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What would you like to have been taught about Autism?

Beefree

Hi 

As someone who was diagnosed in adulthood and spending pretty much my whole life up to that point trying to work out why I didn't seem to fit in the neurotypical biased world there are a few things I think I could really have done with being taught....

I often see programs for people with autism covering such things as 'social skills' and basically how to be neurotypical! This makes me feel devalued and kind of sad. I am not and never will be neurotypical and at this point in my life I don't want to be (although as a teenager I probably did) !!!!

It would have been much more valuable I think to have been taught:

  1. Basic neurophysiology
  2. A guide to neurotypical interactions (so I could navigate them better without having to pretend to be neurotypical)
  3. Sensory processing strategies and how to make my sense work better together
  4. How to use my strengths to get round my difficulties
  5. Helped to work out what my strengths as an autistic individual are!

Basically what would you have taught a you get version of yourself?

Any comments will be gratefully received.....

Parents

  • I really like this question! And I'm still trying to find the answers to some things. Things I'd have liked to know include:

    support with my motor neural skills so that I could have played sport; or helping me find sports that could work. There's remedial classes in school for intellectual work, I could have done with remedial PE

    it's only now I realise how much anxiety i was constantly dealing with socially. So having had a diagnosis some basic skills in spotting my anxiety and managing it would have helped

    i'd have loved to have fitted in. It was probably unviable to think I could have, but helping me find strategies like 1-1s, and to develop the friendships i did occasionally make and take them from the cursory level to something more like friendship

    teaching my parents that my quirks and difficulties weren't going to go away and helping them understand and accommodate them

    some basic help with sensory overload, esp noise, like being allowed to wear headphones at hime and legitimising that people's eating, breathing, talking did my head in

    the things i still struggle with are:

    shutdowns, so anything on managing them

    not being able to confidently spot flirting or moves, and focussing on the detail of why someone isn't interested rather than seeing the big picture that they clearly are. And learning methods to then doing something rather than blurting "do you want a relationship?"

    overwhelming myself with to-do's, and learning strategies to let go of feeling i have to do everything and optimise everything

    learning how to put myself at the centre of a conversation and relationship, rather than just listening to others and their stuff

    If more come to mind I'll add.

  • in reply to Mark (NicheMarket)

    Thanks so much....I can relate to all of these too....

    I found climbing and yoga super helpful once I discovered them in my 20s. I am also relatively competent at them because I can use my visual skills to good affect and my body gets the proprioceptive input to know where it is in space!

    I completely get the predicament of either just being able to listen to a conversation (or for me unintentionally dominating a conversation). I still find it hard to alternate my attention between myself and others...it is either always on them or always on myself.

    Keep me posted if you come up with anything else....thanks again....

  • in reply to Beefree

    Ah, funny, a lot of my friends climb, and i've often wondered if they're mostly undiagnosed aspies. I keep toying with the idea of leaRning myself

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