Published on 12, July, 2020
Since I went 'public' about my ASD diagnosis I've had more than one person say to me 'We're all on the spectrum mate'. At the time I found the comment slightly offensive, as if they were saying, 'You're not the only one who's got issues, just get over it', but on reflection, perhaps they have a point. In this crazy world where the borders of 'normality' are infinitely blurred, could it be that we are all on one big spectrum, but only some of us in the 'zone' that is currently classed as a disorder? I can't help wondering if everyone did the tests and questionnaires that I did when being assessed what percentage of the population would be diagnosed. The very first test I did came as quite a shock because the questions seemed so very appropriate to how I was feeling, and it returned a result of high probability. I can't decide if that's just because I do actually have ASD or because some of those questions would apply to anyone doing the test. I'd be interested to hear people's opinion on this, especially if anyone out there has done the test and returned a negative result i.e. low probability.
I like hot egg but can't eat cold egg in any form. I think it's a combination of smell and texture when cold. I've always had a strong sense of smell which has in turn been both a blessing and a curse, depending on what the smell is. The most outstanding one is my ability to smell snow before it arrives. It's very distinct to me and I've made accurate predictions on numerous occasions, much to people's surprise and disbelief.
I'm strange with eggs. I either really enjoy them or hate them and you don't know till you eat it. Its the yolk. There's good egg taste and bad egg taste. This goes for cooking them and when they are in things like cakes. But it's always the smell on pots afterwards that gets me. And I have to be in charge of my own egg yolk.
With you on the cold egg thing. Who can bear to eat something that smells like a fart BEFORE it's been digested?
I live in a second floor flat overlooking the sea in Norfolk and at night I sit in total darkness with my curtains open so I can see the lights twinkling across The Wash in Lincolnshire. It makes me feel so calm and relaxed, but whenever a car goes by and its headlights bathe everything in stark white light it completely ruins the serenity of it all. I know these people are just harmlessly making their way from A to B but if they could hear what I'm calling them sometimes it would make their ears ring.
And smellls, yes. I can smell cold egg on plates that have supposedly been washed. I went for a posh afternoon tea with a friend and the whole time could snell second hand egg on the "clean" plates.
As a child I used to be able to smell the difference between different brands of white bread and margarine. Mostly the smell was horrible. This was put down to me being a bit fussy in that department.
I agree with everything you say. The music in stores bothers me a lot but i feel completely different in a club. I have real difficulty with the "tinny" sound that comes out of devices when other people listen to youtube etc. I mute or turn down tv adverts and it isnt just the volume but the pace. They are too fast. They do this probably because the internet has given us shorter attention spans.
We bought some new crockery. Now when the person I live with eats from the bowls, the noise of the spoon against the bowl pierces my very core in a way I can't describe.
I used to be able to hear a pipe in a closed cupboard dripping ever so slightly at night.
My neighbour's white security lights make me feel angry.
I could go on.
When people say to you these things don't affect them sp you are just being silly, you end up masking. It can come from sensory aspects as well as social.
Thank you
I don't think it is possible to train our sensory system to filter sounds. I find the best thing is to stay as calm as possible, by using earplugs or noise cancelling headphones to try to prevent sensory overload. Sometime intense hyper-focus can filter out some noise. However there are some short sharp sounds which will snap me out of hyper-focus in an instant, like an electric shock.
Scientific research has shown that autistic people do not habituate to sounds in the same way that non autistic people do. That's why we can happily listen to the same song on constant repeat. We get the same pleasure listening to something enjoyable for the 100th time as we do the first. In the case of unpleasant or unbearable sounds I find the amount I am able to tolerate decreases with frequent repeated exposure.
The inability to filter sounds leads to everything all at once and resultant overload. Going back to the original topic, the loud music in the store. If it was only the music it might be tolerable. Add in the people talking, children screaming, tills bleeping, the robotic voice from the self service tills, the car alarm going off in the car park and it is all too much at once That's without considering all of the visual information and lights, etc.
The noise from the stopping of high speed trains is thankfully one we don't have here in the UK, as far as I know. Our trains are notoriously slow
You know, one of the things you mention is how loud music in megastores annoys me a lot. I don't go to the store and buy nothing. I usually run away annoyed. In advertising, if you notice it during a TV program, they raise the volume clearly in the breaks. On a subliminal level there is certainly a motivation. But here's that motivation makes me change the channel, I don't find pleasantness but annoyance.
What you write about slower rhythms is interesting because even according to them they would be more advantageous. § Regarding mental health centers, I find that there are heavy organizational deficits, both in structures, colors, writings, and in lighting. During the diagnosis I asked them to turn off an air conditioner. They must have hated me: it was summer and it's very hot here! But the lights were also wrong. I perceived the sizzle of the electric current in the old generation lamps. The old ones bother me a lot. The new ones don't. §The third light in their corridor was about to burn out. A detail (for them )
You'd be arrogant if you made this limitation clear to them. But putting yourself in the perspective of thinking you can be maybe you're just more sensitive. § I also tend to think of solutions. The owner of a bicycle factory complained about the low production. I watched for a month how they worked . Then I brought him a project where I totally redesigned it. It now produces twice as much as before. I just avoided moving laser machinery. (it wasn't worth it). § I've always liked inventing systems. it brought me a small income, but the satisfaction that everything was working perfectly was the best incentive for me. § My mind worked like it did in the Tempe Grandin film. She saw the solution beyond the flaws. § One thing I remember: the sound of the laser machine mechanism. I was fascinated by it, for me it was like perceiving a musical melody. § I have as an indispensability to hear the sounds of things. Without making mistakes. Even the sound of the keyboard on which I write on the computer has a soul to me. I remember Glenn Gould muttering while playing Bach. In those recordings I understand Gould, even if I hear his voice and it's not pleasant because it overlaps the notes. I like the musical expressions WIntergatan and Marble Machine. Even though AI technology has surpassed analog music.
