Category Archives: Autistic Traits

As I had mentioned in my last post, the act of stimming (self-stimulation) involves doing repetitive things which can ease overwhelming emotions, such as anxiety or even excitement. Some of these behaviors that commonly seen among non-autistics includes nail-biting, leg bouncing, finger tapping, and hair twirling. In autistics, stimming may look different, or even “weird” or “strange” to someone neurotypical, and can often be more intense or recurring. Sometimes, stimming is also used to calm sensory stressors, such as loud noises or bright lights, or perhaps can help stimulate an autistic who is usually hyposensitive to their surroundings.

For example, I can sometimes become either overwhelmed or underwhelmed with what is going on around me, and in both cases, I tend to bounce both of my legs rapidly, typically with my right leg going twice the speed as the left. The more overwhelmed I feel, the faster I have to bounce them, and sometimes it turns into actual shaking instead of bouncing. When I am alone, I will do other, less socially acceptable things, such as rock myself back and forth or flap my hands to relieve tension.

Other autistic people may do things such as spinning, repeating certain words or phrases, clapping their hands, or even staring at something. And just like neurotypical people, autistic people can also stim out of habit.

Sometimes autistic stimming tends to be more extreme, and the chances of these behaviors entering problematic territory increases. If an autistic person cannot stop themselves from stimming, they may be unable to complete schoolwork or interact with others. Stimming can also become physically dangerous, such as when hitting, scratching, head-banging, or biting is involved, since this could result in injury to the individual, or even somebody near them. In these cases, some sort of behavioral therapy may be needed, which can help the individual learn how to develop more safe forms of self-stimulation.

With this in mind, you would probably not be surprised to hear that self-harm in general is more common among autistic people. Even if it is not their usual method of stimming, autistics, being more likely to experience sensory overload or overwhelming emotions, can find relief in self harm. Just like neurotypicals, autistic people report self-harming for several common reasons, such as relieving tension, punishing themself, distracting from distressing thoughts, or feeling a sense of control. In some cases, autistic people (usually children) may self-harm in attempt to communicate their feelings/needs, especially since they may not be able to communicate as easily with their caretakers or anybody else around them.

In order to help decrease the rate of self-harm among autistic people, we must make their stimming techniques as socially acceptable as neurotypical stimming techniques. This could be by encouraging public stimming (when safe) or teaching people that these types of stimming are normal, and that staring can make the person even more stressed. After all, why should something like bouncing your legs be acceptable, but not rocking back and forth or flapping your arms?

One of the key features of ASD is sensory difficulties. Just as neurotypical people tend to have more difficulty with certain things (such as focus, for example), one of the difficulties of those with autism tends to be dealing with what is going on around them.

Some psychologists predict that the sensory issues autistic individuals have, while intrinsic to autism, might develop so severely in some cases as a result of increased anxiety in people with ASD, as is expected when we live in a world that is not constructed for our neurotype. The theory is, since anxiety and sensory difficulties are part of a very unfortunate negative feedback loop, the sensory difficulties an autistic person experiences are not likely to improve unless either the anxiety or initial sensory problems can be treated. While some types of therapy have been shown to help these symptoms, it is still the case that many people with ASD simply cannot process their senses in a neurotypical society. Thus, sensory differences will probably continue to be a problem for those with ASD for a long time, if not forever, depending on how much societal change can really affect an autistic individual’s natural, biological sensory differences.

Even if autistics are bound to always be a little more troubled in regards to certain sounds, bright lights, etc., that does not mean that progress for these individuals cannot be made. In my mind, the first step to making the world a more accepting place for anybody is awareness, which is why I would like to discuss what exactly sensory difficulties can entail, and how exactly those with autism should be allowed to cope with those difficulties, in the open, without shame or harassment.

First of all, let’s discuss some examples of what an autistic person may experience. If someone has hyper sensitives, their body essentially overreacts to things. For instance, the lights in a classroom may be too bright for the person to focus on anything or even look anywhere without pain, or maybe the sound of someone tapping their pencil is too loud for them, causing a breakdown. On the other hand, someone who is hypo sensitive might need more stimulation than they are receiving.  This could include, for example, having a very poor sense of smell or taste, or even needing to feel certain textures/amounts of pressure to regulate emotions. For every autistic person, both of these types of sensory difficulties can be mild or extreme, and can vary depending on the situation. Someone can even have both hypo and hyper sensitivities, such as needing to eat strong, spicy foods, yet being sensitive to touch.

One of the main things autistics do to tame these sensory problems is something called stimming, or self-stimulation. Everybody stims sometimes, such as with the common act of bouncing your leg to ease anxiety, or perhaps just because it is uncomfortable sitting still. With autistic people, stimming can look a lot different or be a lot more intense, which is why it is such an important topic in the ASD community. However, I will not get into the specifics of autistic stimming until my next entry, so make sure to check that out next week.

