What do you think causes ASD?

[Keigan]

@Keigan, I would love for you to elaborate on why it's fascinating, I'm really struggling to decide whether I want to have my DNA sequenced. Some days I'm determined to do it, and other days I get into conspiracy theory mode and feel that it would be like taking part in research to help eliminate us. So, umm, any further info you have on the sequencing would be greatly appreciated

This is A thread for Alexi

DNA Sequencing - Alexithymia

 

[Sabrina]

The people in real life that I think are aspies belong to three categories:

1- My family (my father and a sister)
2- My husband's (who's also aspie) family, (his brother)
3- A group of, lets say, gifted teens that I belonged to at that age, that were chosen through a rigorous nation wide selection, back in my home country. I think the mayority of them were aspies because it's the only time in my life that I ever felt that I belonged to a group. They were all intellectually smart, but the social intelligence could be very diverse.

The point is that outside family, and that group, I don't know aspies in real life. That's why I think it's pure genetics.

 

[Full Steam]

From everything I've seen genetics and epigenetics would explain it all.

Most spectrum people I know (most undiagnosed) have kids that show traits too.

All of them are remarkable, amazing people.

 

[bbc-bananasplit]

I somewhat believe that dopamine and the natural levels of dopamine available and necessary for the over all brain development is a key factor - correlating as displayed in my (semi-professional / wannabe) overview =)

 

[Mr Allen]

My hypothesis is: that high current electricity mutates the genetic composition of a man's spirm, so at conception.

My grandfather worked around high current electricity as my father was conceived, my father was probably aspie.

My father worked around high current electricity as I was conceived, I'm self-diagnosed and my DNA indicated a higher probability for autism, AS.

Hmm, my Dad was an Electrician for years before he changed his job and went Office bound.

Could that be why I'm Aspie?

 

[dragoncat16]

I somewhat believe that dopamine and the natural levels of dopamine available and necessary for the over all brain development is a key factor - correlating as displayed in my (semi-professional / wannabe) overview =)

Where do psychopaths (not the same as psychotic, AFAIK) fall onto this scheme? That diagram suggests that dopamine levels scale with the level of empathy. It seems to me that psychopaths are on the opposite (behavioural) extreme to people with ASD, but they have no empathy whatsoever. Do they have more dopamine or less than those with ASD? Perhaps I am misinterpreting the graph.

 

[Ylva]

Psychopaths are dopamine deprived. That is why they are so easily bored and constant thrill seekers. At any rate, isn't dopamine more of a reward system, and isn't it mostly oxytocin that takes care of things like feeling connected? Is that not connected to empathy? Weird, because I know several people who are unlikely to be anything but neurotypical, who can't feel empathy towards people who aren't their closest family, sometimes even excluding pets. Sure, they can fake it, but… is that what they're measuring?

 

[dragoncat16]

Psychopaths are dopamine deprived. That is why they are so easily bored and constant thrill seekers. At any rate, isn't dopamine more of a reward system, and isn't it mostly oxytocin that takes care of things like feeling connected? Is that not connected to empathy? Weird, because I know several people who are unlikely to be anything but neurotypical, who can't feel empathy towards people who aren't their closest family, sometimes even excluding pets. Sure, they can fake it, but… is that what they're measuring?

Yeah, I don't get the "ASD people have no empathy" thing either. I can personally always put myself in someone else's shoes. It's other people that are not willing to do the same for me, or to even acknowledge that I have any feelings at all, or at least any that matter. I don't think it could be down to some chemical anyway. Otherwise, they would have come up with some sort of drug or supplement that relieves the symptoms of ASD. I personally would never take such a drug and risk becoming a dishonest [insert noun here], completely unable to apply logical reasoning or fairness to any situation, that a lot of NT people are.

I think that it is the way the brain is structured and how new information is processed.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Yeah, I don't get the "ASD people have no empathy" thing either. I can personally always put myself in someone else's shoes. It's other people that are not willing to do the same for me, or to even acknowledge that I have any feelings at all, or at least any that matter. I don't think it could be down to some chemical anyway. Otherwise, they would have come up with some sort of drug or supplement that relieves the symptoms of ASD. I personally would never take such a drug and risk becoming a dishonest [insert noun here], completely unable to apply logical reasoning or fairness to any situation, that a lot of NT people are.

I think that it is the way the brain is structured and how new information is processed.