You know Caelus, we have deficits. § I share your post. I generally consider them not of a high mental level. That is: we use different forms of intelligence and unconventional logics. Some unclassifiable sub-intelligences. Because up to now there have never been meta-analytical studies as basically not studyable as they skip the linearity of mathematical logical reasoning and are something else. § I have read of so many autistic people expressing hatred towards their condition. I understand the flaws in this. But here, I can not at all imagine myself differently from how I am. And I don't want to be like neurotypicals. § If you pay attention, the diagnostic manuals see the disorder in us autistics. But they are written not by autistic people. Normal is their normal. Well, I would never want to belong to you.
Your posts are pleasant, I would also say your posts because I find your writing very valid § One thing puts me in difficulty: because if we trained our sensory deficit, perhaps we would be able to filter them(?) I ask. § Argh! You made the concept very well with your nails on the blackboard and the screeching chalk? But also the stopping of high-speed trains. For me it is very annoying.
I've fallen far behind both reading links, and reading your responses. § I could provide a much better answer than this one I will write. § Back pain is becoming (I hope) less acute. I can sit still. § So the sensorial: that concerns most of the answers (in my opinion). § Many of my friends use noise canceling headphones. or ,ear plugs. § It depends on our heightened sensory response. § But this also extends to other senses. § In Italy in some regions there are high-level festivals in which hundreds of different types of cheeses can be found. § I remember an unpleasant thing. I was with my girlfriend. The stands were really many. I perceived all together the "smells of the cheeses. Everyone. It was like n nightmare. I walked away 200 meters from that place. § She was very angry and scolded me. § But I could not filter the aromas. It was a whole thing. I ran away. § The people I make friends with often have very high IQs. And you have to admit that I was struck by his reaction. § He knew very well how I am. Also because our friendship was born talking about high-functioning autism. § I was really amazed he didn't understand me. § Including the time we ordered a Fiorentina (Carne alla brace) in Florence. But the noise of people who couldn't stop talking to me all the time made standing there intolerable. § I got up and looked for a nearby restaurant, where nobody was there. Because they were Egyptians, and in Tuscany we tend to trust local restaurateurs. Instead we ate them in perfect tranquility and silence. By the way very good, I recommend the Egyptian cuisine. § Many things we can not filter them. Noises and some frequencies. § I don't want to digress but documenting the sounds emitted not by the vocal cords and the studies of Demetrio Stratos (He died of leukemia) In Italy diplophony and beyond were studied. Can't put links I guess but singing voice (Demetrio Stratos) impresses. § Just as I am impressed by Freddie Mercury's frequency which is not in the usual range. § Some things I think but I don't have the time to put them into practice, as well as use the voice. the syllogism Perhaps for us it would indicate a vast utility. The syllogism (from the Greek syllogismòs, word composed of syn, "together" and of logismòs, "reasoning, calculation") is the fundamental model of reasoning
Your posts are very interesting. I like reading centered and proactive answers. And most of what you write could see me agree enough to make likes enough for an answer. § I have a lot of acute back pain after an accident and have trouble sitting up. I mostly write on my PC. § There are indeed many of you who argue very well. § In other foreign forums users simplified, or the level was not high. Here I finally find disambiguations and valid posts. And it's nice (a lot)
No problem. I just wasn't sure if you were aware of the process.
Some people are happy to self identify while others choose to go down the formal diagnostic route.
Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through the lengthy and gruelling diagnostic process. It's not as if it has led to any greater understanding or support from health services.
I'm the same. As others have already said it's mainly the lack of control and unpredictability. It's an interruption that we do not have the ability to filter out like others can.
It's not always about the loudness of the noise at all. The type of noise plays a part too. For example not all dog barking is the same and some I can tolerate much more than others. Bigger dogs generate an unpleasant barking which I don't like. However that noise does not produce the same intense emotional response as hearing a small yappy dog barking. They only thing I can liken it to is the intolerable noise of fingernails scraping down a blackboard.
Maybe it's partly Misophonia.
I live in a block of flats which are about 10% residential and 90% second homes. This is wonderful because most of the time I have no neighbours and the silence is truly blissful. When they do come to visit, as is the case this evening, and they start making noise that I'm not used to (not necessarily very loud) I find myself getting uptight and wanting to go and remind them that I live here permanently. Two things in play here - I'm not in control and it's unpredictable. Your point well and truly proven I think.
That's reassuring, thank you. I think you're spot on with the 'control' idea. I think virtually all of my negative experiences boil down to not being in control of a situation, or someone else being in control in a way I can't relate to. My driving meltdowns are a prime example.
Wow! I never thought about it like that. I often have issues with people not being able to see the answers to problems as quickly as I do, especially at work. In my head I'm calling them idiots because they can't seem to see things the way I do. Afterwards I feel a bit arrogant about it but it never stops me coming up with an answer first next time. I have an online friend that I've known for years but never actually met in person, and when I told her I had ASD she just turned around and said 'I know. I've always known'. When I asked her how she knew she told me that she had a daughter who is autistic and I display certain traits, one of them being a sort of unintentional 'arrogance', the same way she does. Her daughter calls it a gift rather than a disorder. Got to admire that.
I am the same as I love gigs but have difficulty with buzzing phones as an example . I wonder if it's how much you are in control of the situation. Also, I seem to understand, one can have mixed sensory profiles, even amongst the same sense (hearing). I can't remember technical terms. So you can be sensory seeking and avoidant depending on the situation.
The obvious ones would be that you're in control of the music and it's predictable.
The experiment would be how you are if it's someone else's loud music and how you react to more... unconventional music (like Boredoms - Super Æ).