No matter how educated you may be on the topic of autism, I’m sure most of us can agree on one thing: autism is mysterious. Although scientists have been researching autism for decades, there still aren’t any definite answers for what causes the condition. Some studies suggest certain prenatal conditions may increase likelihood of ASD, while others claim genetics are the sole factor. Personally, considering the fact that autism is now seen as a neurotype as opposed to a disorder, it seems more likely that the condition is simply the product of natural human genetic variation. However, no one answer has enough evidence so far, which is unfortunate for those of us who try to dismantle discriminatory ideas about ASD. Nonetheless, current research on the topic is still quite fascinating, and in this blog post, I plan on discussing each main hypothesis.

1 – Genetic Differences

This idea by far has the most supporting evidence. In fact, the genetic basis for autism is so strong that the vast majority of scientists have now come to the consensus that autism is often passed down from parent to child. Various genetic disorders are commonly associated with ASD, such as Rett Syndrome and fragile X syndrome. However, many other simple genetic mutations have been found to lead to autism as well, some of which can be inherited, and some of which are not inherited. The idea that autism is genetic, whether in association with genetic disorders or not, is an important message that needs spread in order to increase ASD acceptance. For all we know, if neuro-typical people became the minority, they may be more likely to be associated with certain genetic disorders as well. Since our brains are wired differently, it makes sense that different disorders are of higher risk, and it is nothing that people should be using to insult or pathologize us.

2 – Environmental Factors

The idea of environmental factors affecting the likelihood of autism is certainly possible, but not much evidence is currently available. Complications during pregnancy, viral infections, air pollutants, and numerous medications have been studied in association with autism, but none of these factors has yet to be confirmed as a possible cause. In my mind, any of these would be plausible, considering the fact that nearly all facets of life can be affected by environmental factors, including those that we are born with. Plus, according to one researcher, “… these [environmental] factors alone are unlikely to cause autism. Rather, they appear to increase a child’s risk for developing autism when combined with genetic factors” (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences).

Some scientists have even found that things such as homosexuality can be more likely to occur with certain prenatal environmental conditions. With that said, it is not unreasonable, nor is it negative, to suggest that environmental factors could affect the likelihood of autism, just as those factors can affect the normal development of any other part of our anatomy.

3 – Vaccines

For this hypothesis, I will not waste too much time. In essence, an anti-vaccine activist by the name of Andrew Wakefield spread the idea years ago of a supposed link between vaccines and autism. Not only were his claims inaccurate and later completely refuted, but his implication of autism as something bad or unwanted is beyond ableist. Even if vaccines did cause autism, the solution would be to make the world a more accepting and comfortable place for autistics, not try to fix something that isn’t broken. Although this hypothesis is beyond ridiculous, I do suggest you read more about the controversy if you are interested, which I will link below.

Sources:

Environmental causes:

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/conditions/autism/index.cfm

Genetic causes:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3513682/

Vaccine myth:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html

https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/do-vaccines-cause-autism

When someone says that autism is “on a spectrum,” most of you probably imagine a linear spectrum. On one end is “low functioning” autistics, those who have more difficulty with their symptoms, and perhaps also have a lower IQ. On the other end is “high functioning,” people whose symptoms are not too disruptive and can blend in with the rest of society. Perhaps you would even go so far as to say that one end is “less autistic” and the other is “severely autistic.” While psychologists used to view ASD in these ways, it is now understood that ASD does not work like this, and the spectrum those with autism fall on is not so simple.

First of all, there is no such thing as “less” or “more” autistic, just as there is no such thing as “less” or “more” neurotypical. If someone has the brain pathways associated with ASD, they are autistic. Period. No matter how their symptoms affect them, they have the same neurotype as every other autistic person.

Just as some neurotypical people may be better at fitting in, socializing, and completing everyday tasks, autistic people have a wide variety of abilities and experiences.

So if the autism spectrum isn’t based on “severity” or amount of difficulties, then what is it? As it is understood today, the “spectrum” is a multi-dimensional way of understanding the individual symptoms and characteristics associated with ASD. Everyone on the spectrum will have unique symptoms which can range from barely noticeable to extremely distracting (or helpful, because not all autism symptoms are negative). For instance, one person may be very good at forcing eye contact and appearing “normal in public,” but cannot deviate from their usual strict daily routine. Another person may be very flexible with what they do every day, but cannot socialize as society expects them to.

Of course, if the person also has an intellectual disability or mental disorder, they may have an even more difficult time dealing with their specific set of challenges. When someone needs substantial assistance for whatever reason, they are sometimes labeled as “high-needs.” Someone who does not need much assistance with their day to day lives is then labeled as “low-needs.” These terms are much more helpful than “high” or “low” functioning because they more accurately describe the differences between autistic individuals, and are much less condescending.

Just as non-autistic people all need some level of assistance in their lives, autistic people do as well, and their “amount of autism” has nothing to do with it.

Next week I will be going over the whole history of autism – that is, when it became first recognized to now. In that entry I will further explain all of the misconceptions surrounding the autism spectrum, along with many other interesting events in the community that I’m sure many of you are not too aware of, so stay tuned!