What do think the essence of ASD is?

[Sherlock77]

... Just want to know why and there may be a lot of those branches to sort through. Is it sensory issues, inability to organize input fast enough, fragmented thinking, just a very different perspective..???

For me I think it's often the speed at which conversation happens, I sometimes even want to add some "input" to the conversation (and I do over-think quite often), and when I'm ready, the conversation has moved miles past what I wanted to say, and likely won't go back there ever...

 

[kay]

For yourself?

I just meant different branches for different people, but yeah, even in one person there are many branches.....in a single person they are more like tangled vines, I think -- or branches that have actually grown into one another, in places, so they are fused together....different cognitive abilities interacting......no simple/single answer, but the end product of all sorts of things interacting in various ways....

Both and all. And I agree there isn't likely a simple answer but to just understand why. I've had a head cold all week after a couple of months of stress so thinking too much is just what my mind's been busy with lately. Oh, the things I can overthink.

 

[kay]

For me I think it's often the speed at which conversation happens, I sometimes even want to add some "input" to the conversation (and I do over-think quite often), and when I'm ready, the conversation has moved miles past what I wanted to say, and likely won't go back there ever...

I keep thinking it's speed for me, too but maybe it's not just an issue of too fast or too slow. Kept thinking it was an issue of too fast and then I'm watching this artist interview somewheres on YouTube and this woman is driving in and on at a very slow pace about her art and I nearly poked my eyes out from boredom. And also I realized that of the few people I do well with slow isn't their style. But I can only really handle one person at a time. There people in the room, people I know well and otherwise can Converse with fairly well, when it's the then I just can't. I'm shutting down, can't process, start stimming more, start feeling so tired. I need to go to bed and quit thinking about this, it's just income to even think about sometimes.

 

[SusanLR]

I would agree with that, despite regularly talking to people in public while doing street photography... I have other areas of communication that I struggle with a lot, most notably the expression of emotions...

Like today? I don't know the two of them, thought it would be an interesting photo, I honestly didn't use emotion, simply liked the scene... Is that strange?

View attachment 43664

@Sherlock77 Expression of emotions fits into this thread as an essence,
so discussion on taking photographs could have a meaning here.
You speak of not using emotion on the pic of the boys on the bench, yet I see in your photos an expression of the human state of being with no words needed.
The photos show this to me.
I wonder if you are projecting emotion through the photos of the various scenes of people?

I enjoy photography as a hobby, certainly not any type of professional. Just me and a little digital camera,
but I am attracted to inanimate objects or nature/animals. Not human scenarios.
This at first thought might seem opposites regarding emotions in the photos, but, upon deeper perception
there may be emotional expression.
Humans, their expressions and life activities evoke a sense of their emotion. A lot of emotions that I don't comprehend, but can somehow feel from the photos.
Inanimate objects not directly expressing emotion has the personality or emotion of the photographer,(me)
reflected in them. Like a mirror reflecting my emotions through what I like to photograph.

Into my overthinking maybe, but, interesting.

 

[Mary Lyn]

A certain type of neurological damage through disruption in development with numerous causes. Mine was a mixture of genetics plus mercury poisoning from teething powders.

 

[Progster]

I keep thinking it's speed for me, too but maybe it's not just an issue of too fast or too slow. Kept thinking it was an issue of too fast and then I'm watching this artist interview somewheres on YouTube and this woman is driving in and on at a very slow pace about her art and I nearly poked my eyes out from boredom. And also I realized that of the few people I do well with slow isn't their style. But I can only really handle one person at a time. There people in the room, people I know well and otherwise can Converse with fairly well, when it's the then I just can't. I'm shutting down, can't process, start stimming more, start feeling so tired. I need to go to bed and quit thinking about this, it's just income to even think about sometimes.

I just shut down in situations like that, I don't try to process what they are saying, and withdraw into my own head and own world. If I tried to follow them and process everything, I'd get too tired.

 

[WereBear]

Following up on my own theories (and why not?) I would say my social difficulty stems from the differing goals from varying kinds of conversations.

When I am chatting with someone close to me about things of mutual interest, we exchange information in overlapping sequences of intensity and depth. My husband and I can rewatch a whole movie while also dissecting the craft that made it good or bad, and this is never boring and I don’t do anything “inappropriate.”

But I have difficulties in a work meeting where people have hidden agendas or power plays and we wander all over the map when I want to bore in and get something done! This is when I have to monitor myself about interrupting or exhibiting my boredom and watch those non sequiturs that makes sense only to me.

 

[DuckRabbit]

The terms "non-compliant" and "manipulative" pop up way too much in psych books.

Clinical discourse primes people to pathologise and look for what's wrong rather than what's simply different. Here we have the de rigueur link between autism and mass murder:
Who is ‘socially awkward’ Toronto van attack suspect Alek Minassian? | Daily Mail Online
Such headlines need to be counterbalanced by the number of extreme NTs aka narcissists (extramarital affairs, multiple partners, children by different partners) who resort to murder.

 

[DuckRabbit]

I think the defining characteristics of ASD are (1) social-political deficits and (2) having a disturbing effect on any group (which may be unconscious both to the ASD individual and to the group).