Cognitive and affective empathy.

Please someone post a link. Gotta go

 

[bbc-bananasplit]

Indeed, those are interesting questions and difficult ones to answer - since reality is then much more complicated than it is displayed in the graph. First of all, we need to define what empathy is - and as an extra, second to that we need to differentiate the influencing factors that in combination add up to a certain personality, and we need to define the terms involved in this.



I. empathy // (there are various, yet similar approaches to this, the following is one of them)

empathy is a complex ability, that involves many areas of the brain. empathy is a sort of emitter / receiver system for interhuman interaction and mind to mind connection, and a tool of self and other imagination. yet, it says little about how nice someone is, how many feelings he has - empathy as such is simply a functional tool of cognition with neutral value. for example, it depends on the individual - wether autistic, neurotypical, psychotic or psychopathic or..

a. how functional, experienced and well trained his empathy tool is
b. how his current state of mind, his overall personality and his state of body affects the funtionality of the empathy tool
d. how and for what purpose he uses his empathy tool
e. how well or to which degree he can willingly control the empathy tool, to which degree he is subject to its automated, inuitive and instinct functioning
f. how and which empathetic information is transferred to others and received from others by the empathy tool
g. how other components of the brain and mind (i.e. amygdala for emotion) and their functionality affect the empathy tool and empathetic information

for empathy we need the cognitive ability of imagination, or of imagining something that is not - that is: not a concrete item or real object. necessary for this are well trained and fully functional executive cognition functions - and the deficit in these, due to low dopamine from birth onwards, is where autism/ADHD comes in. cognitive empathy is the cognitive ability of imagination used to imagine the others's and one's own mind - a sort of intellectual approach, also: perspective taking.

on the other hand, emotional empathy - although intertwined with cognitive empahty in reality - is recognizing and feeling in oneself the emotion expressed by the other (that is being affected by emotion of others) and feeling and expressing appropiate and relational emotion towards the other. cognitive empathy is a necessary factor for functional emotional empathy. if there is an autistic deficit of cognitive empathy due to underdeveloped executive cognition functions this may result in problems with emotion regulation and recognition in oneself (inability to name one's own feelings/emotions) and problems in self awareness and self imaging - as well as other awareness and recognition of emotions in others. plus, also in problems in emotional-social intuition and in automated receiving of, feeling of and responding to emotions of others.

finally, compassionate empathy is feeling compassion, which is sepparated from empathy and a social-moral function for social behaviour and for feeling socially-emotionally pressed to provide help to each other.

in conclusion: there is a difference a. if one has the functional ability of the empathy tool, but does not use it to feel much for others or has no interest in others - the reasons for this may be personality, very often personality disorder, depression, trauma, bad experiences, bad upbringing, being tired or bored, being drunk or high and many more, such as being an a**hole or not wanting to feel to much of others (because it is to annoying to take part in other's feelings) - and b. if one has a dysfunction of the empathy tool, but would like to use it to have and feel a better social and emotional connection to others, but cannot or cannot do so well simply because the brain has underdeveloped functionality, or damage, or illness.


II. brain, psyche, personality, character // the brain is not equal to the psyche. the psyche, however, equals the self. the self in a broader sense is the sum of an existance .> that is a person consisting of its physiological body and the body's informational processes (the mind, the spirit, the soul etc.), the latter being within the whole of the body but coordinated and centralized in the brain. the field of neurology focuses on the physiological, physical and biochemical structure and functioning of the brain as an organic body.

in a narrower sense the psychological self - or psyche - is the sum of the information and the informational processes (or meaningful movements, eg. thinking words (thinking = movement, words = meanings)) that are contained in the brain. therefore, this sum includes the stored and stationary information (information = meaningful associated data / meaningful things) and the processes retrieving, using, producing and storing this information, as well as all computations carried out with information from internal storage and external sources. the self / psyche is the informational-virtual body, to which the brain is the physical body or the physical basis used to store and compute the informational-virtual body / psyche.

