty interesting, isn’t it?

Autism Communication

Its not always what people think! Hyperlexia and Hyperverbal defined


Its all about words! Stereotypes of what autism “looks like” in the way autistic people behave, what we do or don’t do, etc. abound. There are so many misunderstanding about what autism “is” and how it might affect a person!!!

Here is a look at the way a percentage of autistic folks experience their world.

Most common ideas about autism include thinking that all autistic individuals are either genius/savant or that we are deficient intellectually.

Of course, like all stereotypes, there are plenty of us “in between”.

It may be more difficult to find diagnosis if an autistic individual has no intellectual deficit and is “good with words”. Autism can affect us in so many other ways!

Hyperlexia is defined as a developmental quirk: the hyperlexic person learns to read and recognize words at an extremely early age, perhaps even as they are learning to speak.
Hyperlexic individuals often read and understand words at a much higher grade level than their age peers.
As well as being able to read and understand words, it is pointed out that most of these individuals do so with a child’s understanding , so reading a novel such as war and peace, or other volumes may not make complete sense to the child in question.
Being immature in years and experiences, insights, nuances, implied references, innuendoes and other social cues may be missed, just as they might be in any other children.

It is often pointed out by mainstream observers that eventually things “even out” and peers of the early reader “catch up”.
Of course even then, some people are better with reading and writing, “good with words” than others.

Hyperverbal individuals use words vocally and with enthusiasm!
Hyperverbal children use words that are usually not included in vocabularies of their childhood peers, and this may continue throughout life, with the hyperverbal person using uncommon words and different sentence structure than “mainstream” communication.

This tendency might be called “didatic” ( refer to “little professor” and autism) and there may also be problems with prosody, the tone, rhythms, patterns of our speech. But speak we do, frequently, mostly fluently, and willingly/frequently/often about our favorite subjects.

Because the person in question (hyperlexic/hyperverbal) usually has the ability to form sentence structure and present thoughts in a relatively coherent manner, diagnosis may be denied or not suspected. “autistic people don’t do that” ( one attempt at finding my diagnosis led to this comment from the neuropsychologist – who I learned later had never identified a single autistic person in his 40+ years of practice )

I suspect that many people who participate heavily on written/messaging types of internet forums, those who blog, or write may fall into this category. That only makes sense, right?

We don’t have to be autistic to have this “good with words” characteristic, but it makes sense that a certain percentage of autistic individuals may also have “the gift of words”.

If you suspect you might be autistic, don’t let the fact that you are “good with words” keep you from exploring the possible other ways autism might be working in your life.

Now approaching 5 years from my diagnosis at age 68, I can see that hyperlexia and hyperverbalism worked against me finding diagnosis, and I do believe I exercised my understanding of words all my life and used this form of learning and communication until it grew like a muscle.

Nothing else worked as well due to my sensory processing struggles. ( 25th percentile visual processing and 35th percentile audio processing)

Words were the key to understanding my world . Maybe this is true for you or your autistic loved one too.

Autism in a Box

Mistaken thinking, ideas and concepts about Autism


From the first discovery and attempts to define autism, its origins, and its struggles, there has been a natural human tendency to assign traits to all of those who are autistic.
“autistic people don’t look you in the eye”
“autistic people think in pictures”
“autistic people have no empathy”
“autistic people are ” “
“autistic people do ” ”

There are attempts to define autism by traits of thinking, sensory issues, behaviors, and more. There are many mistaken ideas being perpetuated today, too.

Here is what everybody missed from the beginning. Each of us is completely different. Today autism is understood as being a feature of unevenly developed neurology, where some parts of our neurological systems perform amazingly well all the way to very poorly indeed.

Depending on what part of our neurology is affected, we will show very high performance in neurological testing in some areas, right down to exceptionally weak performance in other areas.
Not one of us is the same, except that our neurological functions have been affected by the way we developed. (autism)
This can not be changed by diet, medications, miracle drugs, behavior training, or any other known mode of treatment. We are born autistic and we die autistic.

There is no “look” to autism. “you don’t look autistic” is a common comment totally based in false ideas about autism.

There is no set pattern of thinking, no set pattern of behaviors, not set level of intellect, no set performance levels of any tests available to us today.
Every single autistic individual has neurology that is unevenly developed, but this can show in as many ways as there are autistic people on earth.

Some mistaken ideas and misinformation I have heard “quoted” lately.
“autistic people are many times more sensitive ( some quote(sic) 8x, 12x etc) than neurotypical individuals”
Where did that one come from?

How does one measure sensitivity levels and how does one weigh how each individual reacts to stimulus.???? Do they mean physically sensitive or emotionally sensitive? Do they mean actually feeling, or are they referring to reactivity to any stimulus?

I blame this false information on the “highly sensitive person” social movement.
This idea that certain people are either slow, stupid, sluggish, or highly sensitive and therefore somehow socially or otherwise desirably “highly sensitive”, which fashion often has tied into highly intelligent.

This theory was around in the 1800s, perhaps even earlier when body types were tied for no actual prove-able reason to certain personalities, and perpetuated by psychologist William Sheldon in the 1940s . (and by others since, as well) (this theory has been thoroughly disproven/debunked by the way)
I need to do more research for past writings to uncover the historical bias evident in these loosely associated ideas.

There are no studies or tests to prove “sensitivity”. Science has not developed this capability. Every trait described by the “highly sensitive person” social movement is frequently found in autistic individuals, yet the most recent perpetuator of this ‘diagnosis’ denies that “highly sensitive persons” may be autistic. Oh, great way to avoid stigma of the autism label and all its misconceptions, by the way.

Any statement that begins with “autistic people” and describes a single trait should be regarded with suspicion and caution.
Almost all the ideas about the way we (autistic individuals) think (heard of “extreme male brain” ?) and behave ( heard about autism and “theory of mind”??) needs to be re examined in light of science’s new understanding of autism.

Not one of us is the same. We can not be put into a box and categorized under one thought process, one neurological response, one mode of speech, behavior, ability, or trait.

More and more, those professionals and others who understand autism in this new neurological light are looking for the ways our neurodevelopment or lack thereof affect our interactions with every day living, from the way we communicate, the way we respond or don’t respond to stimuli of many sorts, to our motor and perceptual differences.

Autism is sensory, neurological, and gives us neurological struggles that most NT individuals will never experience. Our sometimes unusual , strange, or seemingly extreme behaviors may be our attempts to adapt and cope to the experience of living with uneven development of our neurology.

When people make blanket statements about autism, what it is, or what autistic individuals do, think again. Most such statements will be based in false ideas and misinformation.