I also get the feeling that ASD individuals are experiencing incarnation on this Earth for the first time, whereas others people have done this all before - possibly many times. (Unless NTs are some invasive alien species and ASD individuals are the natives...)

 

[Tom]

Eye of Neut

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Clinical discourse primes people to pathologise and look for what's wrong rather than what's simply different. Here we have the de rigueur link between autism and mass murder:
Who is ‘socially awkward’ Toronto van attack suspect Alek Minassian? | Daily Mail Online
Such headlines need to be counterbalanced by the number of extreme NTs aka narcissists (extramarital affairs, multiple partners, children by different partners) who resort to murder.

I guess there's "normal murder" which doesn't raise an eyebrow and

"Unusual murder" where misfits et all can be used as scapegoats.
High visibility to unusual meaning ordinary every day vileness doesn't need to be addressed.

 

[kay]

A certain type of neurological damage through disruption in development with numerous causes. Mine was a mixture of genetics plus mercury poisoning from teething powders.

I had to look up teething powder, I obviously know nothing about babies. Why was there mercury in yours?? That certainly wasn't good.

 

[kay]

I think the defining characteristics of ASD are (1) social-political deficits and (2) having a disturbing effect on any group (which may be unconscious both to the ASD individual and to the group).

I also get the feeling that ASD individuals are experiencing incarnation on this Earth for the first time, whereas others people have done this all before - possibly many times. (Unless NTs are some invasive alien species and ASD individuals are the natives...)

I always feel like everyone else got some sorta instructions and script that I wasn't given.

 

[Mary Lyn]

I had to look up teething powder, I obviously know nothing about babies. Why was there mercury in yours?? That certainly wasn't good.

They used teething powders a long time ago, and they were generally taken off the market in the 1950's. Using mercury as medicine goes back a long way. The theory with the babies was that worms were causing their upset and mercury would kill the worms - up to 50% in the powders. It killed a lot of the babies.

 

[kay]

Following up on my own theories (and why not?) I would say my social difficulty stems from the differing goals from varying kinds of conversations.

When I am chatting with someone close to me about things of mutual interest, we exchange information in overlapping sequences of intensity and depth. My husband and I can rewatch a whole movie while also dissecting the craft that made it good or bad, and this is never boring and I don’t do anything “inappropriate.”

But I have difficulties in a work meeting where people have hidden agendas or power plays and we wander all over the map when I want to bore in and get something done! This is when I have to monitor myself about interrupting or exhibiting my boredom and watch those non sequiturs that makes sense only to me.

I'm going to think about this some more. I have those kind of conversations, primarily with my husband, and it's fun. Then around others it's either a lot of work or just a dead conversation the minute I open my mouth. Never thought about the differing goals because I thought there were only two goals, information exchange and just get through the conversation well enough. It gives me insight into some very horrible ladies brunches I attended. Figured out there were hidden agendas that had motivated me being invited but guess that may have also contributed to the reason I quit going. There was no way I could converse with those women. I of course didn't know why they had been inviting me until much later, but hmmm... I am going to think about how much that effects conversations.

 

[Sherlock77]

@Sherlock77 Expression of emotions fits into this thread as an essence,
so discussion on taking photographs could have a meaning here.
You speak of not using emotion on the pic of the boys on the bench, yet I see in your photos an expression of the human state of being with no words needed.
The photos show this to me.
I wonder if you are projecting emotion through the photos of the various scenes of people?

I enjoy photography as a hobby, certainly not any type of professional. Just me and a little digital camera,
but I am attracted to inanimate objects or nature/animals. Not human scenarios.
This at first thought might seem opposites regarding emotions in the photos, but, upon deeper perception
there may be emotional expression.
Humans, their expressions and life activities evoke a sense of their emotion. A lot of emotions that I don't comprehend, but can somehow feel from the photos.
Inanimate objects not directly expressing emotion has the personality or emotion of the photographer,(me)
reflected in them. Like a mirror reflecting my emotions through what I like to photograph.

Into my overthinking maybe, but, interesting.

Funny thing, I've often gotten comments (relating to emotions) about my photos from other people, and it surprises me... Honestly in most cases I look at my photography very technically, even after the fact...

 

[Nervous Rex]

I think the essence is:

• We do some things naturally that NT's have to exert conscious effort to do (two of mine are math and anything analytical).
• We have to exert conscious effort to do some things that NT's do naturally or subconsciously (two of mine are socializing and regulating emotions).

Sometimes I think that my consciousness is just in the wrong part of my brain.

 

[pax]

No? OK I'll stop being a silly b****r and think of a serious answer. (Am I allowed to write b****r? )

 

[Nervous Rex]

(Am I allowed to write b****r? )

Butter?

 

[kay]

I suppose I should suggest Velveeta is the essence because isn't it really the essence of life in general? My cold is gone, and other than being a bit depressed from a messed up sleep schedule(what little I have), I am not nearly as concerned over the essence of ASD. Interesting thread though, I like reading other people's ideas. When I get sick again I may take time to ponder it all more. It's so odd how concerned I get about certain things when I am sick.