therefore, the field of psychology focuses on the informational-virtual body, which in other terms and approaches may be referred to as self, psyche, spirit, soul, mind etc. or referred i.e. in german as "ghost" (geist), which underlines the seemingly non-physical nature of this thing in contrast to the physical body that produces it. there is no sharp line between psyche and brain - rather both influence each other, and as the human being is a self forming and self composing thing, the psyche can change itsself and it can also to small degree even change the physical body of the brain - for example by cognition training, or by resolving trauma. this is known as neuroplasticity. in terms of autism as a disorder or natural psycho-neurological type it is both a question of the psyche and of the brain, and thus all transmitters used in the brain - such as dopamine, which is the main connector for everything - are of interest for making (if necessary) improvements: like improving executive functioning, and thus: empathy.

personality then is a decriptive image of the structure of traits, that individually define the informational-virtual body - of course in combination with its underlying physical body, the brain. character is the set of moral, emotional, social and self and other related values incorporated into the personality.

autistic brains, psyches, personalities and characters are equally complex and diverse as so called neurotypical ones - although the latter can't imagine what whole problem is - and it is therefore for all always an important question to think, how their thinking influences their sense of being and their relation to others.

III. psychopathy, antisocial disorder (DSM), dissocial PS-disorder (ICD)... maybe tomorrow

 

[bbc-bananasplit]

IIIa

• antisocial personality disorder / dissocial personality disorder
• psychopathy / psychopathic personality disorder

antisocial and dissocial personality disorder

The problem with all of these terms is that a. they are each defined sepparately and each in more than one way of understanding, and that b. in general oppinion there are very different feelings about and understandings of each of these terms, which are heavily biased by media and cultural background, and that c. the terms psychopathy and sociopathy are mostly non-offical terms - or only used in forensic psychiatry - without any properly defined international classification, and are yet also incorporated into one definition of either DSM or ICD (resp. antisocial PS or dissocial PS) so as that terms such as "haltlose PS", "asocial PS" or "amoral PS", "psychopathic PS" and "sociopathic PS" are seen as unnecessary synonyms or variations of antisociality, or the antisocial personality behavioural spectrum. However, if these terms are not used for the same thing vice versa and if they are stripped from pop-cultural mythology and the interchangeable everyday use, then there is a difference between antisocial / dissocial PS and psychopathic PS - at least if it comes to cases where precise classification is of interest, which is mostly only then when there is crime involved.

Now, the important fact to note is that both the DSM antisocial PS and the ICD dissocial PS are descriptive of an individual's behaviour - not of the underlying personality. This means that a diagnosis of antisocial / dissocial personality disorder is actually a simple outside observation of the behavioural output, yet it tells us little to nothing about the actual personality or psycho-neurological type that may produce the observed antisocial / dissocial behavioural output. For example someone narcissistic may also display antisocial behaviour and thus receive such a diagnosis. It is also known that ADHD is a risk factor for antisocial / dissocial PS - or that a childhood environment that causes early antisocial behaviour also often causes ADHD - and this shows clearly as a large portion of prison population has ADHD.

Therefore, antisocial / dissocial disorders are found in all types of personalities, and comorbid alongside many personality disorders and other mental health issues, and also among all psycho-neurological types. Yet, there may be certain types of brains that may be more prone to violence than others. All the same, an autistic person can equally become an antisocial PS-D - or develop a narcisstic PS-D, avoidant PS-D, compulsive PS-D, emotionally-instable PS-D or an autistic borderline PS-D: Being autistic or on the spectrum does not provide immunity to personality disorders (on the contrary!) although many people seem to believe so.

The US-American DSM provides a rather explicit behavioural pattern for its antisocial PS-disorder, that is made to measure the nations many criminals for quick-and-easy diagnosis - and that clearly is adapted to the nations high rates of criminal-violent activity , gang wars and criminal behaviour driven by poverty and drug / substance addiction.

(source: Wiki)>

DSM IV-TR
The APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM IV-TR), defines antisocial personality disorder (Cluster B)

A) A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three or more of the following:

1. 
   
   
   • failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;
   • deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;
   • impulsivity or failure to plan ahead;
   • irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;
   • reckless disregard for safety of self or others;
   • consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations;
   • lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.

B) There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.
C) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) falls under the dramatic/erratic cluster of personality disorders, the so-called "Cluster B."



The internation ICD provides an image which is a little less extreme:

ICD-10
The WHO's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, tenth edition (ICD-10), has a diagnosis called dissocial personality disorder (F60.2)

It is characterized by at least 3 of the following:

1. 
   
   
   • Callous unconcern for the feelings of others;
   • Gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations;
   • Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having no difficulty in establishing them;
   • Very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence;
   • Incapacity to experience guilt or to profit from experience, particularly punishment;
   • Marked readiness to blame others or to offer plausible rationalizations for the behavior that has brought the person into conflict with society.

The ICD states that this diagnosis includes "amoral, antisocial, asocial, psychopathic, and sociopathic personality". Although the disorder is not synonymous with conduct disorder, presence of conduct disorder during childhood or adolescence may further support the diagnosis of dissocial personality disorder. There may also be persistent irritability as an associated feature.

It is a requirement of the ICD-10 that a diagnosis of any specific personality disorder also satisfies a set of general personality disorder criteria.

 

[bbc-bananasplit]

IIIb

psychopathic personality disorder

Often an antisocial (and thus criminal) personality is also referred to as psychopath in media and pop-cultre and general oppinion. However, this is incorrect: The US - and partly the UK - is the only country where Psychopathy or the psychopathic personality disorder is an official diagnostic spectrum of its own, albeit in forensic psychiatry only. The difference made here is, that antisocial (and dissocial) personality disorders are diagnosed by the explicit behaviour - not the underlying personality, so as that one has to explicit violent and criminal behaviour to actually gain such a diagnosis, while those with equally antisocial-criminal-violent personalities, who remain civil and within law and who are peacefully adapted to society do not fall in this category of disorder. In contrast, psychopathic personality disorder then is a diagnosis, that is made upon the precise evaluation of the individuals personality using the PCL-R-checklist and evaluation by Hare - which is to be administered by specially trained professionals and which is not a disorder one easily is diagnosed with - and some psychopathic personalities explicit antisocial-criminal-violent behaviour and some do not. therefore, many psychopathic personalities found in prison population also have an antisocial personality disorder, yet not all of them - plus, most psychopathic personalities are civilized, and explicit civilized yet psychopathic behaviour within law .> these are often found in positions of great power, attention, action or responsibility and in risky and dangerous environments, such as being a CEO, soldier, security personal, stock broker, investment manager, surgeon or in gambling. These civilized psychopathic personalities are, however, still very prone to reckless decisions, unsocial and antisocial decision making, risky gambling, irresponsible actions, conning, blackmailing, threatening and to institutionalized violence.

Concerning the graph: antisocial / dissocial personalities may be found everywhere within the graph, and also concerning psychopaths I do not think that these individuals can be found in a certain area. However, psychopathic individuals - often also antisocial and dissocial individuals - explicit symptoms of ADHD, which is also dopamine related and accounts for the impulsivity, poor planning skills and emotional instability often found in criminal-violent individuals. It appears to me - I have done some reading and research here - that psychopathic personalities in terms of their cognitiv-functional abilities show - unlike the antisocial / dissocial type - well trained cognitive empathy and high interpersonal skills, but lack greatly in emotional empathy and compassionate empathy. By a supposed psycho-neurological type, which is prone to develop a psychopathic and / or antisocial disorder, this type displays

a. some ADHD symptoms, foremost action disinhibtion, impulsivity and constant need for stimmulus, and displays especially
b. extremely low responsivity to fear and danger signals - meaning fearlessness and blindness to danger, which makes them prone to risky and
dangerous behaviours and thrill seeking.
c. disinhibition of the use of violence and threat for gaining personal goals
d. low morality
e. high egocentricity and narcissistic grandiosity

 

[bbc-bananasplit]

IIIc

>>>
(source: Hare Psychopathy Checklist - define, person, people, used, personality, score, traits, Definition, Purpose)

The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is a diagnostic tool used to rate a person's psychopathic or antisocial tendencies. People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get with they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others.

Originally designed to assess people accused or convicted of crimes, the PCL-R consists of a 20-item symptom rating scale that allows qualified examiners to compare a subject's degree of psychopathy with that of a prototypical psychopath. It is accepted by many in the field as the best method for determining the presence and extent of psychopathy in a person.

The Hare checklist is still used to diagnose members of the original population for which it was developed— adult males in prisons, criminal psychiatric hospitals, and awaiting psychiatric evaluations or trial in other correctional and detention facilities. Recent experience suggests that the PCL-R may also be used effectively to diagnose sex offenders as well as female and adolescent offenders.

Purpose
The PCL-R is used for diagnosing psychopathy in individuals for clinical, legal or research purposes. Developed in the early 1990s, the test was originally designed to identify the degree of a person's psychopathic tendencies. Because psychopaths, however, are often repeat offenders who commit sexual assaults or other violent crimes again and again, the PCL-R is now finding use in the courtroom and in institutions as an indicator of the potential risk posed by subjects or prisoners. The results of the examination have been used in forensic settings as a factor in deciding the length and type of prison sentences and the treatment subjects should or should not receive.

Precautions
Obviously, diagnosing someone as a psychopath is a very serious step. It has important implications for a person and for his or her associates in family, clinical and forensic settings. Therefore, the test must be administered by professionals who have been specifically trained in its use and who have a wide-ranging and up-to-date familiarity with studies of psychopathy.

Professionals who administer the diagnostic examination should have advanced degrees (M.D., Ph.D., or D.Ed.) in a medical, behavioral or social science field; and registered with a reputable organization that oversees psychiatric or psychological testing and diagnostic procedures. Other recommendations include experience working with convicted or accused criminals or several years of some other related on-the-job training. Because the results are used so often in legal cases, those who administer it should be qualified to serve as expert witnesses in the courtroom. It is also a good idea, if possible, for two experts to test a subject independently with the PCL-R. The final rating would then be determined by averaging their scores.

Many studies conducted in North America and Europe attest to the value of the PCL-R for evaluating a person's degree of psychopathic traits and, in many cases, for predicting the likelihood of future violent behavior. Some critics, however, are more skeptical about its value.

Description
The Hare PCL-R contains two parts, a semi-structured interview and a review of the subject's file records and history. During the evaluation, the clinician scores 20 items that measure central elements of the psychopathic character. The items cover the nature of the subject's interpersonal relationships; his or her affective or emotional involvement; responses to other people and to situations; evidence of social deviance; and lifestyle. The material thus covers two key aspects that help define the psychopath: selfish and unfeeling victimization of other people, and an unstable and antisocial lifestyle.

The twenty traits assessed by the PCL-R score are:

• glib and superficial charm
• grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
• need for stimulation
• pathological lying
• cunning and manipulativeness
• lack of remorse or guilt
• shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
• callousness and lack of empathy
• parasitic lifestyle
• poor behavioral controls
• sexual promiscuity
• early behavior problems
• lack of realistic long-term goals
• impulsivity
• irresponsibility
• failure to accept responsibility for own actions
• many short-term marital relationships
• juvenile delinquency
• revocation of conditional release
• criminal versatility

The interview portion of the evaluation covers the subject's background, including such items as work and educational history; marital and family status; and criminal background. Because psychopaths lie frequently and easily, the information they provide must be confirmed by a review of the documents in the subject's case history.

Results
When properly completed by a qualified professional, the PCL-R provides a total score that indicates how closely the test subject matches the "perfect" score that a classic or prototypical psychopath would rate. Each of the twenty items is given a score of 0, 1, or 2 based on how well it applies to the subject being tested. A prototypical psychopath would receive a maximum score of 40, while someone with absolutely no psychopathic traits or tendencies would receive a score of zero. A score of 30 or above qualifies a person for a diagnosis of psychopathy. People with no criminal backgrounds normally score around 5. Many non-psychopathic criminal offenders score around 22.

 

[Yet_Another_Little_Prof]

From my own experience and witnessing the experiences of others with ASD, I believe that our perception is tuned differently than NTs. We have gifts they lack and have deficits in areas they take for granted. Now, let's look at science. Science has identified a super set of genes which appear related to ASD. Interestingly, it is not the entire set in every case. It seems a possibly random subset of the superset can predispose an ASD outcome. This all leads me to believe that it is evolutionary. There was a time, hundreds or perhaps thousands of years ago where an ASD individual could serve their tribe with their perceptive abilities. I am guessing that celibacy may have been more common with ASD individuals. It was probably a bit more rare, as a result. A bit more rare, and, perhaps valued more. "Progress" made those with ASD more inconvenient. Urban life, mechanization, living based on the clock, etc. All of these changes in lifestyle made what was once a valuable quirkiness into something now deemed an affliction.

 

[Yet_Another_Little_Prof]

Yeah, I don't get the "ASD people have no empathy" thing either. I can personally always put myself in someone else's shoes. It's other people that are not willing to do the same for me, or to even acknowledge that I have any feelings at all, or at least any that matter. I don't think it could be down to some chemical anyway. Otherwise, they would have come up with some sort of drug or supplement that relieves the symptoms of ASD. I personally would never take such a drug and risk becoming a dishonest [insert noun here], completely unable to apply logical reasoning or fairness to any situation, that a lot of NT people are.

I think that it is the way the brain is structured and how new information is processed.

One reason we get mis characterized as lacking empathy is, even though we may be able to put ourselves in others' shoes, when it comes to verbalizing such (I'm being generous here ... sometimes certain NTs are more properly, bloviating ... er ... over communicating this), we are not always doing that as second nature.

Another reason is timing or lack thereof. I know my timing in conversations pretty much sucks, more often than not.

 

[hutchie]

Nature and possibly chemicals in food etc.

 

[lovelylana]

It's my theory/belief that Autism is caused by a person having less-or too little- subconscious.

I developed/came up with this theory because, currently, I have a not-clearly-identified mental problem, but whose every day symptoms can often present very much like mild autism- but whose origins I think are truly rooted in an opposite cause.

Some examples of how my symptoms compare and contrast with autism:

1) I can have trouble processing language. However, while with individuals with autism the difficulty usually falls under language expression- for me the trouble is more based in reception/comprehension. (In social situations) I can have no problem articulating my own thoughts but when processing information (like directions for instance) from others, it can take a while before I understand as I often derive a person's meaning in language less by the content of their words /that they have said outright but more by the style/ inflection of their voice, or their facial expressions, which emotionally convey to me their expressed intent.

2) While people with Autism tend to struggle with norms of social interaction, sometimes leaving the person they are with lacking context necessary to understand them- this is true for me as well but mostly only happens in writing, or whenever I am not not surround by people, whose presence provides context about what makes for me to say and in what way to say it. Without other's presence helping ground me in reality/normalcy- I am not naturally "normal."

(There's more symptoms such as obsession/ repetition but I don't have enough time to expound on them just yet)

Next,
Scientific insight into my mysterious disorder:

Part of how I developed the whole too much v.s. too little subconscious theory, was due to some unexplained E.E.G. (the brain wave test) results I had gotten. On both occasions when I was tested, I was told by the technician(s) to "stay awake" and not to "nod off" etc. The thing was though, I was completely awake. I was kind of put off by the feedback but I didn't correct them either time. It was only after the procedure when I was talking to doctors about possible results that I brought up what had happened. Neither one could could explain what happened and why but neither seemed too/ interested or concerned about it.
I was however; I saw it as an insight into what was probably the true cause of my condition.
Later, upon taking a psychology course at my local community college, I learned about how E.E.G.s measure the size of brain waves and how they become larger as you drift into deeper and deeper sleep. Did this mean I had larger waking brain waves? But why?

Well, I think I may have figured it out, with the answer being that my subconscious mind may be larger in me than it is for most people. So large that I maybe able to affect/engage with it on a conscious level.
This dynamic actually that lead to me having more extreme problems later on than my initial childhood symptoms which were in some ways comparable to AS.

So, While I truly don't know if this theory is true, I would like for a study to be done measuring the E.E.G. results for Autistic and NT individuals alike, falling in to and out of sleep, to see what, if anything, they can find.

My last note would be that the subconscious- sometimes referred to as the collective subconscious- is thought to be somewhat shared- so I don't know what that means scientifically or what can be done about it. Probably nothing easily and that may be for better or worse. Just wanted to share my experiences, in case the later is true.

 

[mw2530]

It's my theory/belief that Autism is caused by a person having less-or too little- subconscious.

I developed/came up with this theory because, currently, I have a not-clearly-identified mental problem, but whose every day symptoms can often present very much like mild autism- but whose origins I think are truly rooted in an opposite cause.

Some examples of how my symptoms compare and contrast with autism:

1) I can have trouble processing language. However, while with individuals with autism the difficulty usually falls under language expression- for me the trouble is more based in reception/comprehension. (In social situations) I can have no problem articulating my own thoughts but when processing information (like directions for instance) from others, it can take a while before I understand as I often derive a person's meaning in language less by the content of their words /that they have said outright but more by the style/ inflection of their voice, or their facial expressions, which emotionally convey to me their expressed intent.

2) While people with Autism tend to struggle with norms of social interaction, sometimes leaving the person they are with lacking context necessary to understand them- this is true for me as well but mostly only happens in writing, or whenever I am not not surround by people, whose presence provides context about what makes for me to say and in what way to say it. Without other's presence helping ground me in reality/normalcy- I am not naturally "normal."

(There's more symptoms such as obsession/ repetition but I don't have enough time to expound on them just yet)

Next,
Scientific insight into my mysterious disorder:

Part of how I developed the whole too much v.s. too little subconscious theory, was due to some unexplained E.E.G. (the brain wave test) results I had gotten. On both occasions when I was tested, I was told by the technician(s) to "stay awake" and not to "nod off" etc. The thing was though, I was completely awake. I was kind of put off by the feedback but I didn't correct them either time. It was only after the procedure when I was talking to doctors about possible results that I brought up what had happened. Neither one could could explain what happened and why but neither seemed too/ interested or concerned about it.
I was however; I saw it as an insight into what was probably the true cause of my condition.
Later, upon taking a psychology course at my local community college, I learned about how E.E.G.s measure the size of brain waves and how they become larger as you drift into deeper and deeper sleep. Did this mean I had larger waking brain waves? But why?

Well, I think I may have figured it out, with the answer being that my subconscious mind may be larger in me than it is for most people. So large that I maybe able to affect/engage with it on a conscious level.
This dynamic actually that lead to me having more extreme problems later on than my initial childhood symptoms which were in some ways comparable to AS.

So, While I truly don't know if this theory is true, I would like for a study to be done measuring the E.E.G. results for Autistic and NT individuals alike, falling in to and out of sleep, to see what, if anything, they can find.

My last note would be that the subconscious- sometimes referred to as the collective subconscious- is thought to be somewhat shared- so I don't know what that means scientifically or what can be done about it. Probably nothing easily and that may be for better or worse. Just wanted to share my experiences, in case the later is true.

Interesting take. I've actually thought those with ASD operate partially in their subconscious mind. I read somewhere that the subconscious mind thinks in terms of pictures and images. Very common for those with ASD. Also, the subconscious mind is repetitive and can think the same thought over and over again. Also, very common in those with ASD. I think the NT mind mind may still be there, but is shut down for some reason. Possibly caused by inflammation in the mind. Possible reason why those with ASD often times have larger foreheads. Inflammation creates swelling so the brain may have expanded to account for this. The subconscious mind is more like the brain of animals. Which may explain why those with ASD seem to be able to connect more with animals than the typical NT. This is all just a hypothesis, but I don't think it is totally unreasonable.

 

[lovelylana]

Interesting take. I've actually thought those with ASD operate partially in their subconscious mind. I read somewhere that the subconscious mind thinks in terms of pictures and images. Very common for those with ASD. Also, the subconscious mind is repetitive and can think the same thought over and over again. Also, very common in those with ASD. I think the NT mind mind may still be there, but is shut down for some reason. Possibly caused by inflammation in the mind. Possible reason why those with ASD often times have larger foreheads. Inflammation creates swelling so the brain may have expanded to account for this. The subconscious mind is more like the brain of animals. Which may explain why those with ASD seem to be able to connect more with animals than the typical NT. This is all just a hypothesis, but I don't think it is totally unreasonable.

First off, thanks for the reply! It's really heartening to know that some one out there has seen and considered my ideas!
On to the content- you actually slightly misunderstood me. What I was proposing was that I have a condition which is caused by having too much subconscious and while my symptoms present similar to a person with autism but are not truly because, in my theory, the origin to my disorder is actually opposite to that of Autism. So, In other words, this means I believe people with Autism have less subconscious mind. It's almost as if there is a sort of gap between their subconscious and their conscious mind which can make certain thought processing more difficult. This Too could result in thinking in pictures as thoughts may leave off at a subconscious level; And, when a thought does get's across this mental barrier, it may lead to repetition of the thought as it can be hard to make this mental transfer. But, in cases of those who are more mildly affected by Autism, it makes them very alert to language content as well as less aware of social subtitles resulting the logical, "get to the heart of the matter," Spock like demeanor.
Once more, I'm no researcher but I think E.E.G. studies with autistic persons have probably already been done and could very easily be done but with maybe with this theory as a point of consideration. Such a thing would make me feel gratified, very gratified indeed. ^_^ (and thanks once more for the reply! )

 

[OkRad